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The word chromatic in music means 2 or more consecutive
notes that are a half step apart from one another. A chromatic
scale contains all 12 possible pitches before arriving
back at the starting note name an octave
higher.
Here are the notes in a C chromatic scale. You will
see that there are only 12 different pitches before coming back
to C. There are 12 different pitches, but you also see that the
2nd note in the scale is a C
or a D . That
is because C
and D are
just different ways to spell the same pitch. What you will call
that pitch really depends on the situation.
C
chromatic scale
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C
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C /D
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D
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D/E
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E
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F
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F/G
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G
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G/A
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A
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A/B
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B
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C
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1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
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7
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8
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9
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10
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11
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12
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1
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Often sharps are used when ascending in the scale, and flats
are used when descending.
When it comes to playing chromatic scales on the guitar, you
are not necessarily starting and stopping on the "root"
of the scale. In fact, you should not really think in terms of
there being a root for this scale. Any note could be considered
the root, and you are not really going to hear all of the notes
in relationship to any one note. Playing chromatic scales is really
just an exercise in understanding how the notes are arranged on
the neck of the guitar. Understanding where the next note higher
or lower is, even when switching strings. They are also excellence
technique builders.
Page 2, Chromatic scale forms
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