Chromatic scale on guitar

The notes of the C chromatic scale

C C♯ D D♯ E F F♯ G G♯ A A♯ B

Formula: 1 ♭2 2 ♭3 3 4 ♯4 5 ♭6 6 ♭7 7. Steps from note to note: 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 semitones (half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half, half).

All twelve notes, every step a half step. Up it is usually written in sharps, down in flats.

The C chromatic scale on guitar

One position, frets 7–11, low E string first: low E: 7 8 9 10 11 (7 1 ♭2 2 ♭3) · A: 7 8 9 10 11 (3 4 ♯4 5 ♭6) · D: 7 8 9 10 11 (6 ♭7 7 1 ♭2) · G: 7 8 9 10 11 (2 ♭3 3 4 ♯4) · B: 7 8 9 10 11 (♯4 5 ♭6 6 ♭7) · high E: 7 8 9 10 11 (7 1 ♭2 2 ♭3). 0 = open string.

1 is the root. Put it on the fret the table below gives for your key and the same shape plays that key.

The warm-up

On guitar the chromatic scale is a finger exercise first: four frets per string, one finger each (1 2 3 4), then across to the next string, and five frets on the G string when you want to land on the octaves. Keep the fingers close to the frets and play it with a metronome before you play anything else; it is how most teachers start every lesson.

More scales

Chromatic scale Chromatic scale on trumpet Chromatic scale on piano Pentatonic scale on guitar Major scale on guitar Blues scale on guitar

How this page works

Hear it plays the scale up and down at 100 BPM on one of four Brumm sounds. Take it gives the same notes as a MIDI file and a WAV. − and + move the root. Every note here is computed from the formula.

Sources

Scales and modes: Open Music Theory, musictheory.net. Piano fingerings: the standard scale-book fingerings (ABRSM scale books; Hanon, The Virtuoso Pianist, part 3). Trumpet valves: the standard B♭ trumpet fingering chart (Yamaha, Bach). Hz: A4 = 440 Hz, ISO 16.

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