chromatic scale

American  

noun

Music.

1. a scale progressing entirely by semitones.

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chromatic scale British  

noun

1. a twelve-note scale including all the semitones of the octave

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Etymology

Origin of chromatic scale

First recorded in 1780–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chromatic scale

It doesn’t take long for Mozart to use every note in the chromatic scale, and when he gets to the last one, a D-flat, he lets you know with great, unresolved emphasis.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2020

“This error was not harmless as it undercut testimony by Skidmore’s expert that Led Zeppelin copied a chromatic scale that had been used in an original manner,” Paez said.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 28, 2018

"Randy Wolfe did not create the descending chromatic scale," Anderson told jurors.

From Reuters ● Jun. 22, 2016

A baby grand piano, which has 88 keys, is tuned so that each octave is divided into twelve equal intervals, called half-steps, that form the 12-note chromatic scale underlying most of Western music.

From Science Magazine ● Aug. 15, 2012

If you have trouble keeping track of the notes, use a piano keyboard, a written chromatic scale, or the chromatic fingerings for your instrument to count half steps.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones