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

With a soft approach, his opening, of upward chromatic scales passed around the orchestra, was a garden of strangely beautiful flowers in bloom.

From New York Times

A London journal in 1848 wrote: “Her technical skill alone is immense; in the completeness of her chromatic scale she is, probably, without a rival.”

From New York Times

“Her technical skill alone is immense; in the completeness of her chromatic scale she is, probably, without a rival,” said an article published in Fraser’s Magazine, a London journal, in 1848.

From New York Times

The two songs share similar chord progressions and a bass line that descends along a chromatic scale.

From New York Times

“Blanche” is a funk vamp harking directly back to James Brown, though it slides up and down the chromatic scale at whim.

From New York Times