chromatic scale


nounMusic.
  1. a scale progressing entirely by semitones.

Origin of chromatic scale

1
First recorded in 1780–90

Words Nearby chromatic scale

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use chromatic scale in a sentence

  • All this fine chromatic scale passes within such modest boundaries that it is accused as a monotony.

    The Rhythm of Life | Alice Meynell
  • It resembles closely an Erda theme of the Ring—as is quite natural, for one chromatic scale cannot but resemble another.

    Richard Wagner | John F. Runciman
  • He was therefore forced to go down the chromatic scale of creation and find another class of clients.

  • "Tristan und Isolde" and "Parsifal" are constructed upon a chromatic scale.

    Musical Portraits | Paul Rosenfeld
  • The music of Japan, though built on the chromatic scale, was much the same as that of China.

    Woman's Work in Music | Arthur Elson

British Dictionary definitions for chromatic scale

chromatic scale

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012