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1.5 · Chromatic Notes

The chromatic scale

Start at any key on the piano and play every single key in order, both white and black, until you reach the same note again. That's the chromatic scale. It has twelve semitone steps.

Twelve equal steps

Every note gets played once. Tap any key to start the climb from there.

A loop, not a line

Because step twelve lands on the same letter, the chromatic scale is a circle. Tap any note to run the scale from there, and watch the keyboard and the wheel light together.

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Two maps of the same twelve notes

On a piano the twelve steps sit in a straight line, and the black and white keys make the pattern easy to read. That's why theory is usually drawn on a keyboard. A guitar stacks the same loop six ways: every fret is exactly one semitone, so twelve frets up any string land you back on the same letter. Two maps, one ladder.

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Every dot is one semitone from its neighbor, so the whole neck is the chromatic scale. Notice the same note lives in more than one place. Tap any dot to hear it.

Quiz

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How many semitones fit in one octave?

Score 100% on every quiz and game to complete this lesson.Whole & half steps →