Chromatic Scale — all ½ steps Theory ThingsWilliam Wieland


Starting Pitch:
To better understand chromatic scales, read Steps and Accidentals.   (musictheory.net)

Hover over a piano key to see its name:




Fast, elegant piano fingering — The thumb plays every other white key.

Simple piano fingering:   ( Keyboard Diagram )
  • The middle finger plays black keys.
  • The thumb plays most white keys.
  • The index finger plays white keys when necessary ( EF & BC ).
  Famous music which uses chromatic scales:
  • Rimsky-Korsakov Flight of the Bumblebee (orchestral interlude from the opera, The Tale of Tsar Saltan)
  • Julius Fucík "Entrance of the Gladiators" (Vjezd gladiátoru) march, Opus 68, which is universally recognized, often under the title "Thunder and Blazes", as one of the most popular theme tunes for circus clowns.
Nasty, but correct, notation for a chromatic scale which appears in a composition in C sharp minor: Beethoven's “Moonlight” Sonata (near the end)