Chromatic scale |

Chromatic scale – a sequence of sounds located in ascending or descending order, in which the distance between adjacent steps is equal to a semitone.

The octave contains 12 sounds of X. g. Not being a scale, they are independent. fret, X. g. is formed from the scales of natural major or natural minor when filling large seconds of chromatic. semitones. In the ascending X., chromatic. semitones are recorded as diatonic elevations. steps, in descending – as their lowering, with some exceptions, taking into account the relationship of keys. So, in a major, instead of raising the VI step, the VII step is lowered, instead of lowering the V step, the IV is raised. In the minor, the spelling of the ascending X. is the same as in the parallel major (the I degree of the minor is equated to the VI degree of the major); the descending X. in minor is written with the spelling of the ascending or as the eponymous major X.

In the music prod. sometimes there are deviations from such a spelling of X. In most cases, they are logically justified. For example, an increase in the VI degree with an upward direction of movement in a major may be due to the desire to give the sound a lead-tone character in relation to the VII degree of the mode. It is also found when using X. in the form of a passage against the background of sustained harmony, etc.

V. A. Vakhromeev