Of the many benefits of knowing the Chromatic Scale, one is being able to identify the name of any note on your fretboard. Once again, moving up in pitch is sharp and moving down in pitch is flat.ġ1. Now let’s work our way UP in pitch along the fretboard beginning with the Open 5th string, A: A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G#. So remember: down in pitch is flat, up in pitch is sharp.ġ0. For example, this is A Ab G Gb F E Eb D Db C B Bb and the open A string. To illustrate this, let’s start with the random note A and work our way down (in pitch) along the fretboard. A Chromatic Scale can move up in pitch… or down in pitch. Sharp is one note, or fret, higher in pitch, and Flat is one note, or fret, lower in pitch.ĩ. And there we have another one- octave chromatic scale played in the key of D. Now let’s play a chromatic scale beginning with the random note D: D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C and C#. Starting on any note, in this case E, and moving up 12 notes in pitch, is what we call an octave.ħ. Having played our 12-note chromatic scale, if we were to continue where we left off, we’d begin again with notes E F F# G G# A etc. In other words, there’s no such thing as a B# or E#. Remember, there are no relative sharps for notes B & E. Here’s a Chromatic Scale beginning with the open E string: E F F# G G# A A# B C C# D D#. For example: let’s begin with the note F# G G# A A# B C C# D D# E FĦ. It simply means playing one note after another, in consecutive order, one fret at a time. A Chromatic Scale can begin on any note on the fretboard. A Sharp (#) is simply one note, or fret, higher in pitch on your fretboard.ĥ. Memorizing this musical alphabet will benefit you greatly going forward! What is a Sharp?Ĥ.

And there we have our 12-note musical alphabet, upon which the music we listen to (in the Western world) is based. Remember, notes B & E do not have relative sharp notes.ģ. Each of these notes also has a relative sharp note, except for notes B & E: A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G#. Let’s begin by memorizing the notes of our musical alphabet: A B C D E F GĢ.

Chromatic scale