A chromatic scale is a scale that is built only on semitones.. By itself, it does not express any independent modal system, although it arose as a result of filling with chromatic semitones all the large-second ratios of the diatonic seven-step scale of the major or minor mode. If the fundamental fundamental principle of the chromatic scale is not emphasized by appropriate harmonic means, or at least by the metro-rhythmic selection of the supporting diatonic steps of the mode, then it is almost impossible to determine the modal inclination and tonality of the chromatic scale by ear. Visually, this can be done only by notation, which is produced according to the following rules:
1) the chromatic scale is notated taking into account the underlying diatonic major or minor scale, the steps of which always retain their spelling unchanged;
2) in the ascending movement, all diatonic steps that are a whole tone apart from the steps following them rise by half a tone, with the exception of the sixth step in major and
I step in minor, instead of increasing which, respectively, they decrease by a chromatic semitone. VII step in major and
II step in minor;
3) in a downward movement in major, all diatonic steps that are a whole tone apart from the steps following them are lowered by half a tone; the exception is the fifth stage, instead of lowering which the fourth stage rises.
The spelling of the descending chromatic scale in minor (where I and V do not decrease) coincides with the notation of the same scale in the major of the same name (of course, taking into account the key accidentals).
In C-dur (chromatic)
As can be seen from the above example, the difference in the recording of major and minor chromatic scales is determined primarily by which of the twelve sounds are taken as the seven-step diatonic basis of the mode, and the rest of the sounds are already notated in accordance with this (or the necessary accidental signs are added for diatonic steps).
In an ascending movement, any elevated step is perceived as a tense introductory tone attraction (that is, as a third of a dominant seventh chord or a prima of an introductory seventh chord) to the diatonic sound following it a semitone higher, on which a major or minor triad can be built, that is, a chord that can become a tonic foundation. Precisely because in the major at the 7th degree there is a diminished triad, which is an unstable chord, to which, naturally, there can be no inclination, in the major chromatic scale the 6th degree is not raised either.
In the downward movement, any lowered degree is considered either as a seventh of the dominant seventh chord (that is, as the fourth degree of the mode), or as a seventh of the diminished introductory seventh chord, or as none of the small dominant non-chord (that is, as the sixth degree of the mode) in the corresponding related key. As you know, this sound should be resolved by moving half a step down: in the first case - to a third, and in the second - to a fifth of the corresponding tonic triad. However, since a diminished triad is under no circumstances a stable chord, there can be no inclination to it either from below or from above, therefore the V degree in the chromatic scale does not decrease.
In a minor, a diminished triad is built on the second step of the natural form of the mode, and it is for this reason that in the notation of the chromatic scale in the minor there are no sounds that have ascending and descending semitone gravitations, respectively, to the prime and fifth of this triad:
In C-dur (chromatic)
in c-moll (chromatic) mind 5/3
mind 5/3
mind 5/3
Nevertheless, in the music of the 19th and especially the 20th century, there are cases of a different - more free - notation of some sounds in separate segments of the chromatic scale. Often this is due to or with the use of this chromatism as a auxiliary sound to one of the diatonic steps, or with underlining using the voice parallelism notation itself due to passing chromatic sounds. For example:
289 
290 F. Chopin. Nocturne op. 9 No. 1
291 Allegro non troppo S. Prokofiev. Op. “Love for three oranges”, d. II, k. 2
From what has been said above, it follows that two types of chromatism are distinguished:
a) melodic chromatism, which contributes to the “coloring” of the entire musical fabric as a whole (and, above all, the melodic line) due to the use of chromatic passing and auxiliary sounds in a particular voice;
b) harmonic chromatism associated with the exacerbation of existing or the formation of new modal-functional gravitations, manifested primarily in harmony and supported by the corresponding sharply directed chordal means. As a rule, harmonic chromatism leads to a change in foundations and the formation of new ladotonal centers, and actively contributes to the tonal development of music.
A semitone scale in which each diased note merges with the next flat note. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. CHROMATIC GAMMA in music gamma with sharps and flats, ... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
Chromatic scale- A scale with a semitone distance between steps, numbering 12 sounds within an octave. Considered as a major or minor scale with passing semitones. Hence the rules for its recording: all diatonic steps are notated without any ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
CHROMATIC SCALE- in music, a scale that includes all 12 sounds included in an octave ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
Chromatic scale- consists of 12 steps separated by chromatic and diatonic semitones. X. gamma is ascending and descending and is used in all systems. The letter of this scale depends on the chromatic key signs of the system in which X. ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron
chromatic scale- (music), a scale that includes all 12 sounds included in the octave. * * * CHROMATIC GAMMA CHROMATIC GAMMA, in music, the scale (see SOUND), including all 12 sounds included in the octave (see OCTAVE) ... encyclopedic Dictionary
CHROMATIC SCALE- scale from all twelve semitones of the tempered system. X. g. is notated very differently, depending on the system in which it occurs, and according to the harmony in the sense of which it is understood. If the diatonic scale should be considered as ... ... Riemann's musical dictionary
chromatic scale- a scale consisting only of semitones (12 in an octave) ... Russian Index to English-Russian Dictionary of Musical Terminology
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 ... ... Music Encyclopedia
GAMMA (in music)- GAMMA, in music, the scale (see SOUND) is the succession of all the sounds of the mode (see LAD), located from the main tone in ascending or descending order; has the volume of an octave, but can be continued into adjacent octaves. See also Chromatic scale ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
gamma- 1. GAMMA, s; and. [from Greek. gamma] The name of the letter that denoted the sound of sol in medieval music. 1. A successive ascending or descending series of sounds (scale) within one or more octaves. Major, minor g. // Musical image ... encyclopedic Dictionary
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A chromatic scale is a scale that is built only on semitones.. By itself, it does not express any independent modal system, although it arose as a result of filling with chromatic semitones all the large-second ratios of the diatonic seven-step scale of the major or minor mode. If the fundamental fundamental principle of the chromatic scale is not emphasized by appropriate harmonic means, or at least by the metro-rhythmic selection of the supporting diatonic steps of the mode, then it is almost impossible to determine the modal inclination and tonality of the chromatic scale by ear. Visually, this can be done only by notation, which is produced according to the following rules:
1) the chromatic scale is notated taking into account the underlying diatonic major or minor scale, the steps of which always retain their spelling unchanged;
2) in the ascending movement, all diatonic steps that are a whole tone apart from the steps following them rise by half a tone, with the exception of the sixth step in major and
I step in minor, instead of increasing which, respectively, they decrease by a chromatic semitone. VII step in major and
II step in minor;
3) in a downward movement in major, all diatonic steps that are a whole tone apart from the steps following them are lowered by half a tone; the exception is the fifth stage, instead of lowering which the fourth stage rises.
The spelling of the descending chromatic scale in minor (where I and V do not decrease) coincides with the notation of the same scale in the major of the same name (of course, taking into account the key accidentals).
287 inC major(chromatic)
As can be seen from the above example, the difference in the recording of major and minor chromatic scales is determined primarily by which of the twelve sounds are taken as the seven-step diatonic basis of the mode, and the rest of the sounds are already notated in accordance with this (or the necessary accidental signs are added for diatonic steps).
In an ascending movement, any elevated step is perceived as a tense introductory tone attraction (that is, as a third of a dominant seventh chord or a prima of an introductory seventh chord) to the diatonic sound following it a semitone higher, on which a major or minor triad can be built, that is, a chord that can become a tonic foundation. Precisely because in the major at the 7th degree there is a diminished triad, which is an unstable chord, to which, of course, there can be no inclination, in the major chromatic scale the increase of the 6th degree is not performed either.
In the downward movement, any lowered degree is considered either as a seventh of the dominant seventh chord (that is, as the fourth degree of the mode), or as a seventh of the diminished introductory seventh chord, or as none of the small dominant non-chord (that is, as the sixth degree of the mode) in the corresponding related key. As you know, this sound should be resolved by moving half a step down: in the first case - to a third, and in the second - to a fifth of the corresponding tonic triad. However, since a diminished triad is under no circumstances a stable chord, there can be no inclination to it either from below or from above, therefore the V degree in the chromatic scale does not decrease.
In a minor, a diminished triad is built on the second step of the natural form of the mode, and it is for this reason that in the notation of the chromatic scale in the minor there are no sounds that have ascending and descending semitone gravitations, respectively, to the prime and fifth of this triad:
288 inC major(chromatic)
in s-mall(chromatic) um.5/3
mind 5/3
mind 5/3
Nevertheless, in the music of the 19th and especially the 20th century, there are cases of a different - more free - notation of some sounds in separate segments of the chromatic scale. Often this is due to or with the use of this chromatism as a auxiliary sound to one of the diatonic steps, or with underlining using the voice parallelism notation itself due to passing chromatic sounds. For example:
289
The content of the article
MUSICAL SCAMS, sequences of musical sounds arranged in ascending or descending directions. Gamma (more precisely, the scale) represents in a generalized form, usually in the range of an octave (for example, from before first octave to before second octave), the foundation of the music from which this scale is extracted. Theoretically, the number of scale scales is very large; different national cultures have different scales.
Chromatic scale.
The chromatic scale contains all the sounds included in the tempered European scale. In this scale, each tone is a semitone from the previous and subsequent; in a tempered scale, a semitone is the smallest possible distance between sounds.
The chromatic scale notation changes depending on the musical context, as shown in example 1. For example, C-sharp (cis) And D flat (des) represent a sound of the same pitch. There is a phenomenon called anharmonicity . Usually, but not necessarily, ascending chromatic sequences are written using sharps (), backs () and double sharps (), and descending sequences are written using flats (), backs () and double flats () (example 2).
Only by the 20th century. the chromatic scale began to be regarded as a self-sufficient scale for musical composition. This can be shown by the example of A. Schoenberg's dodecaphone composition - suite, op. 25. The sequence of sounds presented in example 3 is the “series” (or “row”) of this work; in accordance with the rules of dodecaphony, this set of sounds, exactly in the order in which they appear, constitutes the melodic-harmonic structure of the work. Schoenberg's series can be compared to a chromatic scale: the scale contains the same sounds, but does not bring individual order to them.
diatonic scales.
In previous eras, chromatism served primarily to enrich and expand the expressive possibilities of several diatonic scales, the composition of which is determined by the octave range, the presence of two semitones and five whole tones (as in modern major and minor, also related to diatonic scales). In the Middle Ages, all scales were diatonic and included in the so-called modal cosmos. A perfect system, this misinterpreted legacy of classical antiquity. The perfect system was a kind of modern chromatic system, i.e. was a set of all the main tones (scales) used in music. These scales were diatonic - they corresponded to the white keys of the modern piano. Deviations from the basic tones that inevitably arose in musical practice were considered by medieval theorists as musica falsa or musica ficta - "false", "false" music. In the canon of Odo of Cluniy (10th century), letter designations were first attached to the sounds of the consolidated diatonic scale, which are presented (in their modern form) in example 4.
The perfect system defines the basic rule for the notation of diatonic scales: each letter within an octave is used only once. This is where a number of difficulties and ambiguities arise in the designation of the tones of the chromatic scale: you have to use seven basic letters with the endings -is or -es (for example, C-sharp denoted as cis, D flat- How des etc.).
Frets.
The diatonic scale can be built from any degree, for example: la - b-flat - do - re - mi - fa - sol or re - mi - fa - salt - la - b-flat - do etc. Since in the Perfect System (as in the arrangement of white keys on the piano keyboard) two semitones are fixed - mi-fa And si - to, they can take different positions in relation to the initial tone of the scale. It is this quality, the arrangement of semitones in relation to the initial tone - the initialis, that makes it possible to distinguish seven diatonic modes (“modes”) (example 5). They are sometimes called "church" modes, and they determine the appearance of all medieval music, especially church singing. Any medieval mode is characterized not only by the ratio of semitones with the initialis, but also by the position of the dominant as the most frequently repeated tone (in some styles of church singing), as well as by the ambitus, those. fret volume. Ambitus could be of two types: if the mode was built from the initialis up, it was called "authentic"; if the mode started a fourth below the initialis and ended a fifth above it, it was called "plagal" ("secondary").
Transposition and alteration.
The frets can be transposed (moved); they can be built from any tone within an octave. However, in this case, to preserve the structure of the mode, it is necessary to introduce the so-called "random signs" - sharps and flats. If the Dorian mode is built from salt, not from re, its third step should be b flat, but not si. In practice, other chromatisms arose in the modes, especially in the final cadences, where, for example, in the Dorian mode, instead of a move do - re chromatism appeared C-sharp - re.
The modes of the type described above are used primarily to classify monodic music, especially medieval church singing. That is why ambitus and dominant are considered as distinctive features of such modes. Another possible way to classify ancient (and folklore) modes could be a melodic formula ("chants") or a group of formulas specific to a given mode. Such a connection of certain melodic formulas with one mode or another is typical for most non-Western European cultures, in particular Eastern ones (for example, for Indian raga). This connection can be traced in ancient Russian church singing and in the ancient layers of Russian folklore.
Major and minor scales (scales).
With the development of polyphony, the modal theory lost its comprehensive meaning. By the 16th century theorists have already observed only four used authentic modes (from re,mi,F,salt) and four corresponding plagal ones. At the same time, the strengthening of the harmonic basis of polyphonic writing and the appearance of various altered tones led to the expansion of the mode table from twelve to fourteen - by adding theoretically "calculated" Locrian and Hypolocrian modes (with the initialis si). Among all the modes (twelve or fourteen), two stood out - the Ionian mode from before and the Aeolian mode from la, which formed the basis of the emerging major-minor system. The transition from the twelve frets of the 16th century. to major and minor of the modern tonal system occurred in the 17th century. But the predominance of major and minor was also felt in earlier music; these modes retain their significance to this day.
The major scale (example 6) is distinguished by the clarity of the structure. The location of melodically active semitones - between the third and fourth and between the seventh and eighth steps - gives the major scale intonation gravity, strictly oriented towards the initialis, aka the finalis – final tone: now it is called the tonic. At the same time, in the major, a conjugation is created between the dominant (V degree) and the tonic, which imparts harmonic clarity to the mode. Similar properties of the melodic and harmonic order, observed in the music of the 17th-20th centuries, allow the major to withstand diverse chromatic changes without losing its individuality.
Other frets.
There are many different modes in Western music. These are scales with "gaps", i.e. intervals greater than a major second are formed between the steps of the mode. This type includes the so-called. pentatonic (five-step) frets. There are also whole-tone frets. Both types are shown in example 8. However, the value of such formations is incomparable with the universal value of major and minor.
Hello dear site visitors. We know which ones can be taken for development, from which stages to build them, and so on. We also looked at ways to change the harmony using the features of octave modes (or varieties of major and minor scales). Let's remember a little about all this.
Harmony in a given key can be represented using chords built from any note in the scale of that key. The difference between these chords will only be in their belonging to a particular group: tonic, dominant or subdominant. We talked about this in detail in articles about. We can also use steps that distinguish the harmonic or non-natural form, in order to replace certain chords. It is for the purpose of making various substitutions, as well as changing the sound in one direction or another, that there is a concept that we consider below in this article.
Ladovaya alteration- this is an increase or decrease in unstable steps for a stronger gravitation into stable ones. If we have chosen some key with which we are going to work, then we need to define it. In the process of developing a given tonality, only these stable steps remain unchanged for us, while all the rest (unstable) give us scope for activity. The activity consists in the use of alteration, that is, a decrease or increase in unstable steps. There are some features of this process. Let's look at the example of C major, where the sounds do, mi, salt (1st, 3rd, 5th) are stable.
In the figure, stable steps that have already been voiced are marked with a circle, unstable steps are signed with numbers, and the signs "+" and "-" show in which direction the unstable ones change (flat - a minus sign or sharp - a plus sign). With the help of arrows, we emphasized that the altered sounds reach for stable steps. It turns out that if we are in the key of C major, we can lower the second step by half a tone or raise it, and in the first case it tends to sound "do", in the second to "mi". The fourth step rises and gravitates more towards G, the sixth goes down and gravitates towards the same note. Why exactly this way and not otherwise? It's just that during alteration, an unstable step does not increase and does not decrease to another unstable one. So that's exactly what the scheme is. And here is the diagram for the minor scale:
The figure shows possible alterations in the key of A minor. In this case, the altered unstable steps are already the second, fourth and seventh.
What we have considered above is again used in harmony, or to build melodic lines. You already know that tonality can be developed with the help of dominants and subdominants, while all the chords of these groups are considered in the context of exactly one tonality (which is shown by the root). Consequently, the short arpeggio of the tonic mainly affects all components of the harmony. Three sounds in this case will be unchanged to keep the context, and the rest can be raised or lowered. The point is the following. Let's say we have the tonic in C major, the subdominant chord of the group is taken from the second step of D minor, and the dominant is the G-seven chord (from the fifth step):
The first chord - a major triad - consists of notes that will not change (after all, this is the main sound of the sequence). The remaining two chords contain unstable steps of the main key, and we will work with one of them using alteration. In D minor, we lower the notes a and re, according to this scheme:
Then, using the same trick, we get an A-flat-seven chord from the same Dm, lowering the note A in it and raising the F. The sound of our sequence changed noticeably, as the D minor chord became a D flat major chord, and then became an A flat seven. And then we move to the dominant G-seven and start the circle anew. Here is another way to diversify harmony, which is often used in jazz and other musical directions.
Chromatic scale and its spelling
There is one more, which is usually considered together with alteration. Chromatism is very often used for variety and knowing the spelling of the chromatic scale can also be useful (for example, sometimes when using chromaticism you don’t know how to write A flat or G sharp in notes, because they are the same note). Chromatism is a way of playing a chord using a sequence of notes separated only by semitones. This is how you can write down the chromatic sequence in C major in notes:
This is a variant of writing the major sequence from bottom to top. The 3rd and 6th steps are circled in the picture - we circled them because they are not changeable in this case, that is, you cannot write E-flat or A-flat, they are only "clean". If the major chromatic scale is written from top to bottom, then the first and fifth steps will be unchanged:
If we have a minor chromatic scale, then when writing it, both up and down, the first and fifth steps will be unchanged. The considered method of constructing a scale (chromatic) can be used and is often used in constructing phrases (after all, for the richness of the sound, it is important to combine different ones). Also, now you will know exactly how to write down the "chromatic parts" of your compositions in music. By the way, in order for chromatism to sound good, you need to understand that altered unstable steps must be used as passing and eventually resolved into stable ones, they are like additional "paths" by which we can come to the main sounds of the key, reflecting its main tone.
