Chromatic and whole-tone scales – free music theory course

Two "symmetrical" scales complete our overview: they have no natural tonic and give a floating feeling.

The chromatic scale

It contains all twelve half steps of the octave: every key, white and black. By convention it is usually spelled with sharps going up and flats coming down.

M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=80
K:C
C^CD^D EF^FG | ^GA^AB c4 | cB_BA _AG_GF | E_ED_D C4 |]

Fingering: third finger on every black key, thumb on the white keys; between two adjacent white keys (E-F, B-C) use 1-2 (right hand going up). This fingering makes the scale smooth and even.

It acts as melodic "glue": chromatic runs in Chopin (the end of the Étude Op. 10 No. 2), sliding bass lines, and descriptive effects (Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee is almost entirely made of it).

The whole-tone scale

Six notes, all a whole step apart: C D E F♯ G♯ A♯ (C). With no half steps there is no leading tone and no clear tonic: the music seems suspended, dreamy, unreal.

M:4/4
L:1/4
Q:1/4=70
K:C
C D E ^F | ^G ^A c2 | [CE^G]4 |]

There are only two distinct whole-tone scales: the one starting on C and the one starting on C♯. All others are "rotations" of these two.
Debussy made famous use of it (Voiles, from Book 1 of the Préludes); film and cartoons use it to suggest dreams or flashbacks.
The chords it contains are augmented triads (C-E-G♯).

Experiment: hold down the sustain pedal, play the whole-tone scale slowly in the high register, then let it ring. You are in Debussy's world.

Spelling: a whole-tone scale has six notes for seven letters: one letter is inevitably skipped (here, no B). Whether you write A♯ or B♭ depends on context — what matters is the evenness of the whole steps.