One scale, 12 starting notes — a page for every root (including enharmonic equivalents)
C Chromatic Scale
C – C# / Db – D – D# / Eb – E – F – F# / Gb – G – G# / Ab – A – A# / Bb – B
C# or Db Chromatic Scale
C# / Db – D – D# / Eb – E – F – F# / Gb – G – G# / Ab – A – A# / Bb – B – C
D Chromatic Scale
D – D# / Eb – E – F – F# / Gb – G – G# / Ab – A – A# / Bb – B – C – C# / Db
D# or Eb Chromatic Scale
D# / Eb – E – F – F# / Gb – G – G# / Ab – A – A# / Bb – B – C – C# / Db – D
E Chromatic Scale
E – F – F# / Gb – G – G# / Ab – A – A# / Bb – B – C – C# / Db – D – D# / Eb
F Chromatic Scale
F – F# / Gb – G – G# / Ab – A – A# / Bb – B – C – C# / Db – D – D# / Eb – E
F# or Gb Chromatic Scale
F# / Gb – G – G# / Ab – A – A# / Bb – B – C – C# / Db – D – D# / Eb – E – F
G Chromatic Scale
G – G# / Ab – A – A# / Bb – B – C – C# / Db – D – D# / Eb – E – F – F# / Gb
G# or Ab Chromatic Scale
G# / Ab – A – A# / Bb – B – C – C# / Db – D – D# / Eb – E – F – F# / Gb – G
A Chromatic Scale
A – A# / Bb – B – C – C# / Db – D – D# / Eb – E – F – F# / Gb – G – G# / Ab
A# or Bb Chromatic Scale
A# / Bb – B – C – C# / Db – D – D# / Eb – E – F – F# / Gb – G – G# / Ab – A
B Chromatic Scale
B – C – C# / Db – D – D# / Eb – E – F – F# / Gb – G – G# / Ab – A – A# / Bb
ANATOMY
Chromatic Scale Formula
The 12 scale degrees that build every chromatic scale — in any key.
The chromatic scale is every one of the 12 notes in Western music played in order, one half step (one fret) at a time — nothing is skipped. Because it contains every pitch, every other scale is a subset of it, and the scale itself is identical from any starting note: only the root you begin and resolve on changes. On guitar that makes it less an improvising scale than the master map of the fretboard — and the standard warm-up exercise.
Applied to C: C – C# – D – D# – E – F – F# – G – G# – A – A# – B. Applied to E: the open low E string played fret by fret up to fret 12 — one string, one full chromatic octave. Ascending runs are conventionally spelled with sharps, descending runs with flats.
About the Chromatic Scale on Guitar
The chromatic scale is all 12 notes, each a half step apart — the complete set of pitches Western music is built from. There is really only one chromatic scale with 12 possible starting points, and each root page here starts and resolves the run on a different note, with its own fretboard anchors and warm-up fingerings. On guitar the scale has a special clarity: the instrument is laid out chromatically, so one fret always equals one half step, and any string played open to fret 12 is a complete chromatic octave. Guitarists use it three ways — as the classic 1-2-3-4 warm-up for finger independence, as a fretboard-memorisation tool (naming every note as you pass it), and as the source of chromatic passing tones that connect chord tones in jazz and blues lines.
- 01Built from all 12 notes — one half step (one fret) between every pair
- 02Scale degrees: 1, ♭2, 2, ♭3, 3, 4, ♭5, 5, ♭6, 6, ♭7, 7
- 03Every other scale and chord is a subset of the chromatic scale
- 04Perfectly symmetrical — the same notes from any of the 12 roots
- 05Any string played open to fret 12 is a full chromatic octave
- 06Spelled with sharps ascending and flats descending
- 07The standard guitar warm-up: the 1-2-3-4 one-finger-per-fret exercise
Frequently Asked Questions
The chromatic scale is all 12 notes of Western music played in order, one half step at a time. On guitar one fret equals one half step, so the scale is simply every fret in a row — play any string from open to fret 12 and you have played a full chromatic octave.
Twelve — C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B — before the pattern repeats at the octave. It contains every pitch, so every other scale (major, minor, pentatonic, blues) is a subset of it.
Strictly one — every chromatic scale contains the same 12 pitches. But it can start from any of the 12 roots, and the starting note is what your ear hears as home, so each of the 12 root pages here anchors the run on a different note with its own fretboard positions.
Twelve half steps in a row: H–H–H–H–H–H–H–H–H–H–H–H. On guitar a half step is one fret, so the formula is simply "every fret".
Mostly technique and fretboard knowledge: the 1-2-3-4 chromatic run is the standard guitar warm-up for finger independence, and naming the notes as you play is the fastest fretboard-memorisation drill. Musically, chromatic notes appear as passing tones — half-step connections between chord tones that give jazz and blues lines their motion.
One finger per fret: assign fingers 1–4 to four neighbouring frets and play 1-2-3-4 on each string. To travel further than four half steps, shift the whole hand one fret rather than stretching. Alternatively, run a single string from open to fret 12 for a complete octave.
Convention says sharps on the way up (C, C#, D, D#…) and flats on the way down (C, B, Bb, A…). The pitches are identical either way — the spelling just keeps each letter name moving in the direction of the line.
F is the classic choice — the 1-2-3-4 warm-up on frets 1–4 starting from F is the first chromatic exercise in most method books. E is the other natural starting point: the open low E string is the guitar's lowest note, so E to E covers one string from open to fret 12.