What Are the 12 Notes of the Chromatic Scale?

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Images

Musical notation showing three scales: a chromatic scale with all semitones, a C major scale with no sharps or flats, and a C natural minor scale with three flats.

Diagram of the circle of fifths showing major and minor key signatures arranged in a circle, with sharps and flats indicated, and musical notation for each key displayed around the edge.

What Are the 12 Notes of the Chromatic Scale?: Media

Images

Musical notation showing three scales: a chromatic scale with all semitones, a C major scale with no sharps or flats, and a C natural minor scale with three flats.

Scales in music

Examples of the chromatic, major, and minor scales.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Diagram of the circle of fifths showing major and minor key signatures arranged in a circle, with sharps and flats indicated, and musical notation for each key displayed around the edge.

Circle of fifths

The visual representation of the 12 major and 12 minor musical keys, known as the...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.