Chromatic Scale Chart

This is an interactive diagram of a chromatic scale covering two octaves. By clicking on the grid with your mouse you can explore this chart directly. Alternatively, navigate using keys on your computer keyboard actualy.

Each pitch is linked to its frequency, staff position and interval. As soon as you choose a tonic note the interface will change and display all the other pitches that relates to it. You can choose the note to be used as your ‘root’ then the main section will display a grid containing notes over a span of two octaves from that chosen note. Each cell shows the note name, its coordinate relative to the tonic, and the interval quality. Tapping on a cell will light it and play the note.

How to Use the Chromatic Scale Chart

Below the grid are images of the same range of notes on a staff and a piano keyboard. These help you visually connect the abstract world of intervals with where they occur on a score and under your fingers.

You can also change the reference tonic from the dropdown menu. This shifts the whole chart to help you analyze scales in various keys without losing your position on the interval structure. It will reset to that tonic when you choose another and then recalculate the intervals based off the selected tonic.

Switching the notation convention toggle between sharps or flats enables you to change how enharmonic notes is notated. It won’t alter what sounds but just how it’s displayed in the text.

In this example, I’ve shown how the step route control highlights one of its patterns on the grid in gold. This time I’ve selected minor thirds as an interval, or you can choose semitones or whole tones to see how they step through the chromatic space. This is also a visual aid to help you find symmetries and other pattern within the scale.

The pace and direction controls allow you to adjust how the automatic demo moves around the highlighted steps. It will move up, down or even out and back at the pace you prefer. To listen back to the marked coordinates simply hit the trace button and it will play them out one by one. The sound is clear, with a bell-like celesta tone that sounds good when you are testing it out.

You can adjust the volume of the playback using the resonance slider. To silence any currently playing notes, just hit the dampen button. That way you have complete control over what you hear as you explore.

The keyboard shortcuts provide an instant method of navigation (no mouse required). To select a single semitone up or down from the current selection use the left / right arrows. Hit the space bar to play the chosen note. This lets you explore the scale smoothly and in a straight line, uninterrupted.

Simply click on the fullscreen button to maximise the screen space available to the chart. A handy help panel is available if you forget how any of the controls function.

To test it out, try following other intervals around the scale and altering the tonic key. Then swap between flat and sharps to see how note name affect your perception of the same pitch. Double-check your ability to read notes further up and down the staff too. If you’re after accurate information, the readout along the base shows the hertz value exactly.

It’s meant to be a dynamic, exploratory resource and not an inflexible piece of paper. Spend some time with it trying out the options until you discover which combination suits your leaning style best. Use the visual or sound to help you understand how you are grasping the pitch relationship.

First, choose a key that you are comfortabley with. Then, click on each note individually. Next automate the playthrough so you can clearly hear how the patterns unfold.