Hiya,
I've been getting on with grade 4 theory material and I'm just starting to look at the questions on chromatic scales in MTiP. I understand the concept of a chromatic scale and I also understand that you musn't add unnecessary accidentals. Most of these questions I can do with a bit of thought, but the occasional one really throws me. I'm just wondering if anyone has any tip/tricks for a method to approach this question that I can use every time to help me.

At the moment I tackle the question like this
1) Draw out a keyboard on the page so I don't get confused about which note on the keyboard i'm tackling.
2) Find out what note i'm supposed to start on and put this in.
3) Make sure i'm clear about whether it should be ascending/descending.
4) Mark in the notes from the key signature that are sharps/flats.
5) Work back/forwards from these notes so I don't add any extra accidentals in.

It's the step 5 bit that gets a bit confusing!
.....maybe the accidental signs are just starting to move around on the page

It might be simpler to just start at one end of the scale and work to the other. You have to use each letter name at least once but not more than twice. Drawing the keyboard is an excellent way of visualising the notes and then it is a question of making sure that you have used each one and not broken the rule about only using each letter maximum of twice.

I don't think there are any other particular rules...anyone?

There are two forms of chromatic scale; the harmonic form and the melodic form. There are set rules for writing each one and a glance in a decent theory book will explain all.

Oops, another black hole in my musical knowledge!

Correct me if i'm wrong, but surely for grade 4 you don't need to know about harmonic/melodic chromatic scales? (I don't remember learning/ being asked about them)

Hi, I am sure you don't need to know the difference between melodic and harmonic chromatic scales for Grade 4 (or 5 for that matter, as far as I know). There are some notes on this in the very helpful reference book "The AB Guide to Music Theory" (Eric Taylor) Part I, where they say the harmonic chromatic scale is the same whether ascending or descending and whether it occurs in a major or a minor key. In this type of chromatic scale every degree of the scale has to be written twice, except the 5th and the key-note (which occurs at the bottom and at the top). The melodic chormatic is much less rigid in its construction and differs in its ascending and descending form (e.g. sharps ascending and flats descending) but musicians don't agree exactly on hot it is formed (so why should we know?!).
What you may be asked to do is turn a given set of (8) notes into an (ascending or descending) chromatic scale and you should be careful never to add an unnecessary flat/sharp which may already be part of the signature, or forget to flatten/sharpen a note which is natural as per key signature or forget to return a note to its previous pitch if that's required in the progression. Good luck in your exam!
J.

Juan has outlined it correctly. Teachers should know the difference between harmonic and melodic, but I for one don't give people these terms, I just show them an easy way to do it.

Find the starting note from the description in the question and write it down. If it's a descending question start on the right hand side of the stave and work backwards. You then draw two semibreves on the next line/space, two on the next, two on the next, one on the next, two on the next, two on the next and then the final note, giving thirteen in all. You've then created the frame where you can put your accidentals on. You will hopefully see that amongst all the "double notes" there are three single note: the first note of the scale, the "fifth" and the last.

You might need to draw some double sharps/flats with this method, but it is generally foolproof, especially if you have drawn a keyboard to help you.

I agree with JohnS - this is the method I suggest to students.

Same pattern as JohnS but I teach it via intervals which make up the harmonic version.

From my starting note ascending I go:

Minor 2nd, major 2nd, minor 3rd, major 3rd, perfect 4th, augmented 4th, perfect 5th
minor 6th, major 6th, minor 7th, major 7th, perfect octave.

For example: C Db D Eb E F F# G Ab A Bb B C remembering to put all the natural signs in where needed when writing out as notes.

I find this foolproof and works everytime. I ignore the melodic version which starts with a chromatic semitone C C# etc

I must also admit total ignorance of the distinction between harmonic and melodic chromatic scales, despite grade 5 theory, 'O' level and 'A' level music and many years of playing.

So, giving that a distinction is made, where is it important? I understand the difference between C# and Db in the context of a key, but chromatic scales are not really in a key. Is it simply a question of not repeating accidentals which are in the key signature?

Chris

Excellent. Just the sort of method I was after I take it this doesn't add extra accidentals.... I'll try it out. I wondered whether there was some sort of pattern about where best to put the single notes. Thanks for all the tips everyone.
I've been working from "The AB guide to music theory" , "First steps..." and MTiP. I did pick up on the existence of harmonic/melodic chromatic scales, but yep, it's not in grade 4. "First Steps.." only mentioned a couple of pointers re no of notes on a line/in a space and avoiding unnecessary accidentals, MTiP didn't give any extra details and I did read the "AB guide..." carefully, but because it's not ordered in increasing levels of difficultly, but into subject related sections it can be hard to pick out the information I need and interpret the new ideas - it can be a bit "information overload" sometimes .

Nevermind - I quote a rather caustic comment in the "AB guide.." : "... no one need lose any sleep over them (chromatic scales) since composers themselves never have"

I got interested in your question and had a quick look on New Grove for an answer to 'why' the difference. I think you are just about right in that harmonic and chromatic differences are to do with perception of key dating back to medieval times. For example, the notes used might decide whether a passage was using truly chromatic chords or whether the music was actually in a diatonic key.




New Grove is free on-line via our local library system

I'd take key signature out of the equation.

The chromatic scale was on the November Grade 5 exam. I was mistakenly under the impression you didn't need to know it for G5. Juan's post has informed me why I didn't do well on that question!!

Me too.

Just to clarify, JohnS, if you're doing a descending scale and working backwards from the right hand side of the stave, after you've put the notes on the stave... do you add the accidentals in working from the left hand side or from the right hand? I added them from the left hand side and ended up with more cancellations than I reckon i'm probably supposed to have, so i'm wondering if I should have done it the other way around. Probably a daft question ... but nothing is ever foolproof when you're dealing with me!

Yes, you're right - it's from the left hand side you put in the accidentals. I forgot to put that bit in earlier!