Hi All

I am completely at a loss here. I'll be doing Grade 5 on October 29 and started working on my horrid writing of chromatic scales. I use The AB Guide to Music Theory and my Scales and Arpeggios for Flute (ABRSM) book for practice, along with the Music Theory in Practice (ABRSM).

The AB Guide states that a harmonic chromatic scale has all notes twice - except for the keynote at the beginning and the end and the 5th degree. When I take A minor for example that would result in

A B B C C D D E F F G G A

It further states that the 2nd degree is flattened and the 4th degree is sharpened. Which would then result in the example (in my opinion) in

A Bb B C C D #D E F F G G A

When I go along with that, the end result is (in my opinion)

A Bb B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A

However, the Scales and Arpeggios for Flute writes the chromatic scale

A Bb B C C# D Eb E F F# G G# A

Why is it suddenly the 4th degree and not the 5th, were the note is not written twice on the stave?

And why is it that the chromatic scale in F and in C both start with a key note written twice on the stave? Does that mean these are not harmonic but melodic chromatic scales? And is there a rule what other note is only written once? Because the AB book does not say anything about that. How do I figure out whether a harmonic or a melodic scale is asked for?

Please, can somebody shed light into this mystery?

Thank you very much.

That's how I would do it and have done since 1976. If you have understood the method then stick to it and do not worry about the other issue - there is always more than one way to crack an egg.

Does anyone know the rationale for the AB method? For a start, the chromatic scale doesn't have a key, so it's an arbitrary convention that the starting note should be called the keynote. Then:
Consider applying that to B.

B Cb(???) ... E E# F# ...


The practical way of writing a chromatic scale is to use sharps ascending and flats descending, so as to minimise or avoid natural signs. That is what I would always prefer to read, and would always write in a score or part: the less space you use the more likely you are to find a sensible place to turn the page. Of course, to pass the AB exam you do what they tell you.

If you look at the Grade 5 workbook it gives you about 3 different ways of doing the same chromatic scale. It also says that there should be at least one, and not more than two notes for each line and space.

Thanks everyone for this, it is very helpful - the pink AB book is very hard to understand unless you understand it already!

I couldn't understand the pink book at all. Get Pass Grade Five Theory by Dorothy Dingle. I understodd that perfectly and ended up with a distinction at Grade 5 Theory.

I think the difference is that the former is more of a reference book for use with other materials and the latter particularly structured for exam preparation.
I think that one 'problem' people have with the pink book is that each chapter covers a topic in a way that if you are starting at the beginning and just reading through you are getting too much information at once.

The pink book actually works just fine for me. But then again, I have had musical experience for some decades now which either needed refreshing or which needed some suggestions what I might lack in knowledge. For this, it really is quite nice since I look up a lot of things in Wikipedia and other sources (books like Der Versuch einer Anweisung die Flauto Traversiere zu spielen by Quantz). However, sometimes I get stuck because I cannot picture in my mind how something is done and this was such a case. Thanks for all the answers.

I think the Scales and Arpeggios for Flute is best to get to know how to play the scales and Arpeggios. Be aware of thinking about the diminished seventh as they are written in that book, they seem to make no sense at all.
I use that book only to sometimes look up if I am right with what I am playing (especially with the diminished seventh). Beside that my scales practice is one major key a day (or right now two major keys). I first play the major scale, then the chord, then the dominant seventh and diminished seventh. Followed by the chromatical scale starting on the note, afterwords harmonic minor and melodic minor and the minor chord. I go the circle of fith round and decieded to do f# major and g flat major. My main attendance is to concentrate on what my fingers have to do and to first think about the single notes I have to play for each key. If you like some variety, it might be worth to have a look at No. 4 from Taffanel/Gaubert - 17 Grandes Exercices Journaliers de Mecanisme.
On the long run, I think it is important to get to know how the different scales and arpeggios must sound.

When writing chromatic scales wouldn't it make sense to do so in the Key a piece is written in? I mean, if it is mainly B minor harmonic then a harmonic chromatic scale would make more sense than a melodic one. Wouldn't you think so? And the right key should prevent the too many sharps, flats or neutral signs.

The only way key would be a consideration for me would be when taking into account the key signature when deciding on chromatic notes.
Managed grade 8 theory without knowing that there was more than one way of describing a chromatic scale.....

I guess, I just have to admit that I am not only learning for the exams but for my future musical life. Never know what I need some knowledge for at a later point.

Oh dear. I just bought the pink and blue books in Spanish for use here.

They are fine to use a reference books.
If you read from beginning to end of the pink book you will have covered every topic area in at least enough depth for grade 5 but without having applied any of that knowledge. If you can learn well that way then you won't need anything other than maybe past papers. I think the better way is to use it in conjunction with your choice of workbook. The AB workbooks refer you to the right pages for reference.

Yes. What sbhoa wrote is correct. I always work with the additional Theory Workbooks. And that is a lot of help. Additionally, I try to write down certain things from memory on note paper. Like - in relation to the thread's topic - the chromatic scale. I have a litte "lottery"; pieces of paper on which I wrote the name of each scale. And each day I do at least one, better two. Chromatic scales, Triads etc. on just a plain paper with a stave on it. Helps a great deal. Even the work book is not enough to memorize that otherwise correctly.

I don't think it matters how you write the scale! AB seem to accept almost any reasonable version, providing, as has already been said, that there are either one or two notes on each step. After all, what is a scale? Either it's a flourish in the middle of a piece, in which case you just need to write it so that the player can make sense of it easily, or it's a kind of inventory of notes to be used in that key; isolated chromatic notes in a piece of music don't come from some pre-ordained scale, they come from the context, which is why so many beginner books have a bluesy piece which uses an E-D#-E pattern on one line, and an Eb-D-Eb pattern on the next - because in the first instance that same key on the piano is, melodically, clearly the note below E, and has to look like it, and in the second it is the note above D, and has to look like it.

Really don't lose much sleep over the chormatic sclae. Not more than two notes per letter, and avoiding causing naturals or white sharps/flats should sort it.