Going chromatic refers to using all the notes in the 12-note chromatic musical scale. This includes playing all the sharps and flats between the natural notes. It provides more tonal options and color than just using the basic major or minor scales. Understanding chromaticism opens up new possibilities for musicians and composers.
What is the Chromatic Scale?
The chromatic scale includes all twelve notes in Western music within one octave. The notes are:
C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B
This comprises the natural white notes on a piano keyboard along with all the black notes in between. It is called chromatic because it allows for greater color and shading than the simpler major (Ionian mode) and minor (Aeolian mode) diatonic scales.
How is the Chromatic Scale Used in Music?
Music that uses only the notes in a diatonic scale can sound pleasant but somewhat plain. Adding notes from outside the key creates interest through dissonance and chromaticism. Chromatic notes add flavor through temporary tonal clashes or by emphasizing the resolution back to diatonic notes.
Some ways musicians utilize chromatic notes include:
- Melodic chromaticism – Melodies that use chromatic passing tones between diatonic notes
- Harmonic chromaticism – Chords that contain notes from outside the key
- modulation from one key to another
- Key changes within a composition
Composers sprinkle chromatic notes into their music to make it more emotionally expressive. This technique became especially prominent in the music of the Romantic era in the 19th century.
Types of Chromaticism
There are various techniques composers employ to introduce chromatic notes into a composition that is otherwise centered around a diatonic scale. Some common types of chromaticism include:
Passing Tones
Passing tones are nonchord tones that fill in the space between two diatonic notes of a melody by step. This helps make melodic lines more fluid and interesting. For example, in the key of C major, playing an E – Eb – D melody utilizes chromatic passing tones.
Neighbor Tones
Neighbor tones are nonchord tones that decorate a melody by moving to an adjacent diatonic note and then back. For instance, playing a B – C – B melody in the key of C employs the chromatic tone C.
Escape Tones
Escape tones are nonchord tones where a melody leaps away from a note and then returns to it by step. A sample escape tone movement would be E – F# – G in the key of C major.
Appoggiaturas
Appoggiaturas are accented nonchord tones that suspend the next chord tone they then resolve to. They create dissonance before the satisfying resolution. An example is playing an F – E melody over a C major chord.
Secondary Dominants
Secondary dominants are chords from outside the key that are treated temporarily as if they were V (dominant) chords. This chromatic harmony adds interest and drive before phrases cadence back in the tonic key. For instance, using D major (V/vi in C major) can precede an A minor chord.
Modal Interchange
Borrowing chords from parallel minor or major keys is called modal interchange. Their chromatic colors spice up the prevailing major or minor tonality. For example, a C major song can integrate chords like Fm and Ab from C minor.
Common-tone Diminished 7th Chords
These dissonant chords contain a tritone interval and share a common tone with the next chord. They heighten the sense of resolution in a progression, like using a viiø7 (Bdim7) before a I chord (C) in C major.
Enharmonic Modulations
Enharmonic modulations pivot between keys by interpreting an altered chord as belonging to a different key with the same pitches. For example, an E7 chord could act as V/vi in A minor or V/I in Bb major.
Benefits of Chromaticism
Incorporating chromaticism into music offers many advantages:
- Adds color and shading to melodies and chords
- Increases emotional expressiveness
- Builds tension and excitement
- Expands the palette of tonal options
- Allows smoother voice-leading in harmony and counterpoint
- Makes modulation to distant keys possible through pivot chords
- Enables more flexibility in development sections
- Heightens drama at cadence points
While diatonic scales and harmonies sound pleasant and consonant, too much diatonicism can become dull and monotonous. Chromaticism provides the spark that makes music come alive.
Challenges of Chromaticism
Despite its advantages, chromaticism also poses some difficulties for composers and performers:
- Can obscure the tonal center if overused
- Complex chromatic chords are difficult to play correctly
- Requires great voice-leading skill to handle smoothly
- Demands good pitch discrimination by performers and listeners
- Makes reading and memorizing music more challenging
- Imitative counterpoint is harder to write chromatically
- The effects can be lost if chromaticism seems arbitrary or academic
Master composers are able to balance diatonic structure with artful application of chromatic techniques. They integrate chromaticism to provide just the right amount of piquancy to enrich the music.
History of Chromaticism
While music has contained various shades of chromaticism for centuries, the Romantic era saw its extensive use and development. Some highlights in the story of chromaticism include:
| Time Period | Developments |
|---|---|
| Medieval | Early use of notes outside modes and hexachords |
| Renaissance | Accidentals added for color; false relations between polyphonic voices |
| Baroque | Tierce de Picardie cadences; Split-sharp enharmonic notation |
| Classical | Mozart’s chromatic experiments; Beethoven’s chord alterations |
| Romantic | Extensive chromaticism in Wagner, Liszt, Berlioz, Mahler |
| 20th Century | Highly chromatic writing in Impressionists; atonality of Schoenberg |
As musical language developed, composers realized the vast expressive potential of pitches outside the prevailing key and traditional rules. This freedom helped fuel Romanticism, Impressionism, atonality, and innovative harmonies in later eras.
Famous Examples of Chromaticism
Many celebrated compositions showcase adventurous use of chromaticism:
- Bach – Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue
- Mozart – Chromatic scale in solo woodwinds (The Magic Flute)
- Wagner – Tristan chord; Chromatic harmonies in Tristan und Isolde
- Chopin – Nocturnes with chromatic melodies and harmonies
- Liszt – Chromatic experimentation in late piano works
- Debussy – Whole-tone and pentatonic scales; exotic impressionism
- Ravel – Chromaticism to evoke ambiguous tonality; jazz influences
- Mahler – Complex chromatic counterpoint and modulations
- Scriabin – Mystic chord derived from harmonic overtone series
- Schoenberg – Emancipation of dissonance; 12-tone method
These pioneering chromatic techniques opened new worlds of expression and greatly expanded music’s color palette.
Using Chromaticism Today
Chromaticism continues to offer contemporary composers powerful ways to make their music more poignant. Even within genres like rock, pop, and jazz, chromatic chords, melodies, and progressions abound. Songwriters today have countless chromatic tools available, from secondary dominants to modal mixture.
At the same time, too much unguided chromaticism can lose direction. Great composers integrate chromatic elements for maximum musical-dramatic impact. With mastery and subtleness, chromaticism provides the perfect accent to bring music to life.
Conclusion
Chromaticism breathes vibrant new colors into music through the use of notes outside the prevailing key or scale. Composers employ techniques like chromatic harmonies, passing tones, modal interchange and enharmonic modulations to make their works more expressive and adventuresome. While chromaticism became deeply integral during the Romantic era, composers today continue finding fresh ways to harness its power. When used skillfully, it can add just the right spice to music to profoundly move and engage listeners.
