The Chromatic Scale
The chromatic scale is a sequence of semitones and includes every possible note within one octave. Here is the C chromatic scale:
The same scale could be written using flats. However, it is more common to do this when descending:
Because each chromatic scale contains every possible note within one octave, once you have learnt one you have basically learnt them all. As an example, the A chromatic scale contains exactly the same notes as the C chromatic scale. The only difference is that they start on different notes. The starting note of any scale is referred to as the root or key note.
Here is one octave of the A chromatic scale. If you have trouble playing it at first, remember that all the notes are a semitone apart, which means the fingering distances between all the notes are identical.
The Natural Sign
This is a natural sign.
A natural sign cancels the effect of a sharp or flat for the rest of that bar, or until another sharp or flat sign occurs within that bar.
A sharpened note stays sharp until either a bar line or a natural sign (@) cancels it as in this example.
