The Chromatic Scale
Using sharps you can now play five new notes, which occur between the seven natural notes you already know. The following exercise uses all twelve notes which occur within one octave of music. It is an example of a Chromatic Scale.
Chromatic scales consist entirely of semitones (i.e. they move up or down one fret at a time) and the start and finish notes are always the same (this is called the keynote or tonic). The chromatic scale uses all twelve notes used in western music and can begin on any note. Note that in the example below, there are no sharps between Band C, or E and F. This is because they are a semitone apart and there is no room for an extra note between them. Play the exercise slowly and steadily, making sure you use the correct fingering.
The 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 the following example
Now play this example which makes use of both sharp and natural signs. Play it slowly at first and say the name of each note out loud as you play it.
To improve your knowledge of sharps and natural signs, find each of the following notes on the fretboard of your guitar. Write the name of each note above or below the note if necessary.
