All twelve pitch classes in ascending order, each a half step from the next. On the guitar it is every fret on every string. It is a reference set rather than a scale in the tonal sense, because no degree functions as a tonic.
1 = C#
2 = D
3 = D#
4 = E
5 = F
6 = F#
7 = G
8 = G#
9 = A
10 = A#
11 = B
12 = C
Root
C# (also written Db)
Scale
Chromatic
Type
chromatic
Notes
C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C
Notes in the scale
12
Degree formula
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Semitones from the root
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Step pattern
H H H H H H H H H H H H
Key signature of this root
C# major / A# minor · F# C# G# D# A# E# B#
Written use
Named by semitone position. Used as a fingering and reading exercise, and as the source of the twelve chromatic notes of the fretboard.
Notes and degrees
Each degree of the scale, its note name in this key, and its distance from the root in semitones.
Degree
Note
Semitones
Interval from the root
1
C#
0
Perfect unison
tonic
2
D
1
Minor second
3
D#
2
Major second
4
E
3
Minor third
5
F
4
Major third
6
F#
5
Perfect fourth
7
G
6
Tritone
8
G#
7
Perfect fifth
9
A
8
Minor sixth
10
A#
9
Major sixth
11
B
10
Minor seventh
12
C
11
Major seventh
Positions on the guitar
The five windows below are computed, not copied from a shape chart. The script locates the lowest
occurrence of C# on each of the five upper strings within the first twelve frets and takes a
five-fret window centred on it. Because a scale repeats every twelve frets, these five windows cover
the whole neck; the same sequence returns an octave higher. The positions are numbered from the lowest
fret upwards, so position 1 is always the window nearest the nut and position 5 the window nearest the
twelfth fret.
Position 1 — frets 0–4
Root on the 2nd string B3 at fret 2. 30 notes of the scale inside this window.
Read the grid as a chord diagram: the top row is the first string. Degrees appear in the
notes and degrees table above; a filled cell is a note of the scale, and the shaded cell is the tonic.
Related keys and modes
Mode/KeyC# majorthe seven diatonic notes inside it