Chromaticism

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Chromaticism

In music

Music

Music is an art form whose media is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics , and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture ....
, chromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic pitches and chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. Chromaticism is in contrast or addition to tonality

Tonality

Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchy pitch relationships are based on a Key "center" or Tonic . The term tonalit? originated with Alexandre-?tienne Choron and was borrowed by Fran?ois-Joseph F?tis in 1840 ....
or diatonicism (the major and minor scales). Chromatic elements are considered, "elaborations of or substitutions for diatonic scale members."

David Cope

David Cope

David Cope is an United States author, composer, scientist, and professor emeritus at the University of California, Santa Cruz. His primary area of research involves artificial intelligence and music; he writes programs and algorithms that can analyze existing music and create new compositions in the style of the original input music....
describes three forms of chromaticism: modulation, borrowed chords from secondary keys, and chromatic chords such as augmented sixth chord

Augmented sixth chord

An augmented sixth chord contains the interval of an augmented sixth above its "root." This chord has its origins in the Renaissance, further developed in the Baroque music, and became a distinctive part of the musical style of the Classical period and Romantic period periods....
s.

List of chromatic chords:

Other types of chromaticity:

As tonality

Tonality

Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchy pitch relationships are based on a Key "center" or Tonic . The term tonalit? originated with Alexandre-?tienne Choron and was borrowed by Fran?ois-Joseph F?tis in 1840 ....
began to expand during the last half of the nineteenth century, with new combinations of chords, keys and harmonies being tried, the chromatic scale and chromaticism became more widely used, especially in the works of Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, Conducting, theatre director and essayist, primarily known for his operas . Unlike most other great opera composers, Wagner wrote both the scenario and libretto for his works....
, such as the opera 'Tristan und Isolde

Tristan und Isolde

Tristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German language libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Stra?burg....
'.

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Encyclopedia

In music

Music

Tonality

David Cope

Augmented sixth chord

Dominant seventh chord
Seventh chord

A seventh chord is a chord consisting of a triad plus a note forming an interval of a seventh above the chord's root . When not otherwise specified, a "seventh chord" usually means a major triad with a flat seventh ....
s of subsidiary keys, used to create modulation
Modulation (music)

In music, modulation is most commonly the act or process of changing from one key to another. This may or may not be accompanied by a change in key signature....
s to those keys (V⁷-I cadences).
Augmented sixth chords
Neapolitan sixth chords as chromatic subdominant
Subdominant

In music, the subdominant is the technical name for the fourth tonal degree of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance "below" the Tonic as the dominant is above the tonic - in other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdominant....
s.
Diminished seventh chords as chromatic VII⁷
Altered chord
Altered chord

In music, an altered chord, an example of alteration, is a chord with one or more diatonic notes replaced by, or altered to, a neighboring pitch in the chromatic scale....
s
Expanded chords

Shir-Cliff, etc. (1965).

Other types of chromaticity:

Pitch Axis
Parallel Scales
Nonchord tone
Nonchord tone

A nonchord tone, nonharmonic tone, or non-harmony note is a Note in a piece of music which is not a part of the chord that is formed by the other notes sounding at the time....
The minor mode in major keys (mode mixture
Mode mixture

In music mode mixture or modal mixture is the use of pitch or chord from the parallel minor scale or Musical key of a piece or section....
)

Shir-Cliff, etc. (1965).

As tonality

Tonality

Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchy pitch relationships are based on a Key "center" or Tonic . The term tonalit? originated with Alexandre-?tienne Choron and was borrowed by Fran?ois-Joseph F?tis in 1840 ....
began to expand during the last half of the nineteenth century, with new combinations of chords, keys and harmonies being tried, the chromatic scale and chromaticism became more widely used, especially in the works of Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner

Tristan und Isolde

Tristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German language libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Stra?burg....
'. Increased chromaticism is often cited as one of the main causes or signs of the "break down" of tonality, in the form of increased importance or use of:

mode mixture
Mode mixture

In music mode mixture or modal mixture is the use of pitch or chord from the parallel minor scale or Musical key of a piece or section....
leading tones
tonicization
Tonicization

In music, tonicization is the treatment of a pitch other than the overall Tonic as a temporary tonic in a musical composition. Tonicization is achieved through the use of the scale and harmonies of the tonicized key....
of each chromatic step and other secondary key areas
modulatory space
Modulatory space

The spaces described in this article are pitch class spaces which model the relationships between pitch classes in some musical system. These models are often graph , group or lattice ....
hierarchical organizations of the chromatic set such as George Perle
George Perle

George Perle was a composer and music theory. He was born in Bayonne, New Jersey. A student of Ernst Krenek, Perle composed with a technique of his own devising called "twelve-tone tonality," which is different from, but related to, twelve-tone technique ....
's
the use of non-tonal chords as tonic "keys"/"scales"/"areas" such as the Tristan chord
Tristan chord

The Tristan chord is a chord made up of the notes F, B, D and G. More generally, it can be any chord that consists of these same Interval s: augmented fourth, augmented sixth, and augmented second above a root ....
.

As tonal harmony continued to widen and even break down, the chromatic scale became the basis of modern music written using the twelve tone technique, a tone row

Tone row

In music, a tone row or note row , also series and set, refers to a non-repetitive ordering of the twelve notes of the chromatic scale....
being a specific ordering or series of the chromatic scale, and later serialism

Serialism

In music, serialism is a technique for Musical composition#A musical composition that uses Set to describe Aspect of music, and allows the Permutation of those sets....
. Though these styles/methods continue to (re)incorporate tonality or tonal elements, often the trends which led to these methods were abandoned, such as modulation.

The total chromatic is the collection of all twelve equal tempered

Equal temperament

Equal temperament is a musical temperament, or a system of Musical tuning in which every pair of adjacent notes has an identical frequency ratios....
pitch classes of the chromatic scale.

Chromatic note

A chromatic note is one which does not belong to the scale of the key prevailing at the time. Similarly, a chromatic chord is one which includes one or more such notes.

A chromatic scale is one which proceeds entirely by semitones, so dividing the octave

Octave

In music, an octave The octave is occasionally referred to as a diapason.The octave above an indicated note is sometimes abbreviated 8va, and the octave below 8vb....
into twelve equal steps of one semitone each.

Chromatic chord

A chromatic chord is a musical chord

Chord (music)

In music and music theory a chord is a set of two or more different note that sound simultaneously. Most often, in European-influenced music, chords are tertian Sonority that can be constructed as stacks of thirds relative to some underlying musical scale....
that includes at least one note not belonging in the diatonic scale

Diatonic scale

In music theory, a diatonic scale is a seven note musical scale comprising five whole steps and two half steps, in which the half steps are maximally separated....
associated with the prevailing key

Key (music)

In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a certain key, such as in the key of C or in the key of F-sharp....
. In other words, at least one note of the chord is chromatically altered

Alteration

In music alteration, an example of chromaticism, is the use of a neighboring pitch in the chromatic scale in place of its diatonic neighbor such as in an altered chord....
. Any chord that is not chromatic is a diatonic chord.

For example, in the key of C major, the following chords (all diatonic) are naturally built on each degree of the scale:

I = C major triad [contains notes C E G]
ii = D minor triad [contains D F A]
iii = E minor triad [contains E G B]
IV = F major triad [contains F A C]
V = G major triad [contains G B D]
vi = A minor trad [contains A C E]
vii = B diminished triad [contains B D F]

However, a number of other chords may also be built on the degrees of the scale, and some of these are chromatic. Examples:

?II in first inversion is called the Neapolitan
Neapolitan chord

In music theory, a Neapolitan chord is a major chord built on the lowered second scale degree. It most commonly occurs in first inversion so that it is notated either as ♭II6 or N6 and normally referred to as a Neapolitan sixth chord....
sixth chord
Sixth chord

In music, a sixth chord is any Chord , or meaningful connection of notes, that contains the Interval of a sixth.The simplest example is the first inversion of a minor triad, which consists of a major third and a major sixth above the root; when the term sixth chord is used without qualification, it usually refers to such a chord....
. For example in C Major: F-A?-D?. The Neapolitan Sixth chord resolves to the V.
IV# diminished chord is the Sharpened subdominant with diminished seventh
Sharpened subdominant with diminished seventh

The sharpened subdominant with added diminished seventh Chord is something of an obscurity in music theory. It is more simply represented with the Roman notation #iv d7....
chord. For example: F#-A-C-E?. The #IV diminished chord resolves to the V. The IV# can also be understood as the tonicization
Tonicization

In music, tonicization is the treatment of a pitch other than the overall Tonic as a temporary tonic in a musical composition. Tonicization is achieved through the use of the scale and harmonies of the tonicized key....
of V where it functions vii diminished seven of the V chord, written vii°7/V.
bVI: The Augmented sixth chord
Augmented sixth chord

An augmented sixth chord contains the interval of an augmented sixth above its "root." This chord has its origins in the Renaissance, further developed in the Baroque music, and became a distinctive part of the musical style of the Classical period and Romantic period periods....
chords resolve to the V.

Connotations

Chromaticism is often associated with dissonance

Dissonance

Dissonance has several meanings, all related to conflict or incongruity:*Consonance and dissonance in music are properties of an interval or chord...
, which is commonly held to indicate negative events or feelings.

Susan McClary

Susan McClary

Susan McClary is a musicologist considered to be a significant figure in the "New Musicology". She is noted for her work combining musicology and feminism....
(1991) argues that chromaticism in opera

Opera

Opera is an Performing arts in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work which combines a text and a musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition....
tic and sonata form

Sonata form

Sonata form is a musical form that has been used widely since the early Classical music era. While it is typically used in the first Movement of multimovement pieces, it is sometimes employed in subsequent movements as well....
narratives

Narratology

Narratology is the theory and study of narrative and narrative structure and the ways they affect our perception. In principle, the word can refer to any systematic study of narrative, though in practice the use of the term is rather more restricted ....
can often be understood as the "Other", racial, sexual, class or otherwise, to diatonicism's "male" self. Whether through modulation, as to the secondary key area, or other means. For instance, Catherine Clément

Catherine Clément

Catherine Cl?ment is a prominent French philosopher, novelist, feminist, and literary critic. She received a degree in philosophy from the prestigious Ecole Normale Sup?rieure, and studied under such luminaries as Claude L?vi-Strauss and Jacques Lacan, working in the fields of anthropology and psychoanalysis....
calls the chromaticism in Wagner's Isolde "feminine stink" . However, McClary also points out that the same techniques used in opera to represent madness in women were historically highly prized in avante-garde instrumental music, "In the nineteenth-century symphony, Salome

Salome (opera)

Salome is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss to a German language libretto by the composer, based on Hedwig Lachmann?s German translation of the French language play Salome by Oscar Wilde....
s chromatic daring is what distinguishes truly serious composition of the vanguard from mere cliché

Cliché

A clich? or cliche is a saying, expression or idea which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning, especially when at some earlier time it was considered distinctively meaningful or novel, rendering it a stereotype....
-ridden hack work." (p.101)

Chromaticism

Chromatic note

Chromatic chord

Connotations

See also