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forte 1979 18 because diatonic scale is itself ambiguous distinguishing intervals is also ambiguous p for example the interval b e a diminished fourth occurring in c harmonic minor is considered diatonic if the harmonic minor scale is considered diatonic 23 but chromatic if the harmonic minor scale is not considered diatonic 24 forte lists the chromatic intervals in major and natural minor as the augmented unison diminished octave augmented fifth diminished fourth augmented third diminished sixth diminished third augmented sixth minor second major seventh major second minor seventh doubly diminished fifth and doubly augmented fourth 25 additionally the label chromatic or diatonic for an interval may depend on context for instance in c major the interval c e could be considered a chromatic interval because it does not appear in the prevailing diatonic key conversely in c minor it would be diatonic this usage is still subject to the categorization of scales above e g in the b e example above classification would still depend on whether the harmonic minor scale is considered diatonic in different systems of tuning edit audio playback is not supported in your browser you can download the audio file pythagorean diatonic and chromatic interval e f and e e compare c e c f c e in cases where intervals are enharmonically equivalent there is no difference in tuning and therefore in sound between them for example in 12 tone equal temperament and its multiples the notes f and e represent the same pitch so the diatonic interval c f a perfect fourth sounds the same as its enharmonic equivalent the chromatic interval c e an augmented third however in the majority of other tunings such as 19 tone and 31 tone equal temperament there is a difference in tuning between notes that are enharmonically equivalent in 12 tone equal temperament in systems based on a cycle of fifths such as pythagorean tuning and meantone temperament these intervals are labelled diatonic or chromatic intervals under a generalized meantone tuning notes such as g and a are not enharmonically equivalent but are instead different by an amount known as a diesis instruments limited to 12 pitches per octave can only produce a chain of 11 fifths resulting in a break at the ends of the chain this causes intervals that cross the break to be written as augmented or diminished chromatic intervals with the most notable example being the wolf fifth which is actually a diminished sixth that occurs when 12 note per octave keyboards are tuned to meantone temperaments whose fifths are flatter than those in 12 tone equal temperament in a generalized meantone temperament chromatic semitones e e are smaller than or equal to diatonic semitones e f in size 26 with consonant intervals such as the major third the nearby interval a diminished fourth in the case of a major third is generally less consonant if the tritone is assumed diatonic the classification of written intervals on this definition is not significantly different from the drawn from the same diatonic scale definition above as long as the harmonic minor and ascending melodic minor scale variants are not included chords edit by chromatic linear chord is meant simply a chord entirely of linear origin which contains one or more chromatic notes a great many of these chords are to be found in the literature allen forte 1979 27 bernhard ziehn s 1907 list of diatonic triads diatonic seventh chords and two examples of diatonic ninth chords the large and small ninth chords all from the c major or the c harmonic minor scale 28 diatonic chords are generally understood as those that are built using only notes from the same diatonic scale all other chords are considered chromatic however given the ambiguity of diatonic scale this definition too is ambiguous and for some theorists chords are only ever diatonic in a relative sense the augmented triad e g b is diatonic to or in c minor clarification needed 29 on this understanding the diminished seventh chord built on the leading note is accepted as diatonic in minor keys 30 if the strictest understanding of the term diatonic scale is adhered to whereby only transposed white note scales are considered diatonic even a major triad on the dominant scale degree in c minor g b d would be chromatic or altered in c minor q some writers weasel words use the phrase diatonic to as a synonym for belonging to therefore a chord is not said to be diatonic in isolation but can be said to be diatonic to a particular key if its notes belong to the underlying diatonic scale of the key harmony edit the chromatic expansion of tonality which characterizes much of nineteenth century music is illustrated in miniature by the substitution of a chromatic harmony for an expected diatonic harmony this technique resembles the deceptive cadence which involves the substitution of another diatonic chord for the expected diatonic goal harmony 32 in the major mode a substitute chromatic consonance often proves to be a triad which has been taken from the parallel minor mode this process assimilation is called mixture of mode or simply mixture four consonant triads from the minor mode may replace their counterparts in the major mode these we call chromatic triads by mixture 33 allen forte 1979 the words diatonic and chromatic are also applied inconsistently to harmony often musicians call diatonic harmony any kind of harmony inside the major minor system of common practice when diatonic harmony is understood in this sense the supposed term chromatic harmony means little because chromatic chords are also used in that same system at other times especially in textbooks and syllabuses for musical composition or music theory diatonic harmony means harmony that uses only diatonic chords r according to this usage chromatic harmony is then harmony that extends the available resources to include chromatic chords the augmented sixth chords the neapolitan sixth chromatic seventh chords etc s since the word harmony can be used of single classes of chords dominant harmony e minor harmony for example diatonic harmony and chromatic harmony can be used in this distinct way also t however chromatic harmony may be defined as the use of successive chords that are from two different keys and therefore contain tones represented by the same note symbols but with different accidentals 35 four basic techniques produce chromatic harmony under this definition modal interchange secondary dominants melodic tension and chromatic mediants 35 instrumental compositions of the late renaissance and early baroque periods also began experimenting with the expressive possibilities of contrasting diatonic passages of music with chromatic ones here for example is part of the virginal piece his humour by giles farnaby the title humour should be interpreted as meaning mood here the first four bars are largely diatonic these are followed by a passage exploiting chromatic harmony with the upper part forming an ascending followed by a descending chromatic scale farnaby his humour farnaby his humour in the following passage from the slow movement of beethoven s piano concerto no 4 op 58 the long flowing melody of the first five bars is almost entirely diatonic consisting of notes within the scale of e minor the movement s home key the only exception is the g sharp in the left hand in the third bar by contrast the remaining bars are highly chromatic using all the notes available to convey a sense of growing intensity as the music builds towards its expressive climax beethoven piano concerto 4 slow movement bars 47 55 beethoven piano concerto 4 slow movement bars 47 55 a further example may be found in this extract from act 3 of richard wagner s opera die walküre the first four bars harmonize a descending chromatic scale with a rich intoxicating chord progression in contrast the bars that follow are entirely diatonic using notes only within the scale of e major the passage is intended to convey the god wotan putting his daughter brünnhilde into a deep sleep wagner die walküre act 3 magic sleep music wagner die walküre act 3 magic sleep music miscellaneous usages edit tones edit notes which do not belong to the key those that lie within the major 2nds of the diatonic scale are called chromatic notes allen forte 1979 13 in modern usage the meanings of the terms diatonic note tone and chromatic note tone vary according to the meaning of the term diatonic scale generally not universally a note is understood as diatonic in a context if it belongs to the diatonic scale that is used in that context otherwise it is chromatic inflection edit the term chromatic inflection alternatively spelt inflexion is used in two senses alteration of a note that makes it or the harmony that includes it chromatic rather than diatonic 36 melodic movement between a diatonic note and a chromatically altered variant from c to c in g major or vice versa for example 37 progression edit the term chromatic progression is used in three senses movement between harmonies that are not elements of any common diatonic system that is not of the same diatonic scale movement from d f a to d f a for example 38 the same as the second sense of chromatic inflection above 39 in musica ficta and similar contexts a melodic fragment that includes a chromatic semitone and therefore includes a chromatic inflection in the second sense above 40 the term diatonic progression is used in two senses movement between harmonies that both belong to at least one shared diatonic system from f a c to g b e for example since both occur in c major 41 in musica ficta and similar contexts a melodic fragment that does not include a chromatic semitone even if two semitones occur contiguously as in f g a 40 vague modulation edit diatonic modulation is modulation via a diatonic progression 42 chromatic modulation is modulation via a chromatic progression in the first sense given above 42 pentatonic scale edit one very common kind of pentatonic scale that draws its notes from the diatonic scale in the exclusive sense above is sometimes called the diatonic pentatonic scale c d e g a c or some other modal arrangement of those notes other pentatonic scales such as the pelog scales may also be construed as reduced forms of a diatonic scale but are not labelled diatonic 43 modern extensions edit traditionally and in all uses discussed above the term diatonic has been confined to the domain of pitch and in a fairly restricted way exactly which scales and even which modes of those scales should count as diatonic is unsettled as shown above but the broad selection principle itself is not disputed at least as a theoretical convenience extended pitch selections edit the selection of pitch classes can be generalised to encompass formation of non traditional scales 16 or a larger set of underlying pitch classes may be used instead for example the octave may be divided into varying numbers of equally spaced pitch classes the usual number is twelve giving the conventional set used in western music but paul zweifel 44 uses a group theoretic approach to analyse different sets concluding especially that a set of twenty divisions of the octave is another viable option for retaining certain properties associated with the conventional diatonic selections from twelve pitch classes rhythms edit it is possible to generalise this selection principle even beyond the domain of pitch the diatonic idea has been applied in analysis of some traditional african rhythms for example some selection or other is made from an underlying superset of metrical beats to produce a diatonic rhythmic scale embedded in an underlying metrical matrix some of these selections are diatonic in a way similar to the traditional diatonic selections of pitch classes that is a selection of seven beats from a matrix of twelve beats perhaps even in groupings that match the tone and semitone groupings of diatonic scales but the principle may also be applied with even more generality including even any selection from a matrix of beats of any size 45 see also edit major and minor notes edit often diatonic and chromatic are treated as mutually exclusive opposites concerning common practice music this article deals mainly with common practice music and later music that shares the same core features including the same particular use of tonality harmonic and melodic idioms and types of scales chords and intervals where other music is dealt with this is specially noted this definition encompasses the natural minor scale and equivalently the descending melodic minor the major scale and the ecclesiastical modes for inclusion of the harmonic minor and the ascending melodic minor see the section modern meanings of diatonic scale in this article translating the term used by greek theorists γένος génos plural γένη génē the english word diatonic is ultimately from the greek διατονικός diatonikós itself from διάτονος diátonos of disputed etymology most plausibly it refers to the intervals being stretched out in that tuning in contrast to the other two tunings whose lower two intervals were referred to as πυκνόν pyknón from πυκνός pyknós dense compressed for more information especially concerning the various exact tunings of the diatonic tetrachord see diatonic genus chromatic is from greek χρωματικός khrōmatikós itself from χρῶμα khrṓma which means complexion hence colour or specifically as a musical term a modification of the simplest music liddell and scott s greek lexicon for more information especially concerning the various exact tunings of the chromatic tetrachord see chromatic genus in practice tetrachord τετράχορδον tetrákhordon also meant the instrument itself and it could also mean the interval of a perfect fourth between the pitches of the fixed top and bottom strings therefore the various tunings were called divisions of the tetrachord see oed tetrachord for general and introductory coverage of greek theory see tuning and temperament a historical survey barbour j murray 2004 reprint of 1972 edition isbn 0 486 43406 0 these meanings in greek theory are the ultimate source of the meanings of the words today but through a great deal of modification and confusion in medieval times it would therefore be a mistake to consider the greek system and the subsequent western systems medieval renaissance or contemporary as closely similar simply because of the use of similar terms the categories of the diatonic chromatic and enharmonic genera developed within the framework of monodic musical culture and have little in common with the corresponding categories of modern music theory 5 there were several greek systems in any case what is presented here is merely a simplification of theory that spans several centuries from the time of pythagoras c 580 bce c 500 bce through aristoxenus c 362 bce after 320 bce to such late theorists as alypius of alexandria fl 360 ce specifically there are more versions of each o...