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Examples of chromatic scale in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The upper limits of baritone range were successfully traveled by Jonathan Nussbaum as the humorously demonic valet, whose one-note recitative slowly, uncomfortably climbs up the chromatic scale with each line.
—Christian Hertzog, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 June 2023
Resisting this hurry, Jyoti’s voice drags, slips backward down a chromatic scale, stops, changes keys, rises, turns corners and reconsiders.
—New York Times, 11 Mar. 2021
Under its dictates, a musical work must deploy all 12 notes of the chromatic scale in precisely equal proportion throughout, foregoing the stable tonal center that had underpinned Western music for centuries.
—Margalit Fox, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2020
The quick march returns, but this time a dramatically slow rising chromatic scale for woodwinds, brass and strings brings the emotional level to its zenith with the last climactic repeat of the trio melody.
—Barrymore Laurence Scherer, WSJ, 4 Sep. 2020
The band’s lawyers argued that what little the two songs had in common — a chord progression and a descending chromatic scale — were musical elements too basic to be protected by copyright.
—Ben Sisario, New York Times, 9 Mar. 2020
At the 2016 trial, Led Zeppelin’s lawyers argued that what little the two songs had in common — similar chord progressions and a descending chromatic scale — had popped up in music for over 300 years.
—Ben Sisario, New York Times, 22 Sep. 2019
The overture began promisingly, sedate and serene — with the Pilgrim’s Chorus theme, which returns near the end in the brasses, played over quiet, downward chromatic scales in the strings.
—Joshua Barone, New York Times, 26 July 2019
One method, the Von Luschan chromatic scale, invented 36 different categories by comparing skin color to opaque colored tiles.
—Arielle Pardes, WIRED, 26 Apr. 2018
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Word History
First Known Use
circa 1789, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of chromatic scale was
circa 1789
Dictionary Entries Near chromatic scale
Cite this Entry
“Chromatic scale.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chromatic%20scale. Accessed 24 Nov. 2024.
Kids Definition
chromatic scale
noun
: a musical scale that has all half steps
More from Merriam-Webster on chromatic scale
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about chromatic scale
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