The Chromatic Scale on the Pedal Steel Guitar

The Chromatic Scale

Playing all 12 semitones between any two octaves makes up a chromatic scale. The chromatic scale is named for the note which starts and ends it. For example, a "C" chromatic scale is all the notes (all the frets on a guitar or all the white and black keys on a piano) between any two C's.

Chromatic Scale

As you can see in the C Chromatic Scale, 5 of the 12 semitones have sharps next to them. These are called accidentals. Accidentals are notes that are sharper or flatter (higher or lower) than the note next to them.

The accidentals in the C chromatic are C#, D#, F#, G#, and A#.

These "sharp" accidentals can also be called by their "flat" names: Db, Eb, Gb, Ab, and Bb. That is to say, C# and Db are enharmonic. They are the same note with different names:
C# = Db
D# = Eb
F# = Gb
G# = Ab
A# = Bb

Chromatic Scale with Flats

The chromatic scale can start on any note. For example, if we started on F# and go up to the next F#, playing all the notes in between, we have the "F# chromatic scale."

F# Chromatic Scale

A lot of times, musicians will talk about scales with their interval numbers (or scale numbers) rather than their notes. So they will talk about the C Chromatic as

1-m2-2-m3-3-4-m5-5-m6-6-m7-7-8

Instead of

C-C#-D-D#-E-F-F#-G-G#-A-A#-B-C.

The reason is that the numbers will be the same no matter which note you start on. So F# chromatic is still comprised of these interval numbers: 1-m2-2-m3-3-4-m5-5-m6-6-m7-7-8. It's just that 1 is F# instead of C in this case. Likewise, a chromatic scale starting on G or Bb or any other note will result in the same interval numbers.

There will be more info on this later.

Playing the Chromatic

There are four different ways to play any scale on the pedal steel guitar, including the chromatic.

These are:

1. Horizontally (across the neck from left to right)
2. Vertically without pedals (across the neck from a low string to a high string)
3. Vertically with pedals
4. Moving in Phrases (Tetrachords)

However, some of these are better for the chromatic than others. Due to amount of back and forth bar movement, playing vertically without pedals is cumbersome and slow. It can even be quite challenging to play the chromatic by using the pedals and moving vertically. As a result, I'd say the best way to play the chromatic is by playing it on a single string or by playing it in 3-note or 4-note phrases. But, keep in mind that the chromatic is not actually used that much. The diatonic is really the most used scale in almost all types of music you will play on the pedal steel guitar. That scale can be played with any of the four options listed above.

The diatonic is addressed in the next section. But for now, here is an axample of how to play the chromatic scale horizontally on a single string.

Chromatic played horizontally -

Chromatic Horizontal Diagram

Here is the sheet music for the horizontal chromatic. Remember, the big boxed number tells you the fret your bar is at and the pedal/lever to use. The little numbers tell you what string to play.