The chromatic scale and enharmonic names — Music Theory

When you play every single note in order from one C Do up to the next, white keys and black keys alike, you’re playing the chromatic scale. It’s the complete, unsorted inventory of Western pitch — all twelve notes, no skipping.

Every cell is highlighted because every note is “in” the chromatic scale. The dark cell on the left is the root — the note we started counting from.

You can play it on the keyboard:

Click each key from left to right and you’ll hear the chromatic scale step by step — twelve half steps that bring you back to the same letter, one octave higher.

One note, two names

Here’s the wrinkle you’ll meet for the rest of your musical life: the same key has two different names, depending on context.

The black key between C Do and D Re can be written as C# Do# or D♭. Same key. Same sound. Two valid names.

When two names refer to the same pitch, they’re called enharmonic equivalents:

Sharp name	Flat name
C# Do#	D♭
D# Re#	E♭
F# Fa#	G♭
G# Sol#	A♭
A# La#	B♭

Why have two names?

It looks redundant. It isn’t.

The choice between a sharp and a flat name depends on the key you’re in and which letters you’re already using. A scale built on a sharp will prefer sharp names so that every letter A–G appears exactly once. A scale built on a flat will prefer flat names for the same reason.

This is going to be much clearer in Part II when we look at how scales are actually built. For now, just know:

A practical workaround

Most beginner tutorials and most bouzouki chord charts use whichever name is common in that tradition. You will see both. The toggle at the top of this site can help you read both: when you flip to Do Re Mi, our convention is to use sharps (Do♯, Re♯, Fa♯, Sol♯, La♯).

Don’t try to memorize the enharmonic table now. You’ll absorb it naturally as you encounter real scales.

Recap

The chromatic scale is every note in an octave, in order — all twelve of them.
Enharmonic equivalents are two different names for the same pitch ( C# Do# = D♭, F# Fa# = G♭, etc.).
Which name to use depends on the key of the music you’re playing — a detail we’ll unpack properly in Part II.
That’s the end of Part I. You now know what notes are. Part II is about what you can do with them.