- In music, chromatic indicates the inclusion of notes not in the prevailing scale and is also used for those notes themselves (Shir-Cliff et al 1965, p.17). See chromatic scale, total chromatic, twelve tone technique, serialism, twelve tone equal temperament, chromatic sequence. In ancient greek and near-eastern music chromatic is one of the three main genera or kinds of tunings, which are manifest in the tuning of tetrachords, the other two being the diatonic and the enharmonic. Thus a "chromatic" scale in byzantine music or its equivalents in classical turkish or persian theory is not the same as a modern western chromatic scale. Simply speaking, a near eastern "chromatic" mode usually contains an augmented second between two minor seconds - although the same structures and modes have been claimed by theorists such as Simon Karas as belonging to the enharmonic mode. See more in nenano.
- In optics, see Chromatic aberration
- For chroma, see color
- Chromatic is the title of a CD by Swiss hip hop group Sens Unik
Source
- Shir-Cliff et al (1965). Chromatic Harmony. New York, The Free Press.
