Chromatic Segments

Playing chromatic segments requires moving many different fingers. You must memorize the fingerings AND practice them to train your fingers to move smoothly and in coordination with each other. This next exercise is just one suggestion for practice. You can change the rhythms, articulations, and pitch groupings. Work to gradually increase speed while maintaining ease and accuracy of motion.

The fingerings are provided for each note in the first example below.

Right-Hand notes:

The left hand stays the same for all notes in the first four lines so focus on the changes in the right hand.

Left-Hand notes

Now the notes in the left-hand change and two fingerings in the right hand are added for D#/Eb.

Tip:

Spend time practicing the chromatic scale every day to get the fingerings memorized and feeling familiar in your fingers. Start slowly and keep your hands as relaxed as possible.  As the scale gets more familiar you can increase the speed.

Here is the one octave chromatic scale without the fingerings.