Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov · section 68 of 96

Spelling of the chromatic scales

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§ 66.— 1) Ascending major scale. All the degrees of the natural diatonic scale are inflected by raising alterations, except the VIth, whose raising alteration is replaced by the lowering of the VIIth degree:

[Example] I II III IV V VI VII I — Fig. 266 · See it in the reader

2) Descending major scale. All the degrees of the natural diatonic scale are inflected by lowering alterations, except the Vth, whose lowering alteration is replaced by the raising alteration of the IVth degree:

[Example] I VII VI V IV III II I — Fig. 267 · See it in the reader

3) The ascending minor scale takes the alterations of its relative major scale (C as E♭):

4) The descending minor scale is written like the descending major scale of the same name (c as C)

Example: the descending chromatic scale of C minor, written like that of C major; the degrees of C minor (I VII VI V IV III II I) are marked above. — Fig. 269 · See it in the reader