In music, the total chromatic is the saturation of the diatonic scale and is also commonly used in place of aggregate. Thus use of the total chromatic is the use of all twelve equal tempered pitches, the chromatic universe, in tonal music this is accomplished through chromatic saturation, while in twelve-tone music this is often accomplished through combinatoriality.

The chromatic circle is a model of pitch space for the total chromatic or chromatic scale. It is similar to the circle of fifths, though adjacent points on the circle are adjacent semitones in the chromatic circle, while they are perfect fifths in the circle of fifths. The chromatic circle may be mapped onto the circle of fifths through multiplication by (in integer notation) 7 (M7), and for the circle of fourths multiply by 5 (M5). The same operation produces the chromatic circle.