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Harmony that uses notes outside the prevailing diatonic scale — chromatic alterations, borrowed chords, secondary dominants, and enharmonic reinterpretation.
Chromatic harmony expands your palette beyond the seven diatonic notes. Start with secondary dominants (V/V, V/vi), then add modal mixture (borrowing from parallel minor/major), then Neapolitan and augmented sixth chords. Wagner and late Romantic composers pushed chromaticism to the edge of tonality.
Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" Prelude — the chromaticism is so pervasive that the tonal center becomes ambiguous, each chord dissolving into the next through chromatic voice leading.
Chromatic harmony is one of 228 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary, where every definition is written around how composers actually use the word.
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