playing each note in turn, whether a white or a black note, will give a chromatic scale (e.g. c, c sharp, d, e flat, e, f, f sharp, g, a flat, a, b flat, b, c). each step is called a “semitone” or “half tone”. a “tone” or “whole tone” therefore is a jump of two semitones (c to d, or c sharp to e flat, or e to f sharp).