Diatonic – Chords or notes which exist withing a given key

(Pronounced dai-uh-ton-ik)

Note: If you are playing in the key of C major and you're using C major scale notes, then you would say that the notes you are using are diatonic.

To remember what diatonic is, use the following mnemonic:

While on a diet of gin and tonics (diatonic), the musician struggled to play chords and notes within a given key.

Examples of diatonic in a sentence

The notes in the guitar solo were all diatonic.

To keep it simple we only used diatonic notes.

The diatonic notes were easier to learn.