Circle Of Fifths Minor
Circle Of Fifths Progression
Circle Of Fifths Minor

This is the Key Signature for C Major as shown on the circle of fifths. There are no Sharps or Flats.

The Circle of Fifths is a mystery to many. But what if you found everything you ever needed to know and learn about musical pitch (every note, scale, chord, progressions, etc.) in a simple. Circle of Fifths i i c i i f# i b i e i eb # i f i c# i bb # i a b # i 6 5 2 8 3 7 1 4 Yo ill otice here the th ote is F he it shol be the rise th E# i scles there shol be oe of eer letter e E# is ctll the se itch s F so for li roses ill so the se this is ehroic. The circle of fifths is the key that unlocks the door to understanding music theory! Take some time each day to study the relationships illustrated the the circle and you'll be playing with the greats in no time. The Circle of Fifths represents a shortcut for all songwriters out there, given they are willing to overcome the small hurdle of understanding what they are looking at. Once you have a grasp and even memorized it, you will dance through the key signatures and chord changes like it was your own personal playground.

Here is a video of how to play a C Major scale on the piano.

The order of Sharps is always F, C, G, D, A, E, and B.

If there is one sharp in the key it would be F. If there were 3 Sharps the Key they would be F, C and G.

The order of Flats is always B, E, A, D, G, C and F.

If there is one Flat in the Key it would be B. If there were 5 Flats in the Key they would be B, E, A, D, and G.

To remember the order of sharps, there is an easy sentence to keep in mind: Fat Cats Go Dancing At Eds Broiler and to remember the order of flats, this sentence will help you: Boogie Ends And Down Go Cats Fast.

To start, use the circle of fifths to find the key you are looking for. Say for example you are looking at the key A Flat, it has four flats. So using the sentence: Boogie Ends And Down Go Cats Fast (B, E, A, D, G, C, F) you can tell the flat B, E, A, and D are the four flats used.

For more info on The Major Scale please click here also for all the Diatonic Scales please click here.

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Circle of Fifths

The Circle of Fifths (AKA Circle of Fourths) is an important concept in music. It outlines the relationship between each of the 12 notes in the chromatic scale and their related Major and minor keys. The closer two keys are in the Circle of Fifths, the more related they are (i.e. the more notes they share in common).

The Circle of Fifths is called thus because, starting from any note, you can move down in fifths and proceed through all 12 notes until you get back to your original note. Below is a visual depiction of the Circle of Fifths.

The interval of a fifth is significant because it is mathematically the most consonant non-octave interval. But I will leave this for a future lesson on the Overtone Series.

Key Signatures and Modulation

Starting from C Major:

Moving to the right, each key signature adds a sharp: C, G, D, A, E, B, F#
Moving to the left, each key signature adds a flat: C, F, B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭
The notes on the inside of the circle represent the relative minor of each Major key

The Circle of Fifths can be thought of as the ‘harmonic distance between keys‘.

Format sandisk flash drive for mac. The Circle of Fifths is useful for a number of reasons:

It allows you to work out the key signature for every key
The closer two notes are in the Circle of Fifths, the more ‘related’ they are – that is, the more notes they share in common
- For example, the keys C Major (no sharps) and G Major (one sharp) are closely related
When songs modulate to a new key, they usually do so to a closely related key (one adjacent in the Circle of Fifths)
Tonal Chord Progressions VERY often move in fifths (see below)

Circle Progression

Circle Of Fifths Minor

The Circle of Fifths can also be thought of as the ‘harmonic distance between chords‘. Two chords derived from the same key and a fifth apart are closely related. This is why chord progressions often move down in fifths. And a chord progression that does this is called a Circle Progression.

Circle Of Fifths Progression

A Circle Progression (AKA Diatonic Circle of Fifths) uses only chords from a particular key and moves down in intervals of fifths (although there is on tritone between the 4th and the 7th of the scale just to make it fit diatonically). You can, however, also have a Chromatic Circle of Fifths progression. Both are outlined below, finishing on C Major.

Circle Progression
Diatonic Circle of Fifths	FMaj7	Bø7	Em7	Am7	Dm7	G7	CMaj7
Chromatic Circle of Fifths (non-resolving ii-V's)	F#Maj7	B7	Em7	A7	Dm7	G7	CMaj7
Chromatic Circle of Fifths (resolving ii-V's)	F#Maj7 - B7	EMaj7	Em7 - A7	DMaj7	Dm7 - G7	CMaj7	CMaj7

The reason the Circle Progression sounds so smooth and pleasant is because as you move from one chord to the next:

One Guide Tone stays the same (Common Tone)
One Guide Tone move down by a step

As such, this progression creates a strong and smooth Guide Tone Line, which holds the whole chord progression together.

Have a Listen to

Circle Of Fifths Minor

Autumn Leaves
Fly Me to the Moon
Blues for Alice
Confirmation
All the Things You Are