The Circle of Fifths is a music theory diagram for finding the key of a song, transposing songs to different keys, composing new songs and understanding key signatures, scales, and modes. Understanding how to read the circle of fifths will help you understand the relation between music's major keys and their relative minor keys. A major key and its relative minor use the same key signature, which means they use the same sharps (indicated as #) and flats (shown as b).
- Circle Of Fifths Fourths Diagram
- Circle Of Fifths Diagram Pdf Free
- Best Circle Of Fifths Diagram
- Circle Of Fifths Diagram Pdf
- A color wheel or color circle is an abstract illustrative organization of color hues around a circle, which shows the relationships between primary colors, secondary colors, tertiary colors etc. Some sources use the terms color wheel & color circle interchangeably; 2 3 however, one term or the other may be more prevalent in certain fields.
- Diagram 1 - Quick Progression Circle of Fifths Generator: (above example is in the key of A Major) At the reference area you'll find a link that will allow you to instantly create chord progressions based on the Circle of Fifths in every single key, but the generator focuses more on the actual.
- This diagram is called the Circle of Fifths because the interval between each tone marked on the circle is a fifth. The outer circle starts with C major in the '12 o'clock' position and goes up one fifth as you travel clockwise.
The Circle of Fifths Chart
The circle of fifths is a chart that summarizes the relationship between major and minor scales and displays all the key signatures into one easy to understand diagram.
The outside are the major keys in uppercase letters. Each major key is associated with a relative minor key in lowercase letters. Both share the same corresponding key signature.
Let's take a look at the C major key on top of the chart. The C major key is in between F major and G major in the circle of fifths chart. It is because F major and G major are closely related keys to C major. Hence, these keys (C major, F major and G major) have very similar key signatures. (C major has no sharp or flat, while F major has only one flat and G major has only one sharp.)
Going clockwise, every key is a perfect fifth interval above the previous key. The key is always one sharp more or one flat less than the previous key when going clockwise. For instance, G is the perfect fifth interval above C, and G major has one sharp while C has no sharp or flat.
The Order of Sharps and Flats in Key Signatures
The order of sharps in the sharp key signatures appear in the following order: F | C | G | D | A | E | B
Circle Of Fifths Fourths Diagram
F – C – G – D – A – E – B is the order of sharps in all sharp key signatures
and the order of flats in the flat key signatures is backward of order of sharps: B | E | A | D | G | C | F
Circle Of Fifths Diagram Pdf Free
B – E – A – D – G – C – F is the order of flats in all flat key signatures.
From the circle of fifths charts, you can also find the order of sharps F | C | G | D | A | E | B and flats B | E | A | D | G | C | F for easy reference.
Best Circle Of Fifths Diagram
Enharmonic Scales
The circle of fifths also display the enharmonic scales. Enharmonic scales are scales that have the same pitches but have different note names.
Circle Of Fifths Diagram Pdf
Enharmonic Major scales:
B Major Scale: B | C♯ | D♯ | E | F♯ | G♯ | A♯ | B
C flat Scale: C♭ | D♭ | E♭ | F♭ | G♭ | A♭ | B♭ | C♭
F sharp Major Scale: F♯ | G♯ | A♯ | B | C♯ | D♯ | E♯ | F♯
G flat Major Scale: G♭ | A♭ | B♭ | C♭ | D♭ | E♭ | F | G♭
C sharp Major Scale: C♯ | D♯ | E♯ | F♯ | G♯ | A♯ | B♯ | C♯
D flat Major Scale: D♭ | E♭ | F | G♭ | A♭ | B♭ | C | D♭
Enharmonic Minor scales:
G Sharp Minor Scale: G♯ | A♯ | B | C♯ | D♯ | E | F♯ | G♯
A Flat Minor Scale: A♭ | B♭ | C♭ | D♭ | E♭ | F♭ | G♭ | A♭
D Sharp Minor Scale: D♯ | E♯ | F♯ | G♯ | A♯ | B | C♯ | D♯
E Flat Minor Scale: E♭ | F | G♭ | A♭ | B♭ | C♭ | D♭ | E♭
The Circle of Fifths Chart
The circle of fifths is a chart that summarizes the relationship between major and minor scales and displays all the key signatures into one easy to understand diagram.
The outside are the major keys in uppercase letters. Each major key is associated with a relative minor key in lowercase letters. Both share the same corresponding key signature.
Let's take a look at the C major key on top of the chart. The C major key is in between F major and G major in the circle of fifths chart. It is because F major and G major are closely related keys to C major. Hence, these keys (C major, F major and G major) have very similar key signatures. (C major has no sharp or flat, while F major has only one flat and G major has only one sharp.)
Going clockwise, every key is a perfect fifth interval above the previous key. The key is always one sharp more or one flat less than the previous key when going clockwise. For instance, G is the perfect fifth interval above C, and G major has one sharp while C has no sharp or flat.
The Order of Sharps and Flats in Key Signatures
The order of sharps in the sharp key signatures appear in the following order: F | C | G | D | A | E | B
Circle Of Fifths Fourths Diagram
F – C – G – D – A – E – B is the order of sharps in all sharp key signatures
and the order of flats in the flat key signatures is backward of order of sharps: B | E | A | D | G | C | F
Circle Of Fifths Diagram Pdf Free
B – E – A – D – G – C – F is the order of flats in all flat key signatures.
From the circle of fifths charts, you can also find the order of sharps F | C | G | D | A | E | B and flats B | E | A | D | G | C | F for easy reference.
Best Circle Of Fifths Diagram
Enharmonic Scales
The circle of fifths also display the enharmonic scales. Enharmonic scales are scales that have the same pitches but have different note names.
Circle Of Fifths Diagram Pdf
Enharmonic Major scales:
B Major Scale: B | C♯ | D♯ | E | F♯ | G♯ | A♯ | B
C flat Scale: C♭ | D♭ | E♭ | F♭ | G♭ | A♭ | B♭ | C♭
F sharp Major Scale: F♯ | G♯ | A♯ | B | C♯ | D♯ | E♯ | F♯
G flat Major Scale: G♭ | A♭ | B♭ | C♭ | D♭ | E♭ | F | G♭
C sharp Major Scale: C♯ | D♯ | E♯ | F♯ | G♯ | A♯ | B♯ | C♯
D flat Major Scale: D♭ | E♭ | F | G♭ | A♭ | B♭ | C | D♭
Enharmonic Minor scales:
G Sharp Minor Scale: G♯ | A♯ | B | C♯ | D♯ | E | F♯ | G♯
A Flat Minor Scale: A♭ | B♭ | C♭ | D♭ | E♭ | F♭ | G♭ | A♭
D Sharp Minor Scale: D♯ | E♯ | F♯ | G♯ | A♯ | B | C♯ | D♯
E Flat Minor Scale: E♭ | F | G♭ | A♭ | B♭ | C♭ | D♭ | E♭
A Sharp Minor Scale: A♯ | B♯ | C♯ | D♯ | E♯ | F♯ | G♯ | A♯
B Flat Minor Scale: B♭ | C | D♭ | E♭ | F | G♭ | A♭ | B♭
The circle of fifths chart provides a lot of music scale information and is a helpful tool when learning the music theory basics. Here you can download the circle of fifths chart in pdf.
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