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Question by Russ
(USA)
I've been reading up on the circle of fifths and it seems more complicated than
sharps and flats. Could you clear this up for me?
So here we have all the diatonic major keys in the outer ring (C, G, D etc.).
And in the inner ring we have the minor keys (Am, Em, Bm etc.).
1. Relative Keys
The first relationship the CoF can teach us is that between the relative
major/minor keys.
As you can see, the relative minor sits directly below the major.
For example, Am is the relative minor key of Cmaj.
Cmaj is the relative major key of Am.
Practically speaking, relative keys can be seen in two ways...
2. Chords in a Key
Another relationship the CoF teaches us is that between the chords of a given
diatonic key.
Most songs you'll hear (e.g. pop and rock) are written (whether intentionally or
not) around the diatonic harmonization of a major or minor scale.
This harmonization creates a "chord scale" - one chord built on each of the
scale's notes.
The CoF shows us six of these chords (I, ii, iii, IV, V and vi) bundled together
within the same three segments. Take a look at how the chords of C major are
in immediate proximity in the circle...
Why do all these chords work so well together? Because they all contain
notes from the parent scale - C major.
This three-segment relationship can be moved around the circle for different
keys. Here's A major for example...
So learning this relationship might help you with writing chord progressions
that flow naturally. However, you should try to substitute and alter chords
occasionally. More on that another time.
It'll also tell you which chords make up a given diatonic (common) key, so you
know which scale they are part of.
For example, let's say you were jamming the blues in E major. You might
know that blues typically uses the I IV and V (1 4 and 5) chords.
Using the circle of fifths, you can learn what these chords would be for each
key.
What about minor keys? Same three-segment relationship, but this time, the
tonic moves to the minor chord and we adjust the numbering accordingly...
So again, the 1, 4 and 5 chords are grouped together with the tonic (key) in
the center. The other chords (VI, III and VII) will also work naturally in that
minor key, because as we now know, they all use the same notes as the
parent relative scales (C major / A minor).
Note that it's common to make the v chord a major V chord, as it carries more
harmonic weight (sounds better!).
So when playing in major keys, there's a strong link into a new key just to the
right of the V chord. The V chord of the original key becomes the new tonic (I).
This type is more useful for those learning standard notation, as it tells us the
number of sharps and flats in a given key signature.
I've always placed more emphasis and time on learning how notes relate to one
another on the fretboard and by ear than thinking in purely theoretical terms.
Even if you mastered everything the circle of fifths can possibly teach you,
you'd still have to work on visually translating those relationships to the