Harmony 101

Transposing & The Circle of Fourths

One of the best ways to understand how chords relate to each other is via a tool educators call the Circle of
Fifths and jazz musicians call the Circle of Fourths.

It is a powerful tool. At it’s most basic, it tells you how many sharps or flats are in a given major scale.

The key of C, at the top of the scale, has no sharps or flats–just the white keys on a piano.

Moving around the circle in a clockwise direction, each key adds one sharp.

So the key of G major has one sharp (F#), D has two (F# and C#), A has three (F#, C# and G#) and so on.

Reading in the other direction from C, each key adds one flat. C has no flats, F has one (Bb), Bb has two (Bb
and Eb) and so on.

At the bottom are the enharmonic keys (same notes, different names.) Even though they sound exactly the
same, the key of B has 5 sharps, while Cb has 7 flats.

C
G

D
Bb

Eb A

Ab
E

Db
Cb
C# Gb B
F#

Did you notice that reading clockwise moves you in fifths? C-G is a fifth–count out the notes in the scale: C=1,
D=2,E=3,F=4 and G=5. Db-Ab is also a fifth.

And when you move in the otherdirection, the movement is in fourths: C-F; B-E and Ab to Db are all fourths.

© 2013 Mark Nelson/ acme arts

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 Part I: Using the Circle to Transpose

You can think of chord progressions in terms of how they relate to the key center. For instance, a blues
progression in the key of C uses C, F and G7 chords; while in the key of E the chords are E, A and B7.

Let’s analyze that movement using the Circle. Moving from C to F takes us one step counter clockwise, or a
fourth. And the movement from E to A is the same thing.

C
G
F Moving from C-G is a fifth; just like
D from E-B.
Bb
C
G
Eb A
F
D
Ab Bb
Db E
Gb Cb Eb A
C# B
F# Ab
Db E
Gb Cb
C# B
F#

That tells us two things: 1) a blues progression uses chords built on the I-IV-and V degrees
of the key, and 2) in order to transpose a blues to a new key, all we have to do is find three
chords with the same relationship. And that’s easy when you look at the Circle.
C
G
F tonic
D
Bb
Eb A

Ab
tonic
E
Db Cb tonic
Gb
C# B
F#
Did you notice that moving from the V7 chord back to the I (G7-C and B7-E) is a fourth? That’s why it is called
the Circle of Fourths–the movement from a dominant seventh chord back to the tonic is very powerful.
© 2013 Mark Nelson/ acme arts
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Let’s look at the most common chord progrssion in swing and jazz, the ii-V-I. In the key of G, that would be
Am7-D7-Gmaj.
C tonic
G
F
D
Bb

Eb A

Ab
E
Db Cb
Gb
C# B
F#
Once you jump up to A, the progression moves in fourths back to G: A-D and then D-G.
You can extend it further. For instance, I-vi-ii-V progressions are used in lots of songs.

tonic
C
G
F
D
Bb

Eb A

Ab
E
Db Cb
Gb
C# B
F#

This progression works the same way: you jump from the tonic–C–to the a chord built on the vi of the scale: E,
and then you cycle back to the tonic, moving each time by a fourth.

In theory, you could build progrssions that go all the way around the circle.

Find ii-V-I and I-vi-ii-V-I progressions in the keys of F, A and Bb.

What would a iii-vi-ii-V-I progression sound like?

© 2013 Mark Nelson/ acme arts

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 Part II: Dominant seventh chords & secondary dominants

Chords built on the fifth degree of the scale are called dominant chords–a relic of an old practice of naming
each note in the scale rather than simply assigning numbers. Adding a seventh to this chord gives you a
dominant seventh chord.

Dominant sevenths exert a strong tendency to resolve back to the tonic–a movement of a fourth. (Think G7
back to C, or F7 to Bb.)

Here are some common chord progressions that show the movement from the V7 back to the I:

/ G / D7 / % / G / = /I/V/%/I/

/ Bb6 / Cm7 / F7 / Bb6 / = / I / ii / V / I /

/ BbM7 / FM7 / Gm7 / C7 / F6 / = / IV / I / ii / V / I /

Each chord only uses the notes in the corresponding major scale.

Now let’s consider this common chord progression:

/ C C7 / F / C G7 / C / = / I - I7 / IV / I V7 / I /

C 7 is spelled C - - E - G - Bb. In other words, it moves out of the key of C and into a key with one flat–F. And
the dominant seventh chord in the key of F is C7. So in effect we have moved out of the key of C and into the
key of F for a short time!

So adding a dominant seventh to the tonic chord pushes the music toward the IV chord. This is why you will
hear the I7 chord so often in the blues.

Now consider this. Play a C major chord, followed by an C7. That will move you to an F chord. Now change the F
to an F7-- that moves you to a Bb. Make that a B7 and you will move to Eb.

If you keep going, eventually you will end up with an A7 going to a D; a D7, going to an G, and a G7 resolving back
to a C. In other words, you have just gone all the way through the Circle, moving each time in fourths. And that
is why jazz musicians call it the Circle of Fourths and not the Circle of Fifths.

Here are some more common chord progressions:

/ A7 / D7 / G / % / = / II7 / V7 / I / % /

/ D7 / G7 / C7 / F / = / I / VI7 / II7 / V7 / I /

In each one, dominant 7 chords were built using notes from a different major scale than the original key center.

In the firstexample, the II7 chord (A7) is acting as the dominant 7 of the key of D; just as the D7 is the
dominant 7 of the home key, G. It is as if you moved quickly through the key of D major in measure one, than
moved to G major for measures two, three and four.
© 2013 Mark Nelson/ acme arts
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It is the same in the next example; each chord acts as a dominant 7 of the next chord in the progression.

Dominant chords that work this way are called Secondary Dominants. Whenever you see dominant sevenths
built on chords other than the V of the home key, you know that the song has temporarily changed keys. That
lets you select the proper kind of chord and it tells you what scales to play when you construct a solo.

Notice that some progressions will use both diatonic harmony and secondary dominant chords. Usually this is
to set up a temporary ii - V pattern.

/ Bm7 E7 / Em7 A7 / Am7 D7/ G / = / iii VI7 / vi II7 / ii V7 / I /

Here’s an analysis:

Measure 1: Bm7 - E7 suggests a ii - V - I in the key of A;

Measure 2: Em7 - A7 suggests a ii - V- I in the D
Measures 3 & 4: Am7 - D7 - G is a ii - V - I in G.

Diminished 7 Chords

Unlike all the other chords we have looked at, diminished 7 chords are not derived from a major or minor scale.
Instead, they are made up of three minor thirds. That means that any note in the chord may be considered it’s
root.

In reality, there are only three diminished severth chords:

Cº7 = Eb = Gbº7 (F#º7) = Aº7
C#º7 = Eº7 = Gº7 = Bbº7
Dº7 = Fº7 = Abº7 = Bº7

They sound unsettled, and tend to move things along. They are usually used for scale tones that fall outside
off diatonic scales.

/ G6 / Bbº7 / Am7 / D9 / = / I / Iº / ii / V /

/ GM7 G#º7 / Am7 Bbº7 / Bm7 E9 / A7 D9 / G6 / = / I #Iº / ii biiiº / iii VI7 / II7 Y / I

The savvy musician will use secondary dominants, ii - V substitutions, and diminished chords to spice up static
chord progressions.

/ G6 / % / % / D7 / might become

/ G6 / E7 / A7 / D7 / or

/ Gmaj7 Bm7 / E9 Bbº7 / A7 Am7 / D9 / or

/ G6 Am7 / Bbº7 Bm7 / Bbº7 Am7 / Am7 D7 /

© 2013 Mark Nelson/ acme arts
Please do not duplicate without permission