The Circle of Fifths

The Circle of Fifths

Understanding Key Signatures

The Circle of Fifths charts the most common key changes forward between the tonic pitch and the dominant pitch.

"Tonic" refers to the FIRST note of the scale.

"Dominant" refers to the FIFTH note of the scale.

In some cases, the key will change backward to the subdominant. You may hear it referred to as The Circle of Fourths by some music teachers.

"Subdominant" refers to the FOURTH note of the scale.

Before we continue...

• The musical term for a key change is "modulation."

• Modulations happen by changing the pitch collection of the key you are in.

• "Pitch collection" refers to all of the notes in a particular key. (Example: The pitch collection of C Major is C, D, E, F, G, A, B) Notice the tonic is NOT repeated in the pitch collection.

Multiple Choice

The tonic is which note in the scale?

• First

• Fourth

• Fifth

• Seventh

Multiple Choice

The dominant is which note in the scale?

• First

• Fourth

• Fifth

• Seventh

Multiple Choice

The subdominant is which note in the scale

• First

• Fourth

• Fifth

• Seventh

Now, let's discuss how major key signatures work.

All flats or sharps in a major key signature are added in a specific order:

• ^{The order of SHARPS in a key signature from left to right: F, C, G, D, A, E, B}

• ^{The order of FLATS goes in the opposite direction: B, E, A, D, G, C, F}

Multiple Choice

Which is the order of flats?

• BEADGCF

• FCGDAEB

Multiple Choice

Which is the order of sharps?

• BEADGCF

• FCGDAEB

This means that all major key signatures follow a progression of adding (or removing) accidentals.

• 1# = F#

• 2# = F#, C#

• 3# = F#, C#, G#

• 4# = F#, C#, G#, D#

• etc...

• To remove sharps you have to start at the end and move backwards.

Flats work the same way.

• 1b = Bb

• 2b = Bb, Eb

• 3b = Bb, Eb, Ab

• 4b = Bb, Eb, Ab, Db

• etc...

This is where the Circle of Fifths becomes a helpful tool.

Any questions so far?

The Circle of Fifths has 12 points just like the face of a clock.

NOTE: The number 12 will be very helpful to you later on...

The top position starts with the number 0.

C Major has 0 sharps and 0 flats.

C Major Scale (O #/b)

C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C

If we find the dominant (5th note) using the tonic (1st note) key signature, we will find the next clockwise key.

5 notes = C-D-E-F-?

Multiple Choice

What do you think the next key is?

• G Major

• F Major

• A Major

We arrived at the note G. So, the next key up a fifth is G Major.

G Major has 1 sharp in the key signature - F#

G Major Scale (1#)

G - A - B - C - D - E - F# - G

If we find the dominant (5th note) using the tonic (1st note) key signature, we will find the next clockwise key.

5 notes = G-A-B-C-?

Multiple Choice

What do you think the next key is?

• C Major

• D Major

• F# Major

We arrived at the note D. So, the next key up a fifth is D Major.

D Major has 2 sharps in the key signature - F#, C#

D Major Scale (2#)

D - E - F# - G - A - B - C# - D

If we find the dominant (5th note) using the tonic (1st note) key signature, we will find the next clockwise key.

5 notes = D-E-F#-G-?

Multiple Choice

What do you think the next key is?

• G Major

• C# Major

• A Major

We arrived at the note A. So, the next key up a fifth is A Major.

A Major has 3 sharps - F#, C#, G#

A Major Scale (3#)

A - B - C# - D - E - F# - G# - A

Did you notice that every time we add a sharp, it is the leading tone (7th note) of the new scale?

What you might not have noticed is the new 7th note used to be the old 4th note.

(I know. It can be confusing...)

Whenever you raise the subdominant (4th note) up by a half step, it will become the new leading tone (7th note) of the next scale/key.

• Example: Start with C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C

• Now, raise the 4th note, which is F, up to an F#.

• Now, your pitch collection has changed to G Major and the F# is your new 7th note.

• New Scale/Key: G-A-B-C-D-E-F#-G

If we continue in the same progression from where we left off at A Major we find the following:

• E Major (4#): E-F#-G#-A-B-C#-D#- E

• B Major (5#): B-C#-D#-E-F#-G#-A#-B

• F# Major (6#): F#-C#-G#-A#-B-C#-D#-E#-F#

• C# Major (7#): C#-D#-E#-F#-G#-A#-B#-C#

• But, we've used up all of our sharps. Now what?

This is where the number 12 comes in handy...

Take a look at the bottom of the chart...

Our last three sharp keys are down there...

B Major (5#), F# Major (6#), C# Major (7#)

Each of those keys has an enharmonic key.

• The term "Enharmonic" means that there are two (or more) names for the same note or key.

• Example 1: G# and Ab are enharmonics. They are the same pitch but "spelled" differently based on how they are being used.

• Example 2: F# and Gb are enharmonics. They are the same pitch but "spelled" differently based on how they are being used.

The number 12 helps us find our enharmonic flat keys so we can complete the circle.

• B Major has 5#.

• 12 - 5 = 7

• The enharmonic key for B Major is Cb Major and it has 7b.

Multiple Choice

Which of these are NOT enharmonics of one another?

• Cb - B

• F# - Gb

• C# - Db

• A# - Gb

Using the number 12 and enharmonic names we begin to find the flat keys.

• ^{B Major (5#) = Cb Major (7b)}

• ^{F# Major (6#) = Gb Major (6b)}

• ^{C# Major (7#) = Db Major (5b)}

• ^{Notice that the flats are counting DOWN as we go clockwise.}

If we continue the tonic - dominant pattern of fifths clockwise, we will find the rest of the flat major keys.

• Cb Major: Cb, Db, Eb, Fb, Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb

• Up 5 notes: Cb-Db-Eb-Fb-Gb

• Th new key is Gb Major: Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, F, Gb

• Instead of adding accidentals like we did with sharps we are removing flats.

If we continue the tonic - dominant pattern of fifths clockwise, we will find the rest of the flat major keys. (Note: Tonic flats are repeated for Db-Bb in the scales, but NOT counted twice in the key signature.)

• Db Major (5b): Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, C, Db

• Ab Major (4b): Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb, F, G, Ab

• Eb Major (3b): Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, D, Eb

• Bb Major (2b): Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb

• F Major (1b): F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F

• C Major (0 #/b): C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C

Now, we are back to the beginning at the top of the circle.

• Notice that for the flat keys, the subdominant was still raised to be the new leading tone.

• Starting Key = Ab Major: Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb, F, G, Ab

• New Key = Eb Major: Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, D, Eb

Multiple Choice

Which note do you raise by a half step to modulate the key up a fifth?

• Subdominant (4th)

• Tonic (1st)

• Leading Tone (7th note)

• Dominant (5th note)

Multiple Choice

What note does that raised pitch become in the new key?

• Subdominant (4th)

• Tonic (1st)

• Leading Tone (7th note)

• Dominant (5th note)

Take a closer look at the chart, now...

Does it make more sense?

This is only the beginning...but NEVER GIVE UP!