Guitar & music
The circle of fifths
Make sense of musical keys through a pattern you can follow around a circle.
A short companion guide
The circle of fifths puts musical keys into a useful order. Rather than memorizing each key as a separate fact, you can follow the relationships between neighboring keys. Start with C and take just a few steps.
Start at C
C major has no sharps or flats in its key signature. Moving clockwise from C, the first steps are G, D, A and E. Each move travels up a perfect fifth, and each successive key signature adds one sharp.
Look in the other direction
Moving counterclockwise from C brings you to F, then B-flat and E-flat. Each of those steps adds a flat. The circle gives the sharp and flat patterns a shared picture.
Make the pattern audible
If you have an instrument nearby, play a C major chord, then G major. Try C followed by F. Listen to how the change feels, then find those keys on a circle-of-fifths chart. The picture becomes more useful when you connect it to sound.
Explore a little further
Original companion notes on standard key relationships. Open Music Theory offers a fuller explanation and chart. This guide is not a transcript of the video.
