![]() ![]() ![]() Start in C major, then go to G major, then D major and so on. For example, if you are practising the major scale and want to try it in different keys, try using the circle of fifths for this. The circle of fifths can also be useful in your scale practice. Practicing scales using the circle of fifths For example if you are improvising using an A minor scale, by finding the relative major of C major scale this will give you more ammo of scales to use, and may change your approach/sound for something a little different. This can be useful when improvising to figure out which scales go together to give you more options of positions or approaches to use in your solos. So from A minor, we go up a perfect fifth to arrive at E minor, then a perfect fifth up from there to get to B minor and so on. The circle of fifths will work in the exact same way for the minor keys, just starting on a different note. On the guitar this would be the space of three frets, since the distance between each fret on the guitar is a semitone. ![]() Alternatively, you could take your major key to then find the relative minor by going down a minor third (or three semitones) from your major key. On the piano this would be all the white keys, so if you wanted an A natural minor scale you would play A to A with no sharps or flats, and if you wanted a C major scale you would play C to C with no sharps or flats. This is because both C major and A minor contain the same notes, no sharps or flats. If you take the key of C major, its relative minor key in the inner circle is A minor. If you are not familiar with the concept of relative major and minor, this is the minor key that will contain the same notes to that of its relative major. All of the keys that we have been looking at so far starting from C have been major keys, so from C major to G major to D major and so on. The inner circle of the circle of fifths shows the corresponding relative minor keys for each major key on the outer circle. You can click on the image, then right-click and save the image to your computer to use for your private practice!įinding the relative minor and major keys Download and print yours for practice purposes: I would recommend going through this process of travelling up a fifth from each note around the circle a few times if this is a new concept for you, both yourself and with your tutor. As an exercise, try and play a fifth up from each note starting on C, and follow the circle of fifths clockwise around the diagram to double-check you have calculated the fifth interval correctly.Īfter our starting point of C, we will eventually end up back at C again since the circle of fifths contains twelve spaces for the twelve keys in the musical alphabet. This same distance can be applied from G to our next note, D, up a fifth from D to A and so on. The distance between C and G is a perfect fifth. Let’s take a C note on your instrument, then go clockwise around the circle of fifths to G the next note. Understanding how to identify and use this interval will be crucial to understanding the circle of fifths since as the name suggests, all notes are a fifth apart from each other. By moving up in fifths of each other, we make our way around the circle to eventually end up back at the original key that we started in.Ī fifth is an interval of seven semitones or three and a half tones in the musical alphabet, which is regularly used in all genres of music and music theory. The circle of fifths has been a staple of music theory knowledge almost since the dawn of time and shows us the relationship between the 12 different keys and how they relate to each other. ![]()
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