If you've been taking lessons or watching YouTube piano tutorials, you've no doubt heard the circle of fifths mentioned at some point.
Many piano players think the circle of fifths looks complicated and confusing, and then relegate it to their musical 'to-do' list, somewhere near the bottom, where it will remain indefinitely.
But the truth is there is tremendous value to be found in the circle of fifths if you can take a little time to understand how it works. It's not difficult and can really open your musical capabilities.
In this article you’ll learn:
✔️ How to read the circle of fifths and apply it to the piano.
✔️ How to find and move within any key signature using the circle of fifths.
✔️ How to use the circle of fifths as a powerful creativity tool to supercharge your piano compositions.
Understanding the Circle of Fifths
Let's have a quick primer on how the circle of fifths works.
For a more in-depth look at everything it has to offer check out our more detailed overview of the circle of fifths in our Circle of Fifths Beginners guide here.
In a nutshell, the Circle of Fifths is a musical tool that helps you identify chord and scale relationships. It also allows you to understand how many sharps or flats are in a given key. Additionally, it provides the ability to transpose music into different keys.
The Major Keys
Starting at the top of the circle, in the 12 o'clock position, you have C major.
This key has no sharps or flats. By moving clockwise 1 step we move to G which is a perfect fifth above C which and contains 1 sharp note.
By moving 1 step further, we're moving another perfect fifth to D which contains two sharps.
But how about going counterclockwise?
By moving 1 step counterclockwise from C to F we're moving a perfect fourth, and it contains 1 flat.
Going 1 step further to Bb moves another perfect fourth and has 2 flats.
The Minor Keys
You'll notice there's another set of keys on the inner circle which all have a lowercase ‘m’ next to them.
These are all the relative minor keys of the corresponding major key.
For example, you'll notice under C major is Am. Am is the relative minor key of C major, which means it contains exact same notes as each other, they just have different tonics.
Finding Sharps and Flats Using the Circle of Fifths
For piano players, it's not particularly useful if you know how many sharps or flats are in a key, but you don't know which notes you're supposed to be sharpening or flattening.
Fortunately, we have a handy mnemonic to identify which notes are sharpened and flattened in a given key.
If your key contains sharps (meaning you’re moving clockwise around the circle of fifths), use this M\mnemonic:
Father
Charles
Goes
Down
And
Ends
Battle
Or, F, C, G, D, A, E, B
Here are some examples of how this mnemonic is used to help you understand better.
Example 1:
You're playing in D major, you know D major contains 2 sharps because it’s 2 steps clockwise from C.
So therefore we take the first 2 notes of the mnemonic and sharpen them. Which in this case is F (father) and C (Charles).
So instead of D E F G A B C, we have D E F# G A B C#.
Example 2:
You're playing in A major, which contains 3 sharps. We take the first 3 letters of the mnemonic (F, C, and G) and sharpen them.
So instead of A B C D E F G, we have A B C# D E F# G#.
But what about flats?
You can use the same method for flats, but simply reverse the mnemonic which makes:
Battle
Ends
And
Down
Goes
Charles
Father
Example 1:
Let's say you are playing in Bb, which has 2 flats (because Bb is 2 steps counterclockwise from C). We then take the first 2 letters of the mnemonic, B and E, and flatten them.
So instead of B, C, D, E, F, G, A you have B♭, C, D, E♭, F, G, A,
Example 2:
You're in Ab, which has 4 flats. So we take the first 4 letters of the mnemonic (B, E, A, and D) and flatten them.
So instead of A, B, C, D, E, F, G, we have A♭, B♭, C, D♭, E♭, F, G
Using this method you can quickly find how to play the major or minor scale in any key on the piano simply by looking at how many sharps or flats are using, and then pairing it with the mnemonic.
Check out the Decoder Cheat Sheet which already has the sharp and flat notes listed for your convenience.
Creating Chord Progressions for Piano
Now that you've figured out how to find the notes within a scale, it's time to turn those notes into chords and interesting chord progressions.
Traditionally the circle of fifths doesn't spell out which chords exist within a given scale. But there are some common relationships we can identify between our root and its neighboring chords.
For example, we know that every step clockwise on the circle of fifths is a perfect fifth above the previous. So if you are playing in C, the next step across, in this case G is our V chord in C major.
Similarly, each step counterclockwise is a perfect fourth above the root. So if we start at C and move 1 step counterclockwise, we know F is our VI chord.
Then underneath that we have Am the relative minor, or the vi chord of C major.
So while understanding the relationships between neighboring notes can inform you of which chords are available, there is a far easier way.
The Circle of Fifths Decoder gives you some additional information that isn't usually present on the regular circle of fifths.
When you pick a key, it tells you what the scale degree (or chord within the scale) is by displaying a number by that chord.
So in the example above we’ve chosen G major as our key. We can immediately see the 1 chord is G major, the 2 chord is Am, the 3 chord is Bm, and so on.
If you want a comprehensive visual guide to help you with learning the circle of fifths, check out the Piano Circle of Fifths Poster.
Turning Numbers into Progressions
Now you can just pick any sequence of numbers (4 numbers is a good amount of chords for a regular progression) and pair it with the chords displayed in the windows.
Now you have a chord progression! It’s really that simple.
But if you feel you need a little more direction, you can flip the Decoder over and turn the wheel to reveal 12 unique chord progressions that all sound amazing. Give them a try!
You can get yourself a Circle of Fifths Decoder here.
Unlock Your Musical Potential
Now you have a better understanding of how the circle of fifths can drastically help your piano music theory.
It informs you of which notes exist within a scale, and their relationships to each other, and even helps you make chord progressions thanks to the Noisy Clan Decoder!
It's time to throw away any worries about the circle of fifths being difficult and start integrating it into your practice sessions today!
