Lessons · Beginner
The Circle of Fifths Explained - A Complete Guide
Learn to read the circle of fifths and use it for key signatures, chords, transposing and modulation.
The circle of fifths is a map of all twelve keys. It shows how many sharps or flats each key has, which minor key shares its notes, which keys are closely related, and which chords sound natural together. Once you can read it, a lot of music theory stops being a list of facts to memorize and becomes one picture you can rebuild in your head at any time.
Try the interactive version below: click any key to see its key signature, relative minor and chords.
What the circle of fifths is
Take the twelve notes of the chromatic scale and arrange them so that each note is a perfect fifth (7 semitones) above the one before it. Start on C and keep stacking fifths:
C – G – D – A – E – B – F#/Gb – Db – Ab – Eb – Bb – F – and back to C.
After twelve fifths you arrive at C again (seven octaves higher), so the sequence closes into a circle. Draw it like a clock face with C at 12 o'clock and you have the circle of fifths.
| Clock position | Major key | Relative minor | Key signature |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | C | A minor | no sharps or flats |
| 1 | G | E minor | 1 sharp |
| 2 | D | B minor | 2 sharps |
| 3 | A | F# minor | 3 sharps |
| 4 | E | C# minor | 4 sharps |
| 5 | B / Cb | G# minor / Ab minor | 5 sharps / 7 flats |
| 6 | F# / Gb | D# minor / Eb minor | 6 sharps / 6 flats |
| 7 | Db / C# | Bb minor / A# minor | 5 flats / 7 sharps |
| 8 | Ab | F minor | 4 flats |
| 9 | Eb | C minor | 3 flats |
| 10 | Bb | G minor | 2 flats |
| 11 | F | D minor | 1 flat |
Reading it clockwise and counter-clockwise
Clockwise: up a fifth, one more sharp
Every step clockwise moves the key up a perfect fifth and adds one sharp to the key signature. C has none, G has one, D has two, and so on up to C# major with all seven notes sharpened.
The sharps always appear in the same order: F# C# G# D# A# E# B#. Notice that this order is itself a chain of fifths. Each new key keeps all the sharps of the previous key and adds one new sharp, and that new sharp is always the 7th note (the leading tone) of the new key. In G major the new sharp is F#, in D major it is C#.
Counter-clockwise: up a fourth, one more flat
Every step counter-clockwise moves down a fifth, which is the same pitch class as up a perfect fourth (5 semitones). Each step adds one flat. F has one, Bb has two, Eb has three, and so on down to Cb major with seven flats.
The order of flats is the order of sharps backwards: Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cb Fb. The new flat in each key is always its 4th note. In F major the flat is Bb, the 4th degree of F.
Key signatures in seconds
The circle tells you how many accidentals a key has. Two quick tricks tell you which ones.
Sharp keys
The last sharp in the key signature is the 7th degree, so the key is one half step above the last sharp. Last sharp is D#? The key is E major. Last sharp is A#? The key is B major.
Flat keys
In flat keys the second-to-last flat is the name of the key. Flats Bb Eb Ab Db: the second-to-last is Ab, so it is Ab major. The only flat key this does not work for is F major (one flat), which you simply memorize.
Memory sentences
- Order of sharps: Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle.
- Order of flats: Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles' Father.
- Major keys clockwise from C: Go Down And Eat Breakfast (G, D, A, E, B).
Relative minors: the inner ring
Every major key shares its key signature with one minor key, its relative minor. The relative minor starts on the 6th degree of the major scale, which is always three semitones (a minor third) below the major tonic. C major and A minor both use only the white keys; G major and E minor both have one sharp (F#).
Most circle diagrams show the relative minors in an inner ring, directly under their major key. Reading the inner ring on its own gives you the minor keys in fifths: A, E, B, F#, C#, G#, D# clockwise, and D, G, C, F, Bb, Eb counter-clockwise.
A – B – C – D – E – F – G
The enharmonic keys at the bottom
At the bottom of the circle, the sharp side and the flat side overlap. Three positions have two names that sound identical on a piano or guitar:
| Position | Sharp spelling | Flat spelling |
|---|---|---|
| 5 o'clock | B major (5 sharps) | Cb major (7 flats) |
| 6 o'clock | F# major (6 sharps) | Gb major (6 flats) |
| 7 o'clock | C# major (7 sharps) | Db major (5 flats) |
These are enharmonic keys: same sounds, different spellings. That is why there are 12 positions on the circle but 15 major key signatures. In practice musicians choose the spelling with fewer accidentals (B rather than Cb, Db rather than C#), while F# and Gb (six each) are both common.
Going further (G# major would need eight sharps) is avoided by switching to the flat spelling, Ab major.
Neighbour keys and closely related keys
Keys that sit next to each other on the circle differ by only one note. C major and G major share six of their seven notes; the only difference is F versus F#. That makes neighbours sound natural together.
For any key, the closely related keys are:
- the key itself and its relative minor,
- the neighbour one step clockwise (the dominant key) and its relative minor,
- the neighbour one step counter-clockwise (the subdominant key) and its relative minor.
For C major that is C, Am, G, Em, F and Dm: a little window of six keys around the top of the circle. Those six keys are where most music in C major travels.
Finding the chords in a key
Here is the most practical trick on the circle. Take any major key and look at the key on each side of it, plus the three minor keys directly underneath. Those six chords are the six main chords of the key.
For C major:
- Top row (major chords): F – C – G, which are IV – I – V
- Bottom row (minor chords): Dm – Am – Em, which are ii – vi – iii
- The seventh chord, vii° (B diminished), sits just beyond Em, on the B position.
This works in every key. In G major, the window gives you C – G – D on top and Am – Em – Bm underneath, with F# diminished as vii°. In Eb major you get Ab – Eb – Bb and Fm – Cm – Gm, with D diminished as vii°.
Using the circle for chord progressions
Counter-clockwise motion is strong
The pull from a dominant chord to its tonic (V to I) is the strongest movement in tonal harmony, and on the circle it is always one step counter-clockwise. G resolves to C, D resolves to G, A resolves to D.
Chain several of those steps and you get the classic "circle progression", where every chord root falls a fifth:
Read the roots: E, A, D, G, C. That is five neighbouring positions on the circle, walked counter-clockwise. The famous ii – V – I of jazz is just the last three steps:
Secondary dominants
Because every major or dominant 7th chord pulls one step counter-clockwise, you can approach any chord from its clockwise neighbour. To lead strongly into Dm in C major, play A7 first (A is one step clockwise from D). To lead into G, play D7. These borrowed dominants are called secondary dominants, and the circle tells you instantly which one to use.
Transposing with the circle
To transpose a song up a fifth, move every chord one step clockwise. To transpose up a fourth, move every chord one step counter-clockwise. Chord qualities stay the same: a minor chord stays minor, a 7th stays a 7th.
| Original in C | Up a fifth (in G) | Up a fourth (in F) |
|---|---|---|
| C | G | F |
| Am | Em | Dm |
| F | C | Bb |
| G7 | D7 | C7 |
For other intervals, count positions: a whole step up is two steps clockwise (C to D), a whole step down is two steps counter-clockwise (C to Bb). The circle also tells you how hard the new key will be to read: every clockwise step adds a sharp, every counter-clockwise step adds a flat.
Modulation: changing key smoothly
A modulation is a change of key within a piece. The closer two keys are on the circle, the smoother the change sounds, because they share more notes and chords.
- One step away (C to G, or C to F): one note changes. C major and G major share four triads: C, Em, G and Am. Any of them can act as a pivot chord, a chord that belongs to both keys, so the listener hardly notices the move.
- Relative major or minor (C to Am): no notes change at all, only the centre of gravity.
- Far away (C to F#, opposite sides): almost nothing is shared, so the change sounds dramatic and needs more preparation.
A reliable way to modulate up one step on the circle: play the dominant 7th of the new key, then resolve to it. To move from C to G, play D7 (which contains F#) and land on G.
Memory tricks that make it stick
- Start from the clock: C at 12, G at 1, D at 2, A at 3, E at 4, B at 5. If you know those six, the flat side mirrors them: F at 11, Bb at 10, Eb at 9, Ab at 8, Db at 7.
- The flat side spells BEAD-GCF: the flat keys counter-clockwise from F are F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb, and the order of flats is B-E-A-D-G-C-F.
- Use your guitar: the open strings E, A, D, G are four neighbouring positions on the circle read counter-clockwise, because standard tuning is mostly fourths.
- Number of sharps equals clock hour on the sharp side: G at 1 o'clock has 1 sharp, E at 4 o'clock has 4. On the flat side, the flats equal 12 minus the hour: Bb at 10 o'clock has 2 flats.
- Draw it from memory once a day for a week. Start with C at the top, write the sharp keys, then the flat keys, then the relative minors. It takes about one minute once it clicks.
Practice
- Draw the circle from memory with major keys, relative minors and the number of sharps or flats at each position. Check it against the interactive circle.
- Name the key signature of D, Bb, E, Ab and F# major without looking. Then do the same for B minor, G minor and C# minor.
- Pick three keys and write their six main chords using the "window" method. Play them with the progression player.
- Play the circle progression (iii – vi – ii – V – I) in G, F and D major.
- Take a simple chord progression you know and transpose it up a fifth and down a fourth using the circle.
Keep going with these resources:
- Drill identification with Key signatures 1 and Key signatures 2.
- Print the circle of fifths poster and the key signatures chart.
- Read next: Key signatures, Diatonic harmony, Chord progressions and Transposition and capo.
- Find the key of any set of chords with the key finder.