Circle Of 4ths and 5ths - Major Scales And Key Signatures

The circle of 4ths and 5ths has many applications when learning music theory. Some of the most useful are knowing how to find out the notes of each Major scale and finding and recognising key signatures for each key.

The term 'key' refers to a starting note, also known as the root or tonic of a chord progression and the term 'key signature' refers to how many sharp or flat notes are in each key. This is then noted on the musical staff so that we can at an instant see in which key we are meant to be playing. But even if you don't want to read music notation it is still useful to understand key signatures.

But first lets find out how to determine the notes of the Major scale in each key. Lets start with the key of C at the 12 o'clock position at the top of the circle of 4ths and 5ths. It is based on the C Major scale which is C, D, E, F, G, A, B. As you can see it has no sharp or flat notes. The next key clockwise along the circle is G (a perfect 5th along from C and also the 5th note of the C Major scale). The G Major scale is G, A, B, C, D, E, F#. As you can see we just start using the same note names as the C Major scale in the same order except for two things: we start with G and make the last note a sharp.

So how do we find the next Major scale? Well the 5th note of the G Major scale is D, so we name the same notes from there on but make the last note sharp, like this: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#. There are now two sharps in the scale. If you keep going along like this around the circle of 4ths and 5ths you'll add another sharp each time until you get to the key of F#/Gb which contains 6 sharp notes. From here on the convention is to name the notes as flats rather than sharps and you'll find that each key signature has 1 less flat note until you get back to the key of C which has not sharps or flats.

So the key signature that you see on the left side of the musical staff is basically a certain amount of b's (flats) or #'s (sharps). If there are 3 #'s you know it is the key of A. If there are 5 b's then it's the key of Db.

To see what the circle of 4ths and 5ths looks like check out this diagram: circle of 4ths and 5ths. If you want to see just what else you can do with it then download the free e-book "Hit Song Secrets" in which I show you some amazing tricks that include helping you figure out songs by ear or write your own hit songs using the circle of 4ths and 5ths.

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Circle of 4ths and 5ths - Writing Songs Part 2

This article will show you further ways in which you can use the circle of 4ths and 5ths to help you write songs. You'll be introduced to the Roman numeral system which is used by musicians to show the relationship between chords and that will help you in choosing chords that sound good together.

The Roman numerals that are used in music are: I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii°. As you can see the I, IV and V (1, 4 and 5) are in capitals because they are Major chords while ii, iii, vi and vii° (2, 3, 6) are minor chords, the vii° is a half-diminished seventh chord.

These Roman numerals help you figure out which chords feature in each key. For example, say you want to write a song in the key of C. Find a diagram of the circle of 4ths and 5ths and imagine a I above it. To find the ii and iii you need to move clock-wise around the circle, but skipping a letter each time.

The letters clockwise around the circle of 4ths and 5ths are C, G, D, A, E, B, F#, C#, G#, D#, A# and F. So the ii and iii chord will be D minor (remember Roman numerals in lower case indicate a minor chord) and E minor. To find the IV, V, vi and vii° you have to move to the letter before the C which is F then move around the circle clockwise again but using all the letters between the I, ii and iii. So for IV, V, vi and vii° we'll get F Major, G Major, A minor and a B half-diminished seventh. You can find the chords for any key in the same way as they all follow the same pattern.

Now pick a couple of the chords from the key and start playing them in any order you wish, you'll be guaranteed they sound good together. If you want some suggestions try the following chord progressions.

I - IV - V
I - ii - IV
I - vi - ii - V
vi - IV - I - V

This should give you an idea of what kind of chord progressions are possible when writing songs.

Another way to write your own songs using this information is by taking a song that you like the sound of and then analysing the chord progression with the help of the circle of 4ths and 5ths and the Roman numerals. Then change the key by shifting the pattern to a different starting point. For example, say there is a song with the chord progressions G, C, D. This first chord is a G so it's in the key of G (this isn't always the case, but often enough). This means the G is the I chord, the C is IV and the D is V. So the Roman numerals for this progression are I - IV - V. If you want to change the song to the key of C you shift the pattern to centre around the C. This gives you C - F - G.

Maybe you'll want to change things up even more so you add an A minor chord, because that is vi chord in the key of C and now you have something a bit more original. This is one of the easiest ways to write a song, but in the next article we'll look at writing a song that shifts between a Major and minor key as well as other tips for song writing.

To see what the circle of 4ths and 5ths looks like check out this diagram: circle of 4ths and 5ths. If you want to see just what else you can do with it then download the free e-book "Hit Song Secrets" in which I show you some amazing tricks that will help you write better songs, figure out music by ear and know how to become better at soloing.

View the original article here