Music Theory - Understanding The Circle of Fifths

Music Matters

14 May 201425:33

EducationalLearning

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TLDRThe video explains the circle of fifths, a tool for understanding musical keys and their related scales. It has three interlocking circles showing major keys, minor keys, and key signatures. Starting with C major, we go clockwise up in fifths to get sharp keys, and counter-clockwise down in fifths for flat keys. To determine a key's signature, take the 7th note of the scale for sharps, 4th note for flats. Minor keys are found by counting down a third from major keys. Once grasped, the elegantly interlocking circles allow quick identification of any key's sharps, flats, and relative major/minor without memorization.

Takeaways

😀 The circle of fifths shows all major & minor keys and their key signatures
🎹 It has 3 concentric circles for majors, minors and key signatures
🎼 Start with C major at the top, go clockwise for sharps, counter-clockwise for flats
♯ For major key signatures, the sharps are the 7th note of each scale
♭ For major key signatures, flats are the 4th note of each scale
↙️ Minor keys are found by counting down a 3rd from major keys
🤓 It helps memorize keys rather than try to remember 12 majors and 12 minors
🔁 Patterns emerge, like the flat of one key being the next key clockwise
✏️ It dictates the order sharps & flats appear in key signatures
🎓 Once you understand how it works, you don't need to memorize it

Q & A

What are the three circles in the circle of fifths?
-The three circles are: 1) The circle showing all the major keys, 2) The circle showing all the minor keys, 3) The circle showing which sharps or flats are in each key.
Why is it called the 'circle of fifths'?
-It is called the circle of fifths because it shows the major scale key signatures in ascending fifths and descending fifths.
How do you find the key signatures for major keys on the sharp side?
-On the sharp side, look at the 7th note of each major scale to see which new sharp needs to be added.
How do you find the key signatures for major keys on the flat side?
-On the flat side, look at the 4th note of each major scale to see which new flat needs to be added.
Why can't there be an F major or B major in the circle of fifths?
-Once F-sharp and B-flat are introduced earlier in the circle, all later appearances of F and B have to be F-sharp and B-flat.
How do you find the relative minor key for a major key?
-To find the relative minor of any major key, count down 3 notes from the major key (a minor third below).
What is the advantage of using the circle of fifths?
-The circle of fifths makes it easy to see key signatures, avoid memorizing them, and see relationships between major and relative minor keys.
What are some patterns seen in the circle of fifths?
-Some patterns are: Sharp keys are on one side, flat keys on the other; The flat added in each major flat key signature is the next key signature in the circle.
What is the order of sharps and flats in key signatures?
-Sharps: F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#, B#. Flats: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb.
Why is C at both the top and bottom of the circle of fifths?
-C major with no sharps/flats is at the top. At the bottom, C-sharp major has all notes sharp, and C-flat major has all notes flat.

Outlines

00:00

🎵 Introducing the Circle of Fifths

The circle of fifths is a valuable tool that shows all major and minor keys, their key signatures, and the order of sharps and flats. It has 3 circles - one for major keys, one for minor keys, and one showing the key signatures. We'll start constructing it by putting C major at the top with no sharps or flats, and build out the sharp keys by going up in fifths and the flat keys by going down in fifths.

05:03

➕ Building the Major Sharp and Flat Keys

Continuing going up in fifths adds sharps to build out keys like G, D, A, E, B, F#, and C#. Going down in fifths adds flats to build keys like F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, and Cb. By the time you reach C# or Cb with 7 sharps or flats, all notes are sharp or flat. This maps all major keys and how many sharps or flats they have.

10:06

🔢 Determining the Key Signatures

The outer circle shows which sharps or flats are in each key signature. For sharps, the new sharp added is the 7th degree of that major scale. For flats, the new flat added is the 4th degree of that major scale. This gives the order of sharps/flats in key signatures.

15:09

🎼 Finding the Relative Minor Keys

To find the relative minor key of any major key, count down a minor 3rd from that key. So C major's relative minor is A minor as they share no sharps/flats. All minor keys can be found this way to complete the circle of fifths.

20:09

🎉 Understanding the Value of the Circle

The circle of fifths maps all major and minor keys showing their key signatures, number of sharps/flats, and their relationships. It removes the need to memorize all of these separately and shows helpful patterns. This makes it an invaluable theory tool.

25:12

👍 Using the Circle of Fifths

With the completed circle of fifths showing major keys, relative minors, and key signatures, you can now easily look up details for any key. Use this to understand keys, write key signatures and scales, and grasp music theory relationships.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡circle of fifths

The circle of fifths is a diagram that shows the relationships between major and minor keys in music. It illustrates which keys are closely related to each other and helps determine key signatures. In the video, it is described as a valuable tool for understanding keys, scales, and harmony in music.

💡key signature

A key signature is a set of sharps or flats at the beginning of a piece of music that indicates what key the music is in. The circle of fifths shows the key signature for every major and minor key by showing which notes need to be sharped or flatted.

💡relative major/minor

Relative major and minor keys share the same key signature but have different tonal centers. On the circle of fifths diagram, minor keys are found by counting down a major third from major keys. So C major and A minor are relative keys that both have no sharps or flats.

💡intervals

An interval in music refers to the difference in pitch between two notes. Intervals are important building blocks of melody and harmony. In the video, counting up in fifths or fourths on the circle of fifths involves moving by specific interval steps.

💡harmony

Harmony refers to how notes sound together vertically and the chords that can be built from them. The circle of fifths illustrates harmonically related keys that sound pleasing when used together in harmony.

💡melody

A melody is a sequence of single notes that form the tune or musical line. Understanding key signatures and scales from the circle of fifths allows melodies to be written that fit harmonically with the underlying chords.

💡major scale

The major scale is one of the most important scales in Western music, consisting of the interval pattern whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half. The circle of fifths diagram shows all possible major keys and their key signatures.

💡minor scale

There are three main types of minor scale, the natural, harmonic, and melodic minor, each with a slightly different pattern of tones and semitones. Minor keys are shown on the circle of fifths by counting down in thirds from the major keys.

💡sharps and flats

Sharps and flats are symbols in sheet music that indicate a note should be played higher or lower in pitch. The outer circle of fifths shows the order that sharps and flats are added to key signatures as you move around the circle.

💡patterns

There are recognizable patterns in the layout of the circle of fifths, like the sequence of sharps and flats in key signatures. Spotting these patterns helps in memorizing and navigating the different keys shown.

Highlights

The circle of fifths shows all major & minor keys and their key signatures

Going up in fifths gets sharp keys, going down gets flat keys

To get sharps: find the 7th note of the major scale

To get flats: find the 4th note of the major scale

Once a sharp/flat is introduced, it stays for all remaining keys

Relative minor keys have the same key signature as relative major

No need to memorize the circle, just remember how to construct it

Start with C major (no sharps/flats) at the top

Sharps are added clockwise, flats counter-clockwise

F sharp major has 6 sharps, C sharp major has all 7 sharps

C flat major has all 7 flats

Sharps in signature: F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#, B#

Flats in signature: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb, Fb

Counting down a 3rd from a major key gets its relative minor

Circle of fifths quickly shows key signatures for all keys

Transcripts

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