Circle of 5ths
As you continue to progress as a student of music, it's important to start getting into a little more advanced music theory and learn about the Circle of 5ths. The chart may look a little complicated but we will go through it and when you're done, you will have a good understanding of key signatures!
To start out, let's look at what a key signature is. A key signature is the sequence of sharps and flats that are found in the music you are playing. When you see a sharp (#), it represents a note that is positioned a half-step above another note. For an example see the picture below. We have C natural as the white key on the piano and the C# is the half-step above the C natural and is on the black key.
To start out, let's look at what a key signature is. A key signature is the sequence of sharps and flats that are found in the music you are playing. When you see a sharp (#), it represents a note that is positioned a half-step above another note. For an example see the picture below. We have C natural as the white key on the piano and the C# is the half-step above the C natural and is on the black key.
The flats (b) work the opposite way. Notice the picture below that the Bb is a half-step down from the B natural and is on the black key.
If you look at the chart below, you will see that the circle of fifths is just a visual representation of which notes are flat or sharp in the given key signature. You start at the top in the key of C Major. The circle is split. The right side is the sharps and the left side is the flats.
For this part of music theory, we are just going to cover the major keys. Let's start on the right side of the circle. It is called the circle of fifths because each key signature is separated by a fifth interval (like C to G).
If we are in C Major, we see that there are no sharps. The notes are: C, D, E, F, G, A, B
Moving one space to G and you'll see that we pick up one sharp, which is F#. So now the notes of G Major are: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#
Moving to the next space is D and we pick up another sharp which is C# and so on as we move clockwise around the circle. We continue to add another sharp for every new fifth until we reach the bottom of the circle which is F#. You'll notice that F# is also called Gb.
Now, we will move through the left side of the circle. We will start at the top with C. We will move counter-clockwise and will be adding a flat with each position moved. For example, F has one flat, Bb has two, and so on. This pattern continues until we reach the bottom with Gb.
And now you have it! This will be very helpful to learn in order to identify key signatures quickly.
If we are in C Major, we see that there are no sharps. The notes are: C, D, E, F, G, A, B
Moving one space to G and you'll see that we pick up one sharp, which is F#. So now the notes of G Major are: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#
Moving to the next space is D and we pick up another sharp which is C# and so on as we move clockwise around the circle. We continue to add another sharp for every new fifth until we reach the bottom of the circle which is F#. You'll notice that F# is also called Gb.
Now, we will move through the left side of the circle. We will start at the top with C. We will move counter-clockwise and will be adding a flat with each position moved. For example, F has one flat, Bb has two, and so on. This pattern continues until we reach the bottom with Gb.
And now you have it! This will be very helpful to learn in order to identify key signatures quickly.