The Circle of Fifths:
(can I not plant an image in here anymore?)
http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/f/...res/circle.gif
from a xerox I have:
The circle of fifths is a handy tool for finding the sharps and flats in any given major scale. The ability to findthe sharps or flats in a given key quickly is a very important musical skill, so you will find it helpful to memorize the circle of fifths and to learn how to use it.
The left side of the circle lists keys containing flats. The right side lists keys containing sharps. At the top of the circle is the key of C Major which has no sharps or flats. At the bottom of the circle is the key of F# Major and Gb Major which contain 6 sharps or 6 flats respectively.
The numbers inside the circle tell you how many sharps or flats (depending on which side of the circle you are on) a given key contains. For example, on the right side of the circle, the key of G Major has 1 sharp, the key of D Major has 2 sharps, etc. On the left side, the key of F Major has 1 flat, the key of Bb Major has 2 flats, etc.
The circle of fifths will also tell you which notes are sharped or flatted in each key.
For sharp keys, start with the number 1 sharp (F#) and count the required number CLOCKWISE. Thus, the key of E Major has 4 sharps: F#, C#, G#, and D# (funky cows get drunk!)
For flat keys, start with the number 1 flat (Bb) and count the required number COUNTER-CLOCKWISE. The key of Ab, for example, has four flats: Bb, Eb, Ab, and Db (bead!)
now here is a lesson on the circle of fifths a friend of mine did:
The Cycle of Fifths (Circle of Fifths) - more than just a memory device - useful in progressions.....
Recall the C major scale had no sharps. It's notes were C D E F G A B C
What's the 5th note of the C major scale?
I get the note G....hopefully you do.
When we made the G major scale, how many sharps did we get?
G major scale = G A B C D E F# G.
Aha...We got one sharp (take note of where the F# occurs - next to last note of the scale)
Now, what's the 5th note of the G major scale? I get the note D.
How many sharps did we get when we made the D major scale last chapter?
D major scale = D E F# G A B C# D.
Aha...two sharps that time. Note that the D major scale retains the F# of the G major scale, and now we again have a sharp on the next to last note (C#)
Quiz:
What is the root note of the major scale containing three sharps?
Answer: A
Ok...
Well, the fifth note of the D major scale is in fact A. Make an A major scale. Get 3 sharps? You should have
A major scale = A B C# D E F# G# A.
Note we again retained the sharps from the previous scale (the F# and C# of the D major scale). Also, again, the new sharp (G#) came on the next to last note.
The pattern keeps going. Do you remember how odd it seemed when we first named the 12 notes of music back in Part 1? Didn't seem like a very simple way of naming the notes. It hopefully doesn't seem as disorganized now.
The fifth note now would be the note E.
I'll leave that up to you. You could keep going and make the E major scale, then the B major scale. You would continue to use sharps. Instead of doing that though, let's go the other way and follow the.....
Cycle of Fourths.
Go back to the C major scale....no sharps...just C D E F G A B C.
Patterns here if we go by fourths?????
The fourth note is F. When we make a major scale on F (we did it last section...use flats) we get
F major scale = F G A Bb C D E F
Note that we got one flat. Where did it occur? We got the new flat on the 4th note.
Make sure you get that for the F major scale. Recall that there is no note between B and C, nor is there a note between E and F.
Now if we go to the 4th note of the F major scale we have the note Bb. Let's make the Bb major scale. Remember, we still just follow the formula WWHWWWH - that doesn't change.
I get Bb C D Eb F G A Bb. Now, of course you see three flats written there but there are only two DIFFERENT flats, the Bb and the Eb. Notice that in relation to the prior scale, we retained the old flat and the new flat pops up on the 4th note.
The fourth note was Eb. Make the Eb major scale. I get Eb major scale =
Eb F G Ab Bb C D Eb
Again, we retained the two old flats and our new flat popped up on the 4th note giving us a total of three DIFFERENT flats.
QUIZ:
You should just confirm you get the following notes for the major scales....if you don't get something ask...
Remember, the formula for making a major scale is...
You pick a root note and then make the following steps
W W H W W W H
Going by 5ths.....
C Major = C D E F G A B C
G Major = G A B C D E F# G
D Major = D E F# G A C# D
A Major = A B C# D E F# G# A
E Major = E F# G# A B C# D# E
B Major = B C# D# E F# G# A# B
F# Major = F# G# A# B C# D# E# F#
(clearly F# major looks awfully messy...it's just as messy if you think of it as Gb major. Note the E#...that's really just the note F...it's customary to not use the same letter name in a scale twice, so, since we already had an F#, we refer to the F as E#)
Remember, no matter how complicated a scale looks,,, ALL major scales have the same exact structure.... WWHWWWH...they all sound exactly alike.
play them on your guitar to help train your ear.
going by 4ths we get....
C Major = C D E F G A B C
F Major = F G A Bb C D E F
Bb Major = Bb C D Eb F G A Bb
Eb Major = Eb F G Ab Bb C D Eb
Ab Major = Ab Bb C Db Eb F G Ab
Db Major = Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C Db
Gb Major (which is the same as F# Major)
Gb Major = Gb Ab Bb Cb Db Eb F Gb
(note that Cb is just the note B - we avoid using the letter B twice in the scale)
Don't freak out about trying to memorize things.....just make sure you can MAKE the scales properly....
In general, the vast majority of guitar music "happens" in the keys of C,G,D,A, E and their relative minors (don't concern yourself with relative minors yet). There really isn't as much to remember as you might think.....remember...metal heads learn this stuff....doped up metal heads learn this stuff....it can't be that tough....just make sure you can make the scales on paper and up a single string on your guitar.
light bulbs going off yet?