Circle of Fifths

The circle of fifths: every key, its signature and its chords.

Click any key to see its key signature, its relative minor, its diatonic chords and the progressions songs are built from, with real piano audio for every chord.

Play the scale for any key

Each key on the circle has a scale. Pick one to see and hear it on the piano scales tool, with fingering and a practice tempo.

Major keys

Minor keys

How to read and use the circle of fifths

The circle of fifths is a diagram of the 12 musical keys arranged so that each key is a perfect fifth above the one before it. Read clockwise it moves in fifths; read counter-clockwise it moves in fourths. The outer ring holds the 12 major keys, the inner ring holds their relative minors, and the centre shows the key signature of whichever key you select. Click any key above to see all three at once and hear its chords.

This page covers how to read the circle and what to do with it. For the full beginner's guide, including the history of the diagram, read the circle of fifths explained.

The building block: a perfect fifth

A perfect fifth spans seven semitones, or five letter names, from the starting note. From C, counting up five letters (C, D, E, F, G) lands on G, seven keys away on the piano. Every step clockwise on the circle is one perfect fifth: C to G, G to D, D to A, and so on, until the twelfth step returns to C. That is why the diagram closes into a circle.

Sharp keys clockwise, flat keys counter-clockwise

Each step clockwise from C adds one sharp to the key signature: G major has one (F♯), D major has two (F♯, C♯), A major has three (F♯, C♯, G♯). The sharps always arrive in the same order:

F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯, E♯, B♯ (Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle)

Each step counter-clockwise from C adds one flat: F major has one (B♭), B♭ major has two (B♭, E♭), E♭ major has three (B♭, E♭, A♭). The flats arrive in the reverse order:

B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭, F♭(Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles' Father)

So a key with three sharps has the first three sharps of the list, and a key with three flats has the first three flats. The centre of the circle above shows this for every key you click. The full chart, with every signature on the staff, is in the key signatures guide.

Relative minor: the inner ring

Every major key shares its key signature with one minor key, its relative minor. The relative minor starts on the sixth degree of the major scale, three half steps below the major key's root: C major and A minor, G major and E minor, F major and D minor. On the circle the relative minor sits directly inside its major key, so the inner ring reads in the same order as the outer ring. Use the major/minor toggle above to hear the same seven notes anchored on either root. More on the relationship in relative major and minor scales.

Three things the circle does for you

  • Learn scales in order. Work clockwise from C and each new scale adds exactly one sharp; work counter-clockwise and each adds one flat. Neighbouring keys share six of their seven notes, so each step changes one fingering, not eight.
  • Find the chords of a key. The key directly clockwise is the V chord, the key directly counter-clockwise is the IV chord, and the inner-ring key at the same position is the vi chord. Click any key above and the diatonic chord cards show all seven.
  • Change key smoothly. Keys one step apart differ by one note, so modulating to the V or the IV changes the least. Keys on opposite sides of the circle share the fewest notes, so moving between them changes the most.

Common progressions, and where they sit on the circle

Because the circle places related chords next to each other, the most used progressions stay inside a small arc. Three you can play with above:

  • I – V – vi – IV: the four-chord progression. In C major: C, G, Am, F. Every chord is within one step of C (G clockwise, F counter-clockwise, Am directly inside).
  • ii – V – I: the most common cadence in jazz harmony. In C major: Dm7, G7, Cmaj7. The roots move counter-clockwise by fifths (D to G to C) back to the home key.
  • i – VII – VI – V (the Andalusian cadence): the bass descends through the minor scale from the tonic to the dominant. In A minor: Am, G, F, E, with E played major so that it resolves to Am.

How to memorise it

Two facts carry most of the circle. First, the order of sharps (F♯ C♯ G♯ D♯ A♯ E♯ B♯) and the order of flats (its reverse). Second, that each clockwise step is a fifth up. From those two you can rebuild any key signature: count the steps from C, then take that many sharps or flats from the front of the list. Most players know the keys with up to four sharps or flats by heart and look up the rest.

Common questions

Why is C at the top of the circle?
Convention. C major has no sharps or flats, so it is the reference point in standard notation. Some diagrams put A minor at the top instead; the structure is identical either way.
Why are some keys spelled with sharps and others with flats?
Each key is spelled the way that needs the fewest accidentals. G major has one sharp (F♯), so it is written with sharps. F major has one flat (B♭), so it is written with flats. The six o'clock position can be spelled F♯ major (six sharps) or G♭ major (six flats); both are correct, and the choice follows the instrument and the surrounding keys in the piece.
What is a perfect fifth?
The interval between a note and the note seven semitones above it. C to G is a perfect fifth; G to D is a perfect fifth. Every step clockwise on the circle is this one interval, which is why the pattern closes after twelve steps.
How do I find the relative minor of a key?
Count three half steps down from the major key's root, or take the sixth note of its scale. Either way, C major gives A minor and G major gives E minor. On the circle it is the inner-ring key at the same position.
Do I have to memorise the whole circle?
No. Most players learn the keys with up to four sharps or flats first (C, G, D, A, E and F, B♭, E♭, A♭), because most pieces sit in them. The rest you learn when a piece demands it, and the circle above is here to look them up.