Novice Level
Lesson 1: Understanding the circle of 5ths
Glossary of Terms
Western Music
Music that originated in Western Countries such as Greece, Rome, Austria, Germany, France, Italy, England, Canada and the United States. It can be characterized by its use of an Equal Temperament Tuning System in which an octave is divided into 12 equally spaced notes and then those notes are altered slightly so that any music piece can be transposed into any of the 30 Keys, each Key having a characteristic quality, emotion or feel.
Enharmonic
Musical pitches that sound identical but are written or spelled differently. Example: The F# Major Scale sounds identical to the Gb Major Scale, but has different note names or the scale is spelled differently. That is: F# Major Scale: F#, G#, A#, B, C#, D#, E#, F#. Verses: Gb Major Scale: Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, F, Gb. If you play both scales on the piano, you will be hitting the same keys, and the scales will sound identical.
Key Signature
This is an arrangement of sharps or flats, written after the cleft and before the Time Signature, that identifies which of the 30 keys a particular piece of music is written in. Sometimes these keys are used to match the range of the singer and sometimes musicians prefer a certain key because each musical pitch has a different feeling. Therefore, each of the 30 keys has a different feel or emotion.
The 30 Keys of Western Music
There are 30 Keys that the majority of Western Music is written in. The 14 Major Keys are: C Major, G Major, D Major, A Major, E Major, B Major, F# Major, Gb Major, C# Major, Db Major, Ab Major, Eb Major, Bb Major, and F Major. (D# Major, G# Major and A# Major are not typically used but their enharmonic equivalents are used instead: Eb Major, Ab Major and Bb Major) The 16 minor keys are: A minor, E minor, B minor, F# minor, Gb minor, C# minor, Db minor, G# minor, D# minor, Eb minor, Bb minor, A# minor, F minor, C minor, G minor and D minor. (Ab minor is not typically used but its enharmonic equivalent G# is used instead)
Perfect 5th
A music interval consisting of a distance of 7 half steps or 7 semitones or 3 ½ steps. If we start with middle C or C4, a perfect 5th above middle C is G or G4. You can count from C to G the same way you count from 1 to 5, i.e. 1-2-3-4-5 or C-D-E-F-G. Middle C has a frequency of 261 hertz. G4 has a frequency of 392 hertz. Therefore the 5th vibrates at 3/2 or 1.5 times the frequency of the tonic. And the tonic and the 5th vibrate at a ratio of 2 to 3. Pythagoras coined the term “Perfect” because of the consonance, agreement or compatibility between the tonic and the 5th. Interestingly, the distance between the 5th and the next highest tonic, or the Octave is a perfect 4th which consists of 5 semitones or 5 half steps. Therefore, when ascending the scale or going up in pitch, it takes 7 half steps to get to a vibration halfway between the tonic and the next Octave, but only 5 half steps to go from the halfway point to the next Octave. You can see this principle on a guitar neck as the frets become closer together as you move away from the nut and approach the bridge.
Perfect 4th
A musical interval consisting of a distance of 5 half steps or semitones or 21/2 steps. For example, a perfect fourth above G is C. You can count from G to C the same way you count from 1 to 4. i.e. 1-2-3-4 and G-A-B-C. G4, or the G above middle C vibrates at 392 hertz and C5 vibrates at 523 hertz or at a ratio of 3 to 4. Pythagoras coined the term “perfect fourth” because of the consonance, agreement or compatibility between the tonic and the fourth.
Equal Temperament Tuning: The tuning system used to tune contemporary piano in Western Music. This is slightly different than Bach’s Well Tempered Tuning. Equal Temperament involves dividing the Octave into 12 equal parts and then slightly altering the notes up or down, so that any music piece can be transposed from its original key into any other of the 15 Major or 15 minor keys.
Diatonic Scale
A Major or minor scale consisting of seven notes per octave. This is different from a chromatic scale which consists of all 12 possible notes in an Octave. There are 7 notes between Octaves. Five of these notes are separated by a whole step and two are separated by a half step. Diatonic scales make up the Major and minor scales used in Western Music as well as all 7 modes used in Jazz.
The Tonic or Root Note
The primary or first note of a scale for which the scale is named. For example, C is the Tonic or Root note of the C Major Scale, and it is the major point of rest or resolution in that scale. It is the note on which all melody and harmony is based. Once a student of music develops some ear training, the root note can be easily identified whenever it is sounded. It is the starting and ending point of a Major or minor scale and the starting and ending point of the 7 modes. Often melodies begin and end with the tonic note. A triad consists of a root note and then a middle note which is a third above the root, and a top note which is a perfect 5th above the root. A seventh chord consists of a Root note, a second note a third above the root, a third note a fifth above the root and a fourth note a third above the fifth.
When I went to music school at SUNY New Paltz, the very first thing I learned was a mnemonic to write out the circle of 5ths. It seems so counterintuitive that memorizing an abstract concept would be the first step toward learning, composing and playing music.
In the United States of America, we hear, learn and appreciate Western Music. Whether it’s Classical, Rock, Pop, Jazz or Country, it’s all based on Western Music Theory. And, at the heart of it all, is the Circle of 5ths.
All Western Music is based around the C Major Scale. So, if you can imagine a clock with 12 numbers, and put C Major at the 12 O Clock position, you can figure out the next Major scale that goes at the 1 O Clock position by counting from C to G the same way you would count from 1to 5. C, D, E, F, G. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. So G Major goes in the 1 O Clock position. The Major Scales of the circle of 5ths, progressing in 5ths goes: C, G, D, A, E, B, F. The classic mnemonic goes: Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle or Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles Father. Or you can make up your own mnemonic to progress forward and backwards around the Circle of 5ths.
So, let’s say that I come up with the mnemonic: Cats Go Down Alleys Eating Bacon Fat. And I use it to write out: C G D A E B F. Then underneath each of these letters, I write out the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and I say to myself: C Major had no sharps, G Major has 1 sharp, D Major has 2 sharps, A Major has 3 Sharps, E Major has 4 Sharps and B Major has 5 sharps and F# Major has 6 Sharps.
Then, I write C G D A E B F and I say to myself F Major has 1 Flat, Bb (B Flat) Major has 2 Flats, Eb Major has 3 Flats, Ab Major has 4 Flats, Db Major has 5 Flats, and Gb Major has 6 Flats. I can write these out in a line of letters with numbers underneath them and use this to write out the Circle of 5ths, in a circle with 12 positions so that it is similar to a clock.
(See figure 1.)
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Figure 1: Begin by making up a mnemonic like: Cats Go Down Alleys Eating Bacon Fat.
These will represent the 12 O Clock through 6 O Clock positions on our Circle of 5ths Clock. Write out the letters from Left to Right and write out the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 underneath them. These numbers represent the number of sharps in each of these Major Scales.
Then write out the mnemonic letters again to the left of these and number underneath them in descending order, and these new numbers represent the number of flats in each of these Major Keys. These letters will end up on the Left side of our clock going from the 7 O Clock position to the 11 O Clock position. You will have to remember that all of these keys have flat in their name except for F major.
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Remember that we said that C goes in the 12 O Clock position, and G in the 1 O Clock position. And following this pattern up to the 6 O Clock position, which is not F, but F#, (which is enharmonic with Gb) and has 6 Flats, we make up the first 6 positions of the clock. Then going counterclockwise from 12 to 6, we fill in the Major Scales from the 11 O Clock to the 7 O Clock position adding a flat to every Key name except F Major. This completes the outer clock circle which corresponds to the Major Scale.
See Figure 2:
Figure 2: Circle of 5ths Clock, Outer Layer, Major Keys.
Now, you just need to fill in the inner circle of the clock which is the minor scales. You get there by memorizing that the C Major Key Signature is enharmonic with A minor. Write A minor in the inner clock circle at the 12 O Clock position.
Then go around clockwise with the same circle of 5ths progression that we know from our mnemonic: A, E, B, F, C, G, D. The next thing that you have to know and remember is that there are always two half steps between each note in a Major or Minor scale degree except for between B and C or between E and F in which there is only one half step. You can visualize this on a piano keyboard by noticing that there is no black key between B and C or Between E and F. Now, the pair of scales, Major and minor at the same clock position are called relative scales. So, A minor is the relative minor scale related to C Major. This is different than C Major and C minor scales which are called parallel scales or C minor is the parallel minor of C Major.
See Figure 3:
When you have filled out all of the 24 clock positions, both inner and outer, it should look like this. The other 6 scales that make up the 30 scales of Western music are 6 enharmonic scales 2 Major and 4 minor. Therefore, the 30 Keys of Western Music are from the 1 O Clock position to the 12 O Clock position: [1] C Major, [2] A minor, [3] G Major, [4] E minor, [5] D Major, [6] B minor, [7] A Major, [8] F# minor [9] Gb Minor, [10] E Major, [11] C# minor, [12] Db minor, [13] B Major, [14] G# minor, [15] F# Major, [16] Gb Major, [17] Eb Minor, [18] D# minor, [19] Db Major, [20] C# Major, [21] Bb minor, [22] A# minor, [23] Ab Major, [24] F minor, [25] Eb Major, [26] C minor, [27] Bb Major, [28] G minor, [29] F Major, [30] D minor. Any other scales that you could imagine, like: A# Major, B# Major, D# Major, E# Major, G# Major and Ab minor are not typically used.
Figure 3: Completed Circle of 5hts Clock with all 30 Major and minor Keys.
Which scale it is depends on which note is the root note, usually determined by which note a piece starts and ends with. So, if you see a key signature, say with 5 sharps, you could intelligently say it is either a B Major or a G# minor scale. Does the piece start with the note B or G#. Or is the first chord a B Major chord or a G# minor chord?
A music school professor who is a cruel task master would make basic music theory students write out the circle of 5ths 10 times a day for 30 days, and then give periodic pop quizzes which would demonstrate proficiency.
It may be hard to believe that this is the first step towards becoming a beloved musician. But, take it from me, any hour spent learning and memorizing the circle of 5ths, until it’s in every cell of your body, will be time well spent.
Now that you know about the 30 Keys of Western Music, you can use the number of sharps or flats to play two octaves up and down on your instrument of choice. Sharps and Flats are arranged in a specific order on the staff going from left to right. For sharps, use the mnemonic: Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle. For a Major Key with one sharp, that sharp is always on the F. When there are two sharps, they are on the F and the C. The third sharp goes on G and the fourth sharp goes on D. The fifth goes on A, the sixth on E and the seventh on B.
For Flats, reverse the palindrome so that it reads: Battle Ends And Down Geos Charles Father. If a Major Key has one flat, it always goes on B. If there are two flats, they go on B and E. The third flat goes on A. The fourth sharp goes on D, and the fifth on G. The sixth goes on C and the seventh on F.
These are also arranged on the Key signature in that order from left to right. Sharps go F, C, G, D, A, E, B and Flats go from left to right: B, E, A, D, G, C, F. By counting the number of Sharps or Flats and referring to your Circle of 5ths Clock, you can determine which Key a piece of music is written in.
To determine whether the piece is in Major or minor, look at the first and last note of the melody. These are typically the Root or Tonic note. Also, the first and last chord could likely be named by the Root or Tonic note. For example, if there are two Sharps in the Key Signature, then the piece is either in D Major or B Minor. Does the melody start with a D or a B. Is the first chord a B minor or a D Major.
When first starting out in music, it is always smart to learn some basic music theory while also attempting to play some simple and basic sheet music on your instrument of choice. And it is always a good idea to make good friends with the piano, either an acoustic piano or a full 88 key keyboard. When you can get an entire keyboard set up for the price of a steak dinner, it is well worth the expense and trouble to print out some piano sheet music and spend at least 15 minutes a day practicing. Regardless of what your instrument of choice is, playing piano will help you to learn and memorize 88 notes and their relationships in Western Music.