What is the..."Circle of Fifths?"

The Circle of Fifths is the arrangement of each of the musical keys (yes, there is an order)!

How is the Circle arranged?

The Circle of Fifths includes all thirty keys. There are seven Major sharp keys, seven Major flat keys, and one Major key with no sharps or flats. Similarly, there are seven minor sharp keys, seven minor flat keys, and one minor key with no sharps or flats. (7 + 7 + 1 + 7 + 7 + 1 = 30). Starting with the sharpless-and-flatless key (C major/A minor), the sharps are arranged around the Circle clockwise, while the flats run counterclockwise. Enharmonic keys - or keys with two key signatures, a sharp signature and a flat signature - meet at the bottom. Note that enharmonic keys ARE THE SAME KEY; they can just be written out in two different ways.

Why is it called the Circle of Fifths?

Each successive key is the interval of one Perfect Fifth (or seven half-steps up) from the next key in the circle, going clockwise. Going counterclockwise, each successive key is one Perfect Fifth down (or seven half-steps down) from the next key in the circle. This simple knowledge makes memorization easy!

Why memorize the Circle of Fifths?

By memorizing the Circle of Fifths, you can easily know the key signature for ANY KEY. You can also play them in the proper order while practicing. But you must know the order of sharps and flats. If you do not, see the text below.

How else could I memorize the key signatures for major keys?

SHARP KEYS: First, you must know the order of sharps, which is: F C G D A E B. An easy way to remember this is to use an acronym, my personal favorite being "Fat Cows Get Dumpy After Eating Butter." (^_^...) Note that the order of sharps is the exact reversal of the order of flats! After that, write the sharps in their order until you write the sharp which is directly before the key note. For example, to find the key signature for E major, you would figure out that you need to write the sharps up to D. So E major has four sharps: F, C, G, and D. Note that if you knew the key signature, but not the key name, you could simply find the note a half-step up from D.

FLAT KEYS: First, you must know the order of flats, which is: B E A D G C F. This is easy to memorize: the first four flats make a word - Bead - and the next three spell out the acronym for "Greatest Common Factor.". Note that the order of flats is the exact reversal of the order of sharps! After that, write the flats in their order until you have written one more flat than the key note. For example, if you wanted to know the key signature for A flat major, you would figure out that you needed to write the flats up to D. So A flat major has four flats: B, E, A, and D. Note that if you knew the key signature, but not the key name, you could simply look at the second-to-last flat. IMPORTANT: AN EXCEPTION TO THIS RULE IS F MAJOR. THIS HAS ONLY ONE FLAT - B FLAT. THEREFORE, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO TO LOGICALLY FIND THE KEY SIGNATURE OR KEY NAME, AND IT MUST BE MEMORIZED.

How else could I memorize the key signature for minor keys?

To find the key signature for any minor key, you must first know its relative major. If you do not, you must figure that out first. Once you have done so, count down three half steps from the key note to find that key's relative minor. If you know the minor key's name, count up three half steps to find the major key, and then find its key signature.

This all seems complicated, but it gets easier. Be sure to practice! Soon, a quiz will be up to help you practice key signature recognition. Below is the Circle of Fifths.

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