How do you read chords?
Sharps or flats
CIRCLE OF FIFTHS · A FIVE-MINUTE GUIDE
The circle of fifths, explained simply
The circle of fifths arranges the 12 keys so that each is a fifth above the last: going clockwise adds one sharp, going counterclockwise adds one flat.
It is a map of which notes and chords get along. Learn to read it and you will know which chords fit any song, what a key signature means and where the modes come from. Tap anything to hear it.
Outside: major chords. Middle: minor. Inside: diminished. Around the edge: the 12 notes.
01
Fifths are the notes that get along best
Play C and G together. If you play guitar you know that sound: it is the power chord, 5. The two notes blend so well because the G is already hiding inside every C: a string that plays one also hums the other, faintly.
That distance, seven piano keys, is called a fifth. Keep climbing by fifths, C G D A… and twelve steps later you are back on C, having touched every note once. Bend that line into a ring and you have the circle.
Try it: play two notes at the same time
Your first note is C. Tap any note on the circle to change it.
The one rule: neighbours get along, opposites clash.
02
A key is seven neighbours
A key is just the set of seven notes a song uses. On the circle they always sit together: C major is F C G D A E B, the white keys of a piano.
Slide the group one step and only one note changes. That is all a key signature is: G major swaps F for F♯, so it has one sharp. Every step to the right adds a sharp; every step to the left adds a flat.
C major
no sharps or flats
Use the arrows to move to the next key.
Same seven notes as on the circle, now in the order you sing them. The outlined notes are the ones that just changed.
The signs at the start of the staff are the key signature: no sharps or flats. Every note in the song is played as written.
Memory trick. The sharps always arrive in circle order, F C G D A E B (“Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle”). The flats arrive in the reverse order.
03
The chords of a key sit together
Build a chord on each of those seven notes and they land in one tidy frame: three major chords on top, their three minor partners just under them, and one odd chord (diminished) at the bottom.
Writing a song in G? Turn the frame to G: every chord inside it fits. That is why so many songs need only the three on top, , and in C major.
Every chord has a role, like characters in a story: home is where you rest, away gets things moving, tension needs an answer. Songs leave home and come back, and coming back usually means moving to the left on the circle, toward home.
C major
no sharps or flats
Tap a chord to hear it. Tap one outside the frame to move the frame there.
One chord on each note of the scale, low to high. Above each chord: its number in the key.
- HomeC Em Am
- AwayDm F
- TensionG B°
04
Change the home, change the mood
Here is the secret behind major and minor. Keep the same seven chords of C major, but treat as home: suddenly they sound sad. That is A minor. Same chords, different home.
A frame has seven chords, so there are seven possible homes, each with its own mood. These are the modes. Line them up from brightest to darkest and they follow the circle itself: their homes are F C G D A E B.
Ionian, home on C: bright, settled, at home.
It starts and ends on home, C, so your ear hears that chord as the centre.
You already know two of them: Ionian is the major scale and Aeolian is the minor scale. The other five are the same idea with a different home.
05
Borrow a chord from next door
Now do the opposite: keep home on C and slide the frame around it. Each step to the left adds a flat and makes the mood a shade darker.
The chords that slide in are the “surprise” chords songwriters borrow. The that gives a major-key rock song its swagger comes from one step left; the moody and come from minor, three steps left.
Mixolydian lends C major:
06
Why the five chord pulls you home
Add one more note to each chord and you get the richer “seventh” chords. Tap one: its four notes light up around the edge.
Now look at the two notes at the very ends of the key, F and B in C major. They are the most restless pair in music. Only one chord holds both: , the five chord. When it moves to , F slides down to E and B slides up to C, and the tension melts. That is the sound of “the end” in almost every song.
C major
no sharps or flats
G7 holds both ends of the key: F and B.
07
See your key on guitar and piano
Everything so far works on any instrument, because a key is the same seven chords wherever you play them. Pick a key and an instrument to see the shapes.
Most songs a guitarist plays are in G, C, D, A or E, five neighbours on the circle: their chords are open shapes with few fingers. A capo moves the whole frame to any other key.
D major
2 sharps
Tap a shape to hear it, or play the whole key in order.
The whole circle in five lines
- 1. Neighbours get along; one step is one fifth.
- 2. A key is seven neighbours; one step over changes one note.
- 3. A key's chords sit in one frame: three major, three minor, one diminished.
- 4. Change the home and you change the mood: that is a mode.
- 5. Keep the home and slide the frame to borrow chords.
Circle of fifths chart: every key signature
The 12 keys in circle order, with the minor key that shares each signature and the seven chords of the major key (I ii iii IV V vi vii°).
| Position | Major key | Relative minor | Key signature | Chords in the key |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00 | C major | A minor | no sharps or flats | C Dm Em F G Am B° |
| 1:00 | G major | E minor | 1 sharp F♯ | G Am Bm C D Em F♯° |
| 2:00 | D major | B minor | 2 sharps F♯ C♯ | D Em F♯m G A Bm C♯° |
| 3:00 | A major | F♯ minor | 3 sharps F♯ C♯ G♯ | A Bm C♯m D E F♯m G♯° |
| 4:00 | E major | C♯ minor | 4 sharps F♯ C♯ G♯ D♯ | E F♯m G♯m A B C♯m D♯° |
| 5:00 | B major / C♭ | G♯ minor / A♭ | 5 sharps F♯ C♯ G♯ D♯ A♯ | B C♯m D♯m E F♯ G♯m A♯° |
| 6:00 | F♯ major / G♭ | D♯ minor / E♭ | 6 sharps F♯ C♯ G♯ D♯ A♯ E♯ | F♯ G♯m A♯m B C♯ D♯m E♯° |
| 7:00 | D♭ major / C♯ | B♭ minor / A♯ | 5 flats B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ | D♭ E♭m Fm G♭ A♭ B♭m C° |
| 8:00 | A♭ major | F minor | 4 flats B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ | A♭ B♭m Cm D♭ E♭ Fm G° |
| 9:00 | E♭ major | C minor | 3 flats B♭ E♭ A♭ | E♭ Fm Gm A♭ B♭ Cm D° |
| 10:00 | B♭ major | G minor | 2 flats B♭ E♭ | B♭ Cm Dm E♭ F Gm A° |
| 11:00 | F major | D minor | 1 flat B♭ | F Gm Am B♭ C Dm E° |
Order of sharps and flats, and how to memorize the circle
Order of sharps
F♯ C♯ G♯ D♯ A♯ E♯ B♯
Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle
Order of flats
B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ C♭ F♭
Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles’ Father: the same words backwards
- Name a sharp key from its signature: the last sharp is a half step below the key. Sharps F♯ C♯ G♯ → the last is G♯ → A major.
- Name a flat key from its signature: the second-to-last flat is the key. Flats B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ → A♭ major. One flat is the exception to learn by heart: F major.
- Rebuild the circle from C: count five letter names up (C D E F G → G) for the next key clockwise, and four up (C D E F → F) for the next key counterclockwise.
Minor keys and the circle of fourths
Minor keys sit inside the major key that has the same key signature, its relative major. To find the relative minor, count down three half steps from the major key (C → B → B♭ → A) or take the key’s sixth chord. They follow the circle the same way: A minor (no sharps), E minor (1♯), B minor (2♯)… and D minor (1♭), G minor (2♭), C minor (3♭). Tap any key in the inner ring of the wheel above to hear it.
The circle of fourths is the same circle read counterclockwise: each key goes up a fourth (C → F → B♭ → E♭). Chords like to travel that way, which is why the ii–V–I of jazz (Dm–G–C) is two steps counterclockwise, and a chain like E7–A7–D7–G7–C keeps going the same way.
For songwriting with the circle (secondary dominants, pivot-chord key changes) read how to use the circle of fifths to write songs, and hear the progressions themselves in the chord progressions table.
Printable circle of fifths chart
Free to print for practice or for a classroom. The PDF has three A4 pages: the chart, a table of every key with its chords, and a blank circle to fill in.
Build a progression from your key
Pick chords from the circle and arrange them in the Chord Player: add a rhythm, transpose, and export to WAV.
Open Chord PlayerFrequently asked questions
What is the circle of fifths used for?
To read key signatures at a glance (how many sharps or flats a key has), to find the relative minor of any major key, to see which keys are closely related for a key change, and to pick chords that belong together: a key’s I, IV and V sit side by side on the circle.
Why is it called the circle of fifths?
Each key is a perfect fifth (seven half steps) above the one before it: C, G, D, A, E, B, F♯… After twelve fifths you are back on C, so the list closes into a circle. Read the other way it goes up in fourths, which is why it is also called the circle of fourths.
What is the difference between the circle of fifths and the circle of fourths?
Nothing but the direction. Clockwise the keys go up a fifth (C → G); counterclockwise they go up a fourth (C → F). Jazz and blues players often talk about the circle of fourths because chord progressions like ii–V–I move that way.
Why are B/C♭, F♯/G♭ and D♭/C♯ on the circle twice?
At the bottom of the circle the sharp side and the flat side meet. B major (5 sharps) is the same sound as C♭ major (7 flats), F♯ (6 sharps) is the same as G♭ (6 flats), and D♭ (5 flats) is the same as C♯ (7 sharps). Musicians normally use the spelling with fewer accidentals.
How do I use the circle of fifths to transpose a song?
Find the song’s key and the key you want, then move every chord by the same distance: the frame of seven chords simply turns around the circle. The Chord Transposer does the chord-by-chord work for you and shows the frame turning.