Oct 4 • Theory Made Simple
🎵 Circle of Fifths: The “Chords That Fit” Shortcut
If you’ve seen the Circle of Fifths before but aren’t sure how it helps with chords, here’s the simple version:
✅ 1. Each key is a “family.”Every major key (like C major, G major, F major…) has 7 notes it likes to use. The chords built from those 7 notes are the ones that fit together naturally.
✅ 2. Neighbouring keys are cousins. Move one step clockwise → you add a sharp. Move one step counterclockwise → you add a flat. That means keys sitting next to each other share most of their notes — that’s why they sound related. (C major and G major, for example, share 6 out of 7 notes!)
âś… 3. The Circle helps you see these families. If you’re in the key of F major (one flat: Bâ™), your main chords come from that family: F, Gm, Am, Bb, C, Dm, and Edim. All of those “fit” because they use only notes from the F major scale.
âś… 4. Why this matters:
- When you pick chords for a song, stay inside one key to sound stable.
- When you borrow a chord from a neighbouring key, you get colour or surprise — but it still sounds musical because it’s close on the circle.
- When you modulate (change key), the Circle shows the smoothest paths.
If you’re thinking, “So when you say Bâ™, you mean the key of Bâ™ major, not a single note?” — exactly right.
👉 In short:
- Keys = families of chords that share notes.
- Neighbours = similar families that blend easily.
- The Circle = your map for both.
If you’d like, I can post a one-page cheat sheet showing the 7 chords that “fit” in each key. Would that be useful? 🎹
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🎵 Circle of Fifths: The “Chords That Fit” Shortcut
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