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by projectMalamute_Archive
eliya wrote:Circle of fifths - I understand what it is. Scales that are a fifth apart, so it's easy to travel between them. I was never able to utilize it in music, and every time I read or watch something about the circle of fifths, they just talk about what it is. I'd love to see how it's used.Let's start with what it is:Start with a major scale: do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti. In guitar terms start on an arbitrary note, that's the root or 'do'.Go up two frets, that's 're'.Go up another two frets, that's 'mi'.Go up one fret, that's 'fa'.Go up two frets, 'sol'.Go up two frets, 'la'.Go up two frets, 'ti'.Go up one more fret and you are back to 'do', one octave higher.brief aside: If you have any interest in learning this stuff for real, sing along. You want to internalize the sound of these concepts. If you can't sing it you aren't hearing it in your inner ear and you are just sticking your fingers in places that are supposed to be 'correct'. People skipping the ear part and learning (or rather failing to learn) music theory in this manner are what give the whole thing a bad rap.anyway:If you take that pattern of notes and start on a C you get the C major scale. That's all white notes on a piano, no sharps or flats. C D E F G A B CNow let's go down a perfect fifth and play the same pattern starting on F. You will find that to stay in the same pattern you need a Bb rather than a B. F G A Bb C D E FGo down another perfect fifth, now starting on Bb. You will find that to maintain the same pattern you need an Eb rather than an E. Bb C D Eb F G A Bb.Let's go the other way, moving up a fifth from C to G. Play the same pattern and you will find you need an F# rather than an F. G A B C D E F# GGo another fifth in this direction from G up to D, you will find that you need an C# instead of a C. D E F# G A B C# D.So the first thing you are getting with the circle of 5ths is all of the different keys, laid out in order such that two adjacent keys have only one note different. Keys farther apart around the circle are more remote in the sense that they have fewer notes in common. going around the circle:Key of C, no sharps or flats.Key of G, one sharpKey of D, two sharpsKey of A, three sharpsKey of E, four sharpsKey of B, five sharps('same as' key of Cb, which is seven flats)Key of F#, six sharps ('same as' key of Gb, which is six flats)Key of C#, seven sharps ('same as' key of Db, which is five flats)Key of Ab, four flatsKey of Eb, three flatsKey of Bb, two flatsKey of F, one flatand then you are all the way around and back to C.The circle of fifths also gives you the order in which you add these sharps or flats, they fall in to the same pattern.flats go B E A D G C F, ie the key of F has one flat, and it's a Bb. The key of Bb has two flats and they are a Bb and an Eb. etc.The order sharps get added is the same thing in reverse: F C G D A E B. The key of G has one sharp, and it's an F#. The key of D has two sharps and they are an F# and a C#. As you move around the circle of fifths for each key add another sharp, in that order.'How it's used' is a tougher question. I'm not really sure it makes sense without some context.