Circle of Fifths - Key Signature Video Lesson by MJS Music, guitar, bass, piano and more...

[skatefreak654]

@tomtebass your an idiot 

[downhill240]

Nice lesson!

[virtuosoism]

For those who are interested in learning the science behind the Circle of 5ths, visit the virtuosoism website. There are multiple essays which show the mathematical development of the circle of 5ths and show how it progresses as a waveform.

[96Lotrfan]

Hi carly :)

[96Lotrfan]

Wow this is helpful....

[hanzimaster]

B major is also Cb major

[PlagueOfBabies]

how do I tell what signature I'm supposed to play if it's concert scale and I play trumpet

[tomtebass]

and how does this helpme figuring out the key of a song ? :)

[msternal]

@tomtebass The Circle of Fifths is a tool for sight reading music. It makes memorizing the key signatures easier.

[tomtebass]

@msternal oh okay, do you have any tip on how to found out which key a song is in ?

[msternal]

@tomtebass @tomtebass Grab Easy Bass Guitar Theory DVD (also for guitar). It will teach you to play scales, harmony and chords in every key.

[trueshinchan]

@tomtebass in case you haven't figured it out, the number of sharp notes or flat notes would tell you what key the song is in (exp: o flats and o sharps is Key of C)

[lRever]

@tomtebass I'd say grow ears.

[bofoj]

ok but how will some one know which chord will be #, flat or a natural chord

[DDEMEETRI]

thanks this is helpful, dont most c.o.f. charts also show the triad that corresponds and its relative minor

[msternal]

Good question. I suppose it would be helpful, but not necessary since the main objective is to learn key signatures for sight reading. The relative minor would be an added bonus, but for that matter, so would all 7 chords derived from that key. Check out Easy Guitar Theory DVD for more indepth study of keys, their scales, harmony and chords, (Bass also available).

[guitarG321]

does the circle of 5ths matter if you can read music or not please help me

[msternal]

It is a tool for understanding the key signatures when you are learning to read music. The Circle Of Fifths would not aid anyone who is not learning to read music. On the other hand, understanding 5ths (and all other intervals) is very valuable knowledge for every musician.

[tctebsrules]

you need to know your notes good, but you don't need to be able to read sheet music. Just identify notes on the guitar

[victoriousshade]

if you want to read sheet music you sorta have to know how many sharps are in a tone because most sheet music displays the key the peace is just by showing a cluster of sharps i.e. 1 # will equal Gminor/A#M

[msternal]

You mean 1 # is G major / E minor.

[victoriousshade]

whew good eyes

[iownawii]

So the Blues scale has 6 notes, this makes it a Hexatonic scale right. So what would you call a chromatic scale?

[msternal]

Other than Chromatic, I'd double your comment and call it a dual-Hexatonic scale ;D

[VRH92]

What do you mean by move up (or down) a "fifth"?

[msternal]

It means a fifth scale degree. This is explained in detail on the video (over 2 hours of lessons), prior to the bonus Circle of Fifths lesson. For example, the key of C uses

C D E F G A B C.

C to G is a fifth scale degree.

The key of G uses

G A B C D E F# G

G to D is a fifth scale degree.

The key of D uses

D E F# G A B C# D

D to A is a fifth scale degree. Running out of space, let me know if this helps.

[VRH92]

Yes, that's very helpful thanks =]. I kind of understood that before hand, I'm just overloading my brain lately with information musical-theory-wise.

[cchapar]

Just started playing guitar a month ago, by a bunch of online lessons and such and people always stress the fundamentals, but I didnt get much of this video at all (no I dont know how to read sheet music yet). I'll give it another try when I understand what he's saying better.

[msternal]

The circle of fifths is a tool for intermediate to advanced musicians. It is usually introduced at a college level. Dedicated students usually learn it early, but you stated you've only been playing a month, which in my opinion is much too early. Don't worry if you don't understand this now. Learn to play a few songs, and how to read music in a few different keys first. Then this will be useful for you.

[BluesJazzClassical]

I Can Only Read Alittle Of Sheet Music I Can Read Tabs very easyily. but not sheet music. so am i not able to use this yet?

[kneedragger81]

Good you are learning! INTERVALS are the distances between any two notes. So if you choose to start on C...a fifth would be G (C-D-E-F-G). The next thing to do is figure out how to use it with musical ideas and so forth, which I am attempting to learn at the moment. This stuff went over my head when I first discovered it, but the basic concept is pretty simple, really.

[iownawii]

I know the circle of fifths can help find the key of a song but can you tell me how it can be used, song writing, improvising. Much appreciated.

[msternal]

The Circle of Fifths is a tool for understanding the key signatures in written music. If you are playing a song and following along with the sheet music, you will know what scale to use for melody, harmony, leads etc.

[iownawii]

Oh okay thanks,its getting clear. So in your book "TSTA" I was a bit confused, does every scale have seven modes or are modes scales unto themselves?

[msternal]

Good question. A diatonic scale has 7 notes, so in TSTA I teach a position for each note. When you change keys, the 7 positions remain the same, but the name of the notes and the key changes. Each note can be it's own mode. Funny thing is, when you are starting out, many people look at it as 1 scale, when you advance, you see each scale note as a mode, then when you've gotten the hang of it, they all blend together as one again. At least in this mind.