Music Theory - Using the Circle of Fifths for Major Keys

[Flamestar1989]

@musictheoryguy Beautiful! Around the 3:40 mark I had a little epiphany and a jolt of happiness as it all began to fit into place and make sense :) I'm just picking up guitar casually but I will be watching and learning from all your videos because they are clear, succinct, and incredibly helpful.

[themanishkumar123]

I DIDNT GET IT.IT IS TOOO HARD TO UNDERSTAND.FIRST OF WHY ALL SHARPS ARRANGED N ORDER THAT THEY ALWAYS START FORM F AND WHERE IT END??? AND ALSO WHERE FLATS START AND WHERE IT ENDS??? ITZ TOO CONFUSING. :(

[handyfox333]

The C, the G, the A, the D, tha DODO DO DO DOOOOO!!!

[Freaky99100]

Father Christmas Gave Dad An Electric Blanket

Blanket Exploded And Dad Got Catched on Fire

that sounds like an easy and funny story to remember XD

[mintyfresco]

Their is no c flat ? Unless I am mistaken ?

[Mraodom1966]

@mintyfresco You can play a major scale from any of the twelve tones. All major scales will contain all seven letters of the musical alphabet. Following the order of sharps or flats will determine which letters are sharp or flat. Hence the key of Gb has six flats, they are Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, and Cb. In order to understand why Cb is correct and B would be incorrect, study enharmonics.

[glyne1939]

This makes music theory a lot easier to understand. Keep up the good work. Excellent!!!!

Glyne1939.

[TanUv90]

How can anyone dislike this video, they must be trolls who don't like music.

[AKASLOVERBOY]

i done with naturall keys i m confusing with SHarp keys

how to Find out

C# ?>O,O

[jveezyftw]

I love you

[19775kevin]

Awesome! Thank You.

[Drumtariano]

Ahhh, thanks for this! :D I have an AP Music Theory test today, and until now, I didn't really understand the circle of fifths. And now I do :P

[Yooumadbro]

Faggot Charleen Gets Dirty And Enlarges Boobs

Boob Explodes And Dad Gets Charred Feet

[ArGyProductions]

Thank you man, you are changing my life lol

[yardling]

awesome, thank you so much! :)

[philmiller99]

i just added this to my favourite (notice english spelling) list...this is a very good way to explain the circle of 5th's...I wish I would have had this and youtube back when I was taking piano lessons. Great video...very easy to understand. Cheers, Phil

[smashingpoop]

how do you use this if you want to create (advanced) chord progressions? i don't mean the 1-4-5 or that.

[playpianowell]

I've been viewing a number of your videos and I'm so impressed I've added several of them to playlists I'm putting together aimed at helping beginners to play the piano.

Your videos on the Circle Of Fifths are especially interesting and presented in a really clear and concise way. I'm just going to subscribe to your channel so I can quickly benefit from any future videos you upload to the site.

From: Tony Dunne at playpianowell

[codcrazy100]

i sub =) ty for great tuts



[MrWallerand]

How do you get chord proggression out of the cycle of fifhts? anyone has a quick explenation?

[MrROTD]

Well explained. Theory is good but it won't make up for having no talent lol

[XXlauchuXX]

You say that the key of C# has 7 #'s because of it's position on the clock. However, If I look at the scale C#, D#, F, F#, G#, A#, C, C#, I see that there are 6 #'s and not 7. What am I missing here?

[musictheoryguy]

@XXlauchuXX The scale of C# major is actually - C#, D#, E#, F#, G#, A#. B# (and C#) hence the seven sharps. You've listed the 'enharmonic equivalents' rather than sticking to the exact names of notes. Have a look at my video about Major Scales which looks at note names and how important it is to ensure that there is a note per line/space of the stave. By sticking to this rule you avoid enharmonics and, hopefully, any confusion. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

[susanbcote1]

@musictheoryguy this is very confusing to me, I just don't get it .........

[freakkiller277]

@musictheoryguy So the key itself, when played in full actually contains the first note of the next octave?

[ParishSouth]

@XXlauchuXX whatda.......

[markOZ911]

i'm learning more from you than from my music teacher, YOU'RE A GODSEND, haha.

[Videogirlxoxoxoxo]

Thanx sooo much i didnt understsnd dis at skool but u ave made it sooooo much simpler thanx please keep doing videos xxxxxxxxxxxxx

[norjiako]

exactly, i didn't get it in school either. so dis is really great!

[doc105]

>:D will you mary me you explained it soooooooooo amazing and easy (:

[yosoytacoseasoning]

Fat Children Get Diabetes After Eating Bacon

[rootvalue]

@yosoytacoseasoning Haha, that is a really good acronym. Most people just come up with something that makes sense in syntax, but is never funny or self-referring. Yours is just brilliant! Thanks.

[feralferret]

@yosoytacoseasoning burgers would be more appropriate instead of bacon. ;)

[Dannywills666]

@yosoytacoseasoning or the one I find helps me is Father Charles Geoes Down And Ends Battle

[Microblitz]

@yosoytacoseasoning

The memonic I learned when I was a kid was:

Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle (Sharps)

Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles Father (Flats)

[guitardrills666]

i can't totally understand what is the purpose of sharps and flats in every keys that includes in a circle.. so how can i get that?? ^_^ pls response my question here..

[guitardrills666]

i can't totally understand what is the purpose of sharps in every keys that includes in a circle.. so how can i get that?? ^_^ pls response my question here..

[bdfs06]

it sucks that after trying so long to get music theory down on my on, i watch one video and almost everything ive been trying to learn makes since now

love you musictheoryguy

[Rykhart]

EXCELLENT!

[musictheoryguy]

@Rykhart Thanks for your clear and kind comment! Best wishes, MusicTheoryGuy

[HigherState001]

Sir, thank you very much for your video and great effort i think yours is probs the most easiest to understand and i helped me alot as i am a music producer and i wanted to learn the advance side of piano

[musictheoryguy]

Thanks very much for your kind and positive comment! If you haven't done so already please do subscribe to my channel to ensure that you're notified as/when I upload new videos.

Best wishes, MusicTheoryGuy.

[rachelsouza]

Wow...Oh my God man...U r amazing....

Thanks a million for your videos....

[musictheoryguy]

Many thanks for such a positive response to my videos! Glad you found them useful.

Best wishes.

[lodstudios]

Great tool for all you studio rats to have hanging around.

Scenario...you get a bid for a radio spot where you need to arrange some live strings, or program a part, so you can get the job. You have an idea but need to put it on your notation software....boom, you now know how to tell what key your song is in as well as put together professional quality sheet music. Now, this video got you the job. I like it.

[calmclownful]

Fb is the Equivalent to E, correct?

[musictheoryguy]

That's correct! Fb is the 'enharmonic equivalent' of E. A few others: Cb is the 'EE' of B, C# is the 'EE' of Db, the list goes on. Hope this helps.

Best wishes.

[calmclownful]

@musictheoryguy Thanks a bunch.

[TwiddleDumber]

Hi! I was wondering how to apply this to playing. Persoonally, I am learning to play the Upright Bass. I come from an orchestral background, and sadly was never really taught much of this. I f you have any suggestions, that would help alot! :)

Thanks for the video!!!!

[bcbowar50]

I love how you say major lol "mayJAH". Great video man, it really helped.

[Tutdude]

THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH! FINALLY I've found someone who actually explains this thing in a way I can understand. THANK YOU!

[janken919]

Thank you for this. Now I finally get it!

[nerozone84]

excellent video!

[realjuvelive]

well what is the purpose of circle of fifths ?

[musictheoryguy]

The circle of fifths is a great tool to help musicians work out key signatures for all of the minor and major scales. It can also help composers decide which keys to modulate to. This latter point is outside the scope of my video but I hope you found it (or find it) useful to calculate key signatures.

Best wishes.

[Suwandi]

Thank you so much for uploading this video! May you be blessed! ^^

[intoframe]

Hi im really confused for the cflat key. where do you start counting the flats from and until when?

[musictheoryguy]

If the name of a key has a flat in it's name count around the flat side of the clock - starting at C as normal. You would stop counting at B as Cb is another way of spelling Cb (the same as Eb is the same spelling as D#). Therefore, Cb has 7 flats in its key signature. Hope this helps.

[flyingporcupine2]

the best way to do it yet

[grahamtavel]

thank you so much

[ReptilianTeen]

Thanks for the video, you cleared this up for me in a jiffy, peace

[hardcoreducky]

your tutorials are so helpful, thankyou so much.

[terran236]

I always wanted to know whats the usefulness of different key signatures, I mean in C major, one can write using any scale desired. but if you use any key other than C, you will be forced to used the neutral sign if you want to write something outside of what key your using. So why use key signatures?

Thank you for your time. :) 5/5 video

[musictheoryguy]

If you start in C major and then "use any scale desired' it's likely that you've modulated i.e. moved to another key which,often, requires a different key signature. This is somewhat tricky to explain the small space availabke to me here but essentially it's very rare to stay in the same key throughout a piece otherwise it can sound rather dull. By modulating, and using other key signatures, the piece will be more interesting.

Hope this helps.

[atombat]

You mean like Blue notes, moving up or down a semitone? :)

[MetalBassjunkie420]

The order is CDEFGABC. Let me ask you:

When one letter appears, for example, A flat, its G sharp, correct? And if A# appears, then its B flat, right?

[musictheoryguy]

I'm not sure I understand the question...please could you resubmit.

Just to clarify, the order of sharps is FCGDAEB (order of flats is the reverse) - not the order in your question.

Perhaps you're refering to the layout of the keys on a piano/keyboard? Either way, if you could re-submit your question I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Best wishes.

[MetalBassjunkie420]

A flat is G sharp?

[musictheoryguy]

Absolutely.

[TheLoneSoldierNZ]

You just explained and simplified something in 7 minutes that my guitar teacher couldn't explain (in a meaningful way to me, at least) in an hour. I salute you, sir!

[KsiazeIgor]

I've never thought it's sooo easy to grasp. Cheers, bud.

[brujithaz]

Nice lesson [=

yayy!!! im gettin smarter at thiz (H)

great job! thankiu ^_^

[Ismlor]

Excellent tutorial on the Circle. The easiest tutorial to understand that I have seen on Youtube. Thank you for the clarity. ~5 stars for you.

[guitargenius3557]

dude you rock\m/!!!! you're like the best music teacher ever ! it makes so much sense

[wongk20a]

Possibly the best tutorial on the circle of fifth and key signitures I've seen on youtube. I understand now. Great job, do you have more videos!?

[dblock94533]

Please whatever you do, put up more videos. You have a teaching style that is absolutely great!

Thanks for sharing what you know in a way that I can know too!

[dealer205]

Best lesson for me to underrstand the basics, thank you.

[howardc4290]

This is the best I've heard it explained. Now I understand. Thank you.

[musictheoryguy]

There are three enharmonic major scales:

1) B maj (5 #'s) is enharmonically the same as Cb maj (7 flats)

2) F# maj (6 #'s) is enharmonically the same as Gb maj (6 flats)

3) C# maj (7 #'s) is enharmonically the same as Db maj (5 flats).

Effectively, they are the same scale but 'spelt' differently.

Hope this helps.

[Steak514]

How can you have an E# as F# major would? An E# is an F. So would that cancel out the F# and you would just play a regular F?

And the same question goes for C#Major. How can it have a E# and B# which would just be F and C.

[musictheoryguy]

E# definitely exists in F# major as it is in the key sig. However, you're quite right, it would be played as F. There are complex reasons for the E# existing but a principle rules of major/minor scales is that a note has to sit on each line or space of the stave. So for the scale of F# to be correct the order of notes are F#, G#, A#, B, C#, D#, E# & F#. E# is played as F but written as E# to adhere to the rules of scales. Pendantic perhaps but hope this clarifies. Best wishes.

[Steak514]

Thanks. I actually figured it out on my own, I just got lost in thought, lol. I was thinking that if E# is played as F, and F is played as F# then how would you play E# as F since when you play F it's F#. But then I realized that it would still be written as E# so that would be played as the F. I was just over thinking I guess.

Thanks for the video's. They are by far the easiest to help understanding both the major and minor keys.

[musictheoryguy]

Glad the video's are useful to you. If you've any suggestions for future topics please do drop me a line.

[MetalBassjunkie420]

Is A# B flat?

[musictheoryguy]

Yes. Thanks for resubmitting. I wasn't sure whether you were asking a general music question or a circle of fifths type question.

Hope my responses are helpful.

Best wishes.

[MetalBassjunkie420]

Thanks.

[Deathmaker2354]

Lets see if i can word this right. There are seven sharps in the major scale of C#, but when you use the alternative name of Db are there 5 flats in the major scale? Also does the same theory apply for the B/Cb major scale as well?

[scoped22]

can someone clear this up for me. If B is the same as Cb then a song written in either key signature would play the exact same notes no matter what, only the way it is written and read on the music is different?

[musictheoryguy]

Yes. The two key signatures are 'enharmonic equivalents' i.e. they will sound the same despite the different key signatures (B Major has 5 sharps and Cb has 7 flats).

The way to convince yourself is to draw a table with the scale of B major on one side and the scale of Cb major on the other. You'll see that for every degree of the scale i.e. 1st, 2nd etc.. each note in each scale are enharmonically the same. E.g. 3rd in B Maj is D# whereas it is Eb in Cb Major. Hope this helps.

[scoped22]

thanks bud

[sarahlc87]

thank you so much, i understand it now! i am taking my first music theory class and i just didn't understand the circle the way my professor explained it.

[GeneralEclectik]

works for me

[crieswhicharewings]

Thanks. This really did help me. Keep creating these videos.

What I really need a lesson on is learning how to APPLY the circle of fifths to actually writing a song.