Circle of Fifths

The Circe of Fifths contains every major key (on the outside layer, capital letters), key signature, and
relative minor key (on the inside layer, lower-case letters).

Starting at the top of the “clock” with C major, we can move RIGHT for SHARPS, or LEFT for FLATS. Every
time we move to a new key, we have to add one sharp or flat to the next key. We’ll deal with the RIGHT
side first:
 Starting at C major, we move up an interval of 5th on the piano to find our new key (G)
 After moving up a 5th, we also carry over any pre-existing key signature. In this case, C major has no sharps
(or flats), and so nothing is carried over this time
 Once we arrive in our new key (G), we have to find our one new sharp; we do this by going down one
semitone (ST) to the note immediately behind the starting note of our new scale (so we would find G, go
down one ST, and add F# to our key signature).

Try these:

Now that we’re at G major, we move up a 5th to ____ major. We carry over the pre-existing ____#. Then we
go down a ST from the starting note of the scale to add in our new sharp, ____#.

Now that we’re at ____ major, we move up a 5th to ____ major. We carry over the pre-existing ____# and
____#. Then we go down a ST from the starting note of the scale to add in our new sharp, ____#.
Relative Keys

Each major key has a “relative minor key” that it shares the same key signature with. Likewise, each
minor key has a “relative major key” with the same key signature.

To find a relative key, you will move 3 semitones in either direction. For example, let’s find the relative
minor key of C major. We start on the C note and move down 3 STs to A. That means our relative minor
is A minor, and it shares the same key signature with C major (in this case, no sharps or flats).

If we wanted to find the relative major key of a minor key, we would do the opposite movement. For
example, we would start on the A note and move up 3 STs to C. This relationship is also shown on the
Circle of Fifths with the capital and lower-case letters on either side of a shared key signature.