The circle of fifths is one of the most useful maps in music. At first it looks like a ring of letters and symbols in a secret code. Once you can read it, it becomes a cheat sheet for songwriting, improvising and working out songs by ear, and it explains why some chord changes feel so natural. The interactive circle above makes every part of it audible: tap a key, a chord or a single note and you hear it.
This guide explains what the circle shows, how to use each part of the tool, and the theory behind what you’re seeing and hearing.
🎵 Quick start
- Tap a key on the outer ring (major keys) or middle ring (minor keys). You hear its home chord, and an outline appears around the seven chords that belong to that key.
- Tap any coloured cell to hear that chord. On a computer, click the tool once and press the number keys 1 to 7 to play the chords of the key in order.
- Press Play the scale, then tap each note under it to hear the notes one at a time.
- Open the Progressions tab and press Play. Watch the arrow on the circle as famous chord patterns move through the key you chose.
🎡 How to read the circle
Think of the circle as a clock face for the 12 musical keys. C sits at 12 o’clock with no sharps or flats. Every key is next to the keys it’s most closely related to, so the closer two keys are on the circle, the more they have in common.
The tool has three rings, all reading the same way round:
- Outer ring: major chords and keys. Shown in blue when they belong to the key you’ve chosen.
- Middle ring: minor chords and keys. Each one is the relative minor of the major key beside it, so A minor sits next to C major. Shown in amber when they’re in the key.
- Inner ring: diminished chords. Each is the tense, unstable chord that both keys beside it share. Shown in red when it’s in the key.
When you choose a key, a thick outline appears around seven cells: three majors, three minors and one diminished chord. This is the key window, and those seven cells are every chord you can build from that key’s scale. Each one is labelled with a Roman numeral that tells you its job in the key. Capital numerals are major chords, lower-case numerals are minor, and ° means diminished.
Two more outlines show related keys. A dashed outline marks the parallel key, which has the same home note but the opposite mode (C major and C minor). A dotted outline marks the furthest key, directly opposite on the circle. You can turn these, the numerals and the key signatures on or off with the tick boxes under the circle.
The small labels at the top of each outer cell, such as 2♯ or 3♭, are the key signatures. The three keys at the bottom of the circle have a second, smaller name underneath, because each can be written two ways: B major is also C♭ major, F♯ is also G♭, and D♭ is also C♯. They sound identical; only the spelling changes.
The centre of the circle always shows the key you’ve chosen. Tap it to hear the home chord again.
🎶 What the “fifths” means
A perfect fifth is the distance from a note up seven semitones, such as C up to G. Step clockwise round the circle and each key is a perfect fifth above the last: C, G, D, A, E, B and so on. Step anticlockwise and each key is a fifth lower, which lands on the same note name as going a fourth higher: C, F, B♭, E♭. Press Hear a fifth in the tool to hear the interval on its own.
On guitar, a fifth is easy to find. From any note on the low E, A or D string, the fifth is on the next string up, two frets higher. That’s exactly the shape of a power chord. Going from the G string to the B string, it’s three frets higher instead, because the B string is tuned differently.
How sharps and flats build up
Each step clockwise adds one sharp to the key signature, always in the same order: F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯, E♯, B♯. Each step anticlockwise adds one flat, in the reverse order: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭, F♭. A popular way to remember both is “Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle”, which read backwards becomes “Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles’ Father”.
Two quick tricks for naming a key from its signature. With sharps, the last sharp is one semitone below the key’s name, so a signature ending in C♯ is D major. With flats, the second-last flat is the key’s name, so B♭ and E♭ make E♭ major. The one exception is a single flat, which you just have to remember is F major.
Why does each step change only one note? Moving clockwise from C to G keeps six of the seven notes and raises one of them, F, to F♯. That one-note difference is why neighbouring keys sound so closely related. When you hover over a key in the tool, it tells you how many steps away that key is, how many notes it shares with your key, and exactly which notes change.
| Major key | Key signature | Relative minor | Easy guitar option |
|---|---|---|---|
| C major | No sharps or flats | A minor | Open chords |
| G major | 1 sharp (F♯) | E minor | Open chords |
| D major | 2 sharps (F♯, C♯) | B minor | Open chords |
| A major | 3 sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯) | F♯ minor | Open chords |
| E major | 4 sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯) | C♯ minor | Open chords |
| B major | 5 sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯) | G♯ minor | Capo 4, G shapes (or capo 2, A shapes) |
| F♯ major | 6 sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯, E♯) | D♯ minor | Capo 6, C shapes (or capo 4, D shapes) |
| D♭ major | 5 flats (B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭) | B♭ minor | Capo 1, C shapes (or capo 6, G shapes) |
| A♭ major | 4 flats (B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭) | F minor | Capo 1, G shapes (or capo 6, D shapes) |
| E♭ major | 3 flats (B♭, E♭, A♭) | C minor | Capo 3, C shapes (or capo 1, D shapes) |
| B♭ major | 2 flats (B♭, E♭) | G minor | Capo 3, G shapes (or capo 1, A shapes) |
| F major | 1 flat (B♭) | D minor | Capo 5, C shapes (or capo 3, D shapes) |
🧭 The key window: seven chords at a glance
Every major or minor key has seven chords, one built on each note of its scale by stacking every other note. Start on C in C major, skip D, take E, skip F, take G, and you have C major: C, E and G. On the circle, those seven chords always form the same shape, which is why the key window simply turns as you change key.
Each chord has a job, and the tool sorts them into three families:
- Home chords feel settled. The I chord is home itself, and vi and iii share two of its three notes, so they give the same feeling with a different colour.
- Away chords, IV and ii, move the music on without pulling hard in any direction.
- Tension chords, V and vii°, contain the note just below the home note. That note pulls upwards, and the chord wants to resolve back to I.
| Numeral | In C major | Name | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | C | Tonic | Home. Most songs start and end here. |
| ii | Dm | Supertonic | Away. Leads naturally to V. |
| iii | Em | Mediant | Home colour. Shares two notes with I and two with V. |
| IV | F | Subdominant | Away. One step anticlockwise from home. |
| V | G | Dominant | Tension. One step clockwise, and it pulls back to I. |
| vi | Am | Submediant | Home colour. The relative minor, a sadder shade of home. |
| vii° | B° | Leading-tone chord | Tension. Unstable, and resolves strongly to I. |
Minor keys use exactly the same seven chords as their relative major, but they treat a different chord as home. In A minor the numerals become i (Am), ii° (B°), III (C), iv (Dm), v (Em), VI (F) and VII (G). Choose a minor key in the tool and the numerals update to show this.
Each chord card in the Chords in this key tab shows the chord’s three notes, labelled root, 3rd and 5th. Tap each one to hear what it adds. The root names the chord. The 3rd decides whether it sounds major (bright) or minor (darker): compare C, E and G with C, E♭ and G. The 5th adds strength, and a diminished chord’s lowered 5th is what makes it sound tense.
Chords from outside the key
Songs often borrow a chord from a related key, and the tool lists the three most useful for whichever key you’ve chosen. In a major key, these are ♭VII (B♭ in C), the rock favourite; iv (Fm in C), borrowed from the parallel minor; and II (D in C), which pushes hard towards V. In a minor key, they’re a major V (E in A minor), which pulls home much more strongly than the natural minor v; a major IV from the Dorian mode; and a major I to end on, known as a Picardy third.
🔊 Hearing it: using the sound
Everything in the tool makes a sound. The sound is generated in your browser and nothing is downloaded or recorded.
- The circle. Tapping a major or minor key chooses that key and plays its home chord. Tapping the inner ring plays that diminished chord on its own.
- Lock this key. Tick it and the circle becomes an instrument: every tap plays that chord without changing the key. It’s a great way to try out your own chord changes while the numerals stay put.
- Number keys 1 to 7. Play the seven chords of the key in order. Try 1, 4, 5, 1 to hear the three-chord trick, or 1, 5, 6, 4 for the pop progression.
- Hear the key, Play the scale and Hear a fifth sit under the key name. The scale’s note buttons show each note’s number in the key. In minor keys, ♭3, ♭6 and ♭7 show the three notes that are lower than in the major scale.
- Sound switches between a plucked guitar, soft keys and a sustained pad. Chords sets how they’re played: strummed, all together, or one note at a time.
- Tempo sets the speed of the scale, progressions and walks. Volume and the Sound on or off button control everything at once, and Stop or the Esc key silences it instantly.
While something plays, the box under the scale explains what you’re hearing: which chord it is, its numeral and what it does in the key.
🔗 How keys connect
The panel beside the circle lists the five most important relationships for your key. Each one has a Hear the move button, which plays the home chords of both keys back and forth, and a Go to key button.
- Relative minor or major. The same seven notes and key signature, but a different home note. C major and A minor are relatives.
- Dominant key. One step clockwise. One note goes up a semitone, and its home chord is your V chord.
- Subdominant key. One step anticlockwise. One note goes down a semitone, and its home chord is your IV chord.
- Parallel key. The same home note in the opposite mode, three steps away on the circle. Going from major to minor, the 3rd, 6th and 7th notes all drop a semitone, which is why C minor sounds like a darker version of C major.
- Furthest key. Directly opposite and six steps away, sharing only two notes. A jump here sounds dramatic.
Changing key smoothly
To change key in the middle of a song, the neighbours either side of your key are the smoothest destinations. Their windows overlap yours: C major and G major share four chords, C, Em, G and Am. Play one of those shared chords and then carry on in the new key, and the change slips past almost unnoticed. A shared chord used like this is called a pivot chord. The further round the circle you go, the fewer chords are shared and the bolder the change sounds.
🎼 Progressions: why some chord changes just work
The strongest chord change in Western music moves one step anticlockwise round the circle, from a chord to the chord a fifth below it. V to I does exactly this, and so does each step of ii to V to I. That’s why a chain like D, G, C sounds so final in C major: each chord falls one step anticlockwise into the next. Moving one step clockwise, from I to V, does the opposite and builds anticipation.
The Progressions tab plays famous patterns in whatever key you’ve chosen, with an arrow on the circle showing each move. In major keys you’ll find the three-chord trick (I, IV, V, I), the pop progression (I, V, vi, IV), its wistful cousin starting on vi, the fifties doo-wop loop (I, vi, IV, V), the jazz turnaround (ii, V, I) and a round-the-circle sequence (iii, vi, ii, V, I) that steps anticlockwise all the way home. There’s also a rock pattern that borrows ♭VII. In minor keys you’ll find the minor three-chord pattern, an epic i, VI, III, VII, the rock descent i, VII, VI, VII, a harmonic minor ending with a major V, and a walk through every chord of the key.
Because progressions are written as numerals, they work in any key. Change the key while you’re in this tab and every pattern moves with you. Use + Add on any chord card to build your own progression of up to eight chords, and it will transpose in the same way.
Under Hear the circle itself, two buttons walk all twelve keys in order. Clockwise steps rise a fifth each time and sound brighter and brighter. Anticlockwise steps rise a fourth each time, the direction most progressions travel, so each move sounds like a small homecoming.
🔍 Working out what key a song is in
Write down the chords a song uses and look for the key window that holds them all. The Find a song’s key tab does this for you: tap the chords and it lists every key that fits, with each chord’s numeral. Put the chord the song starts or ends on first, because that’s usually home, and the tool will rank that key first.
A major key and its relative minor always fit the same chords, so you’ll usually see a pair such as “C major or A minor”. To decide between them, listen for the chord that feels most at rest at the end of a verse or chorus. If it’s C, you’re in C major. If it’s Am, you’re in A minor. A major E chord among Am, C and G is a strong clue too, because minor-key songs often borrow a major V.
If no key fits every chord, the tool shows the closest match and names the chords that don’t fit. Those are often borrowed chords, so check them against the Chords from outside the key cards.
🎸 For guitarists: capo, open chords and the fretboard
The Guitar and capo tab shows which of the key’s chords are open chords and which need barre shapes. For awkward keys such as B♭ or E♭, it suggests a capo position that lets you play easy open shapes and still sound in the right key, with a table showing the shape you play and the chord you hear. In B♭ major, for example, a capo on fret 3 lets you play G, C and D shapes. The table above lists the easiest option for every major key.
To see where a key’s notes sit on the neck, open the Fretboard Explorer, set its root note to your key and its scale to Major or Natural minor, and play the scale up and down. The chord tones from this circle are the safest notes to land on when you solo.
Once you’ve found a progression you like, record it as a loop in the guitar looper and practise soloing over it with the scale. When you want to shape your sound, the guitar effects pedalboard runs in the same browser. Chords only sound right when the guitar is in tune, so perhaps you might wish to tune your guitar first.
⌨️ Keyboard shortcuts
Click anywhere in the tool first so it can hear the keyboard.
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| 1 to 7 | Play chords I to vii° of the key |
| Left and right arrows | Step anticlockwise or clockwise to the next key |
| Down and up arrows | Switch to the relative minor or relative major |
| Space | Play the home chord |
| S | Play the scale |
| Esc | Stop all sound |
🧰 Troubleshooting
I can’t hear anything
Browsers only allow sound after you’ve clicked or tapped the page, so tap any cell once. Then check the button at the top says Sound on, the Volume slider isn’t at zero, and your device’s own volume is up. On older iPhones and iPads, the silent switch can mute web pages, so flick it off.
The keyboard shortcuts don’t work
Click inside the tool first. Shortcuts are ignored while you’re typing in a box or adjusting a slider.
The colours are too dark or too bright
The tool follows your device’s light or dark mode. Press the Colours button to switch between automatic, light and dark.
The chord shapes in the capo table don’t sound right
The suggestions assume standard tuning. Check your tuning, and make sure the capo sits just behind the fret, not on top of it.
❓ Frequently asked questions
Is the circle of fifths tool free?
Yes. It runs in your browser with nothing to install or sign up for. Your settings, such as the last key you chose and your own progression, are kept in this browser for next time.
What’s the difference between a relative and a parallel key?
Relative keys share all their notes but have different home notes, like C major and A minor. Parallel keys share a home note but differ by three notes, like C major and C minor.
Why do some keys have two names?
At the bottom of the circle, the sharp keys and flat keys overlap. F♯ major and G♭ major are the same sounds written two ways, one with six sharps and one with six flats. Musicians usually choose whichever spelling has fewer accidentals or suits the song.
Why is the v chord minor in a minor key?
In the natural minor scale, the 7th note sits a whole step below home, so the chord built on the 5th note is minor. Many songs raise that 7th note by a semitone, which turns v into a major V with a much stronger pull home. The tool shows the natural minor in the key window and the major V under Chords from outside the key.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. The circle resizes to fit, and every part works by tapping. Keyboard shortcuts need a computer.
Ready to explore? Scroll up, tap a key and press Play on a progression. When you want to take it to the guitar, the Fretboard Explorer, looper and pedalboard are waiting, and the rest of our free tools are a click away.
