Circle Of Fifths Music Theory

You will see that there are different aspect to this widget that you can tap/click on to explore how music theory can be applied to circle of fifths. It’s an interactive tool designed for you to hear what keys sound like as well as help you visualize the relationship between them.

To get started, pick a key from the wheel (the outer ring contains major keys with the corresponding relative minor keys shown in the inner ring). Simply click on whichever circle you want. The one you’ve chosen will highlight in gold, and the centre of wheel will change to show name of your chosen key and its relative partner.

How to use this tool

It’s possible to control all this using your keyboard too: press Tab to move around the keys on the wheel then make a selection by pressing Space or Enter.

Moving around the wheel in clockwise direction adds sharps to the key signature while travelling counter-clockwise add flats. The graphic is useful because it highlights which keys sound harmonious together and have a lot of shared note. You will notice if you click on ring for a key and then view the opposite side from either a major or minor perspective the other ring turn blue showing its relationship to the new key.

The image below shows the key signature that sits just underneath the wheel. Here you’ll see graphical representation of your chosen key’s sharps or flats. This automatically adjusts every time you alter your key and can serve as an easy-to-read reference point when working out harmony or reading from a piece of sheet music. There is no reason to mess around with this yourself since it will reflect whatever key you have selected on the wheel.

Each button represent a diatonic chord in the chosen key, both as a chord name and in Roman numeral notation at the bottom of the widget. Just click on one of the chord buttons and it will play immediate, allowing you to experiment with harmonic movement in that key, or perhaps train your ear. The sequence follows traditional music theory rules, moving from the tonic to leading tone.

To the right of where your signature displays, you’ll find a little volume slider inside control bar. You can drag it up to increase or down to decrease the volume. This is useful if you’d like to turn it down slightly so that you concentrate more on what you’re seeing, or you’re working somewhere quieter. For most speaker, the default volume should of work well enough.

If you’re not sure about some of the other functions then don’t worry as help panel is there for a reminder. Click on the button marked ‘How to play’ in top corner for those reminders. This will appear with list of tips that explain music theory concepts and basic interactions quickly. Once you’re ready, you can play without distraction by simply clicking back onto same button.

If you want a bigger version of the diagram, press the fullscreen button to expand the widget. It will then also be easier to read the circles and text on smaller screens and can be realy helpful when examining the relationship between keys in more detail. Press the escape key or click the button again to reduce it back down to its original size.

To get started, try choosing a key that is comfortabley for you; maybe C major, then hear what those chords sound like before moving over to G major and hearing difference. It’s just a single note change in the key signature too. Click on the ring inside and you’ll find all the minor keys that you can explore. Spend some time tapping through the sections that interest you.

Listening to how things change will help you build an intuition for harmony. Hearing these relationships in action while visually seeing where they connect bridge the gap between theory and what we actualy hear. Play around with the keys below to unlock some new relationship. Use them as a reference point when composing or even just to strengthen your understanding of musical principles.