Circle of Fifths Chord Progression Chart
Why the classic progressions are all next-door neighbours on the wheel · pick a key, pick a progression, hear it
How to play
- Tap a key on the wheel to choose what you are playing in, then pick a progression. The seven chord buttons below show that key's chord family, and Play runs the progression through them.
- Here is the thing the circle actually explains: the chords in a progression are almost always neighbours on the wheel. Your IV is one step anticlockwise, your V is one step clockwise, and your vi (the relative minor) sits just inside. Those tags appear on the wheel as soon as you pick a key.
- That is why I–V–vi–IV works in every key and under thousands of songs: it is simply you, your two immediate neighbours, and your relative minor. Nothing exotic — just the closest chords available.
- ii–V–I is the clearest case of all. Each chord is a fifth below the last, so on the wheel you are walking anticlockwise, three seats in a row. That single move underpins most of jazz.
- Roman numerals: CAPITALS are major, lower case are minor, and ° is diminished. In any major key the pattern is always I ii iii IV V vi vii°.
- Walk the circle travels clockwise through all twelve keys so you can hear the fifths relationship. Vol sets the volume; Tab and Enter work throughout.
The Circle of Fifths is an interactive chart that gives you a clear understanding of chord progressions around various key centers. To navigate the chart you can either click straight on buttons or the wheel using your mouse, or play it from your computer keyboard. As you do this, you will be able to see and hear why some chords naturaly go together, without having to read a bunch of notational symbols.
Beginning with the circle of fifths, choose your major key from ring of 12 keys. These keys rotates around the circle in fifths, and each is represented by its own button on the ring. After you have chosen your key, the tonality of the key are shown in the centre of the wheel alongside the tonic note. The side panel provides information about the relative minor and key signature. Directly below staff you’ll notice a list of diatonic chord for the key. If you want to hear how each note in scale sounds on its own, just click any of these chord buttons to play that chord.
How to Use the Circle of Fifths Tool
At the top of the panel there is where you pick your progression template. These include common progressions like I-V-vi-IV, ii-V-I, and so on. To play just press Play and the progression will sound through each chord in whatever key you’ve chosen. This is great for listening to how similar progressions feel in various keys. If you want to set up the tonal center first by listening to major scale ascending then descending, simply tap Scale button.
The Circle of Fifths allows you to use the walk the circle button to go from key to key in a continuous round until they have all been played. You will be able to hear how smoothly the chords moves around as they skip up or down by fifths. Each tonic chord are played one by one. You also get a chance to see how one key relate to another on the wheel, which again illustrates the concept of circle.
The interface also includes a volume control (lower right). Drag the slider up or down to get main level set to a comfortablely listening level for your headphones or speakers. For those wanting to maximize their screen space, just click on the Fullscreen button in the header. It will expand the chart to take up as much of the window as possible, making chord list and wheel easier to see on small screens. To return from fullscreen, press the Escape key or click same button again.
To enable both speed and accessibility, there is a built-in keyboard interface. To navigate from one part of the interface to another (playback controls, progression selectors and key buttons), just use the Tab key to jump around. Then hit Space or Enter to use whatever control is selected. That way you can change keys and progressions without needing to take your hands off your keyboard. Whether you like to stay put on your keyboard or point and click, the interface are built to let you play around with theory quickly.
It’s worth spending a little time contrasting the sound of these progressions in various keys that have lots of flats against ones that have plenty of sharps. Notice the pattern where the II-V-I walks around the wheel counter-clockwise and the I-IV-V cadence is just using the immediate neighbors on each side. This reinforces the harmonic logic of Western music as you can see visually. Play a chord, then play its relative minor key. You will hear how mood shifts even though you are using the same notes.
If you’re not familiar with the terms, don’t worry, there’s a how-to panel for that. Just click the How to play button in the top header to turn on the guide which defines chord qualities and Roman numerals. It’s a convenient reference tool whether you’ve never read chord symbols before or simply need a refresher on what those minor or diminished chords mean. Having it up as you experiment will make the process of exploration feel a bit more educational.
Play around with various progressions and keys finding ones you prefer. There is no wrong way to use this tool, so don’t be precious about how you do it. It’s all just about relating the visual representation of the circle to what sound it generates. You may well come to see that some key progressions are more comfortable for you to play in as opposed to others. Begin to try out playing it to create a natural understanding of harmony that you can transfer into your music making.