Circle of Fifths — Minor Keys
The 12 minor keys by fifths · key signatures, relative majors & the natural minor scale
How to play
- Tap a minor key on the wheel. Moving clockwise adds a sharp (or removes a flat); each step is a fifth up. A minor sits at the top with no sharps or flats.
- Every minor key shares its signature with a relative major (shown just inside the wheel) — the major a minor third above.
- The panel spells the natural minor scale. Play natural and Play harmonic let you compare them — harmonic minor raises the 7th for a stronger pull home. Play chord sounds the tonic minor triad.
- Vol sets volume. Keyboard — Tab to a key or button, Enter/Space to activate.
· relative major inside
You can use the Circle of Fifths widget as an interactive wheel that explores each of the twelve minor keys. Just click on the wheel with your mouse (or tap if on a trackpad) and listen to what happens. Alternatively, you can simply type the keys from your computer keyboard and work quicker then this way. The idea is to hear scale types and key signatures in action.
Each of these 12 buttons represent one of the twelve minor keys and you begin by simply tapping button of your choosing. Once you tap on a button it will highlight this key, then the right-hand panel will update itself with details of this option. You’ll instantly hear sound of the natural minor scale played on system.
How to Use the Circle of Fifths Widget
Alternatively, to navigate with your keyboard instead of using mouse, just hit space or enter when a key button has focus and it will trigger the key and update selection. You can then move across keys without having to remove your hands from the typing area, great for quickly comparing two key side by side on wheel.
As you can see from the image above, there’s a whole load more information available on the panel next to the wheel, including an option to choose which key is displayed. Here you can see if it uses flat keys or sharp keys and you can also see the key signature for that key. The relative major key are just within the ring of buttons. Underneath all that is the spelling of natural, melodic, and harmonic minor scales.
The Play natural button play the Aeolian mode (all diatonic notes), which is the standard minor scale. The Play harmonic button add the effect of raising seventh note of the scale, pulling it more towards the tonic. This is a common feature in jazz and classical music. Listen to these variations of the minor scale played using the play back buttons in your chosen key.
A further alternative is to listen out for the melodic minor which has its own play button that will raise 6th and 7th degrees in an upward direction giving it a brighter color different than the natural minor but retaining a unique flavor. The Play chord button however plays the tonic minor triad to help orient yourself towards the key center.
There’s also a volume slider at the bottom of the widget which allows you to adjust the volume to your liking. Moving the slider to the left will make the sound quieter and moving it to the right makes it louder. You can use this to balance music with any other sounds coming from your device. Adjust it to whatever feels comfortabley for you and then start exploring the keyboard.
If you have a small device or want to focus on playing an instrument without distraction, tap the fullscreen button. This will make interface take up whole screen. Tapping this once more restores the widget to its initial size in the page design. You can also turn on a helpful little control panel that pops up when you click How to play at top right which summarizes controls and explains relationship between minor keys and their relative majors. Once you get used to the layout you could of closed this down too.
When choosing scales to explore, try different keys on either side of the wheel. This lets you notice how much the color of the pitches changes from, say, A minor (no sharps or flats) compared to E minor (where there’s a sharp). Listen out for difference made to the same key by changing only one note with the harmonic minor button then lock it into your ear and use chord button to hear the tonic triad.