Click any key on the wheel to see its chords, scale, key signature and relative minor — and hear it played. Every key links straight to its chords and scale shapes.
Many guitarists are intimidated by the circle of fifths. And that’s understandable.
But it’s really based on just one simple mathematical formula, and once you’ve got it down, you can use it all over your playing. Different people use it for different things, and I’ll break down what I like to use it for the most.
Above, you’ll find an interactive circle of fifths. Having the image in front of you will make everything below make a lot more sense.
If you’d rather hear and watch me explain the circle of fifths, it tends to be easier to follow. You can check out my tutorial here:
In Western music, we have 12 tones; that’s the chromatic scale.
Start on your low E string and count up the frets: 1, 2, 3, all the way to 12, and you’ll land right back where you started. Then from there, it repeats.
The circle of fifths is just moving through those 12 notes at a distance of five notes at a time.
At the very top of the circle, you’ve got C. At the very bottom, F#.
Every step you move to the RIGHT, that key picks up one extra sharp:
Move to the LEFT from C and the same thing happens with flats. F has one flat, then two, three, four, and so on around the circle.
That alone makes the circle worth knowing because it tells you exactly what’s in every key at a glance.
And here’s where it gets fun..
The way the guitar is tuned makes a really interesting pattern emerge, and once you realized that, you don’t need the image anymore.
Start with C on the third fret of the A string. Your next fifth is G, right below it on the third fret of the low E string.
Move up two frets, back to the A string. That’s D. Right below it on the fifth fret of the E string, that’s A.
Up two more frets on the A string, that’s E. Below it, B.
See the pattern? It starts on your dots and follows your dots up the neck. Two frets up, two frets up, two frets up, until you land back on C.
You just moved through every single chromatic note on the guitar in intervals of fifths. It sounds especially cool if you play them as barre chords, all majors: C, G, D, A, E, B, F#, C#, G#, Eb, A#, F, and back to C.
One more thing: traveling clockwise around the circle moves you in fifths. Go the opposite direction and you’re traveling in fourths.
Most circle of fifths diagrams also show you the relative minor for every key, and they sit right in the circle.
C major’s relative minor is A minor. G’s is E minor. D is B minor. A is F# minor.
The trick you should know: if you’re playing F# minor pentatonic, you can get a major pentatonic by starting three frets up. The circle of fifths instantly hands you those pairs.
This is my favorite use, and the one I’d steal first.
Put your finger on C at the top of the circle. That’s your one. Move one spot to the left (remember, that direction travels in fourths) and you’ve got your four, which is F. One spot to the right is your fifth, G.
Now look at the relative minors sitting below those three. Coincidentally enough, they’re perfect too. That’s your minor 2, minor 3, and minor 6.
Put it all together and you’re looking at every chord in the key of C:
1: C major
2: D minor
3: E minor
4: F major
5: G major
6: A minor
The 2 and 3 are minors. The 4 and 5 are majors. The 6 is a minor.
The only one missing is the 7, and that’s because in the diatonic major it’s a half diminished chord. But it resolves very nicely back to C.
If you want proof this stuff shows up in real songs, travel in fifths starting from C: C, G, D, A, E. That’s a chord progression right there. That’s Hey Joe by Jimi Hendrix.
And the best part is that little bracket shape works anywhere on the circle.
Slide it over so A is your key. Now D is your fourth, E is your fifth, F# minor is your minor 6, B minor is your minor 2, and C# minor is your minor 3.
That’s every chord in A major.
Important Note: This all works off diatonics. Minors and modes work off a slightly different principle that we’ll cover in another post/tool. This rabbit hole goes very, very far.
This one comes up constantly if you play in a band, a church group, or even just with friends. Somebody says “I want to play this song, but I don’t like it in this key.”
We’re all guilty of grabbing a capo, but you don’t need to.
Take La Bamba by Ritchie Valens. The progression is about as simple as it gets: C, F, G. Look at your bracket and you’ll see that’s a 1 4 5.
But if you don’t want it in C, slide the bracket to D and play your 1 4 5 from there: D, G, A.
If you want it higher, slide to A: A, D, E.
You just transposed a song into any key you need. All you need is that little shape.
There’s a LOT you can take away from the circle of fifths; this is just scratching the surface.
You can:
The goal is for you to look at the circle of fifths and think “wow, there’s so much I can do with this.. I wonder what else it can do.”
Keep practicing out there. And remember, don’t compare yourself to anybody.
Comparison is the thief of joy. We all move at our own pace, and guitar is one of those private, personal journeys.
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