The Circle of Fifths

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The Circle of Fifths organizes pitches in a sequence of perfect fifths, generally shown as a circle with the pitches(and their corresponding keys) in a clockwise progression. Musicians and composers often use the circle of fifths to describe the musical relationships between pitches. Its design is helpful in composing and harmonizing melodies, building chords, and modulating to different keys within a composition.

The top of the circle shows the key of C Major and its relative A Minor, with no sharps or flats. Proceeding clockwise, the pitches move by fifths. The key signatures associated with those pitches also change: the key of G has 1 sharp, the key of D has 2 sharps, and so on.

If we head anti-clockwise, from C Major at the top, the circle moves in fourths. We have F Major and its relative D Minor next with 1 flat. Then Bb Major and G Minor with 2 flats, and so on.

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