How to use the circle of fifths
- Select any key on the circle. Major keys sit on the outer ring and their relative minor keys on the inner ring; each step clockwise rises a perfect fifth.
- Read the key's Camelot code, key signature and scale notes. Its six main chords light up on the wheel, and the table lists all seven chords with their notes.
- Select a chord to hear it, or play the scale. The buttons under the readout jump to the relative key, the parallel key and the keys a fifth up and down.
On a keyboard, Tab reaches the circle and the left and right arrows move a fifth at a time. Up and down switch between the major and the minor ring, and Home returns to C major or A minor. The address bar keeps the key you chose, so a bookmark or a shared link opens on it.
The circle of fifths explained
The circle puts the twelve major keys in order of their key signatures. Start at C, which has no sharps or flats, and go clockwise: each step is a perfect fifth up and adds one sharp, through G, D, A, E and B. Go anticlockwise and each step is a fifth down, which adds one flat: F, B flat, E flat, A flat and D flat.
At the bottom the two sides meet. G flat major (six flats) and F sharp major (six sharps) are the same notes spelled two ways, and so are B and C flat major, and D flat and C sharp major. The wheel spells the bottom key with sharps while you are on the sharp side and with flats on the flat side, and the readout offers the other spelling.
Each major key's relative minor sits inside it on the inner ring. C major and A minor share the same seven notes and key signature, but A minor treats A as home. The relative minor and major guide shows how to hear the difference, and the major and minor keys guide lists the notes of every key. The music scales guide covers the scales beyond major and minor, from pentatonic and blues to the modes.
Circle of fifths chart: all 24 keys
Every key signature in circle order, with its major key, its relative minor and their Camelot codes. Keys with two spellings show the second in brackets.
| Key signature | Major key | Relative minor | Camelot |
|---|---|---|---|
| No sharps or flats | C major | A minor | 8B, 8A |
| 1 sharp: F♯ | G major | E minor | 9B, 9A |
| 2 sharps: F♯ C♯ | D major | B minor | 10B, 10A |
| 3 sharps: F♯ C♯ G♯ | A major | F♯ minor | 11B, 11A |
| 4 sharps: F♯ C♯ G♯ D♯ | E major | C♯ minor | 12B, 12A |
| 5 sharps: F♯ C♯ G♯ D♯ A♯ | B major (C♭ major) | G♯ minor (A♭ minor) | 1B, 1A |
| 6 flats: B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ C♭ | G♭ major (F♯ major) | E♭ minor (D♯ minor) | 2B, 2A |
| 5 flats: B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ | D♭ major (C♯ major) | B♭ minor (A♯ minor) | 3B, 3A |
| 4 flats: B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ | A♭ major | F minor | 4B, 4A |
| 3 flats: B♭ E♭ A♭ | E♭ major | C minor | 5B, 5A |
| 2 flats: B♭ E♭ | B♭ major | G minor | 6B, 6A |
| 1 flat: B♭ | F major | D minor | 7B, 7A |
Chords in a key, from the circle
The six main chords of a key sit next to each other on the circle. For C major they are the three major keys C, F and G (I, IV and V) and the three minor keys just inside them, Am, Dm and Em (vi, ii and iii). The seventh, B diminished (vii°), has no key of its own on the circle, which is why the wheel lights six keys and the table lists seven chords.
Upper-case Roman numerals are major chords, lower case are minor, and ° marks a diminished chord. In C major, I-V-vi-IV is C, G, Am, F. Choose another key and read the same numerals from its table to transpose the progression.
To play a progression on a synth, Kiln Synthesizer has Chord Glide: in Poly, each note of one chord settles into the nearest note of the next, so the chords glide like an analog poly.
For minor keys the table uses natural minor: i, ii°, III, iv, v, VI and VII. Many songs raise the seventh note to turn the minor v into a major V, borrowed from harmonic minor. The chord progressions guide has examples in major and minor keys.
Mixing with Camelot codes
Camelot numbers follow the circle of fifths, so 8B (C major) sits between 7B (F major) and 9B (G major), and 8A (A minor) is its relative minor. For a DJ transition, try the same code, one number up or down with the same letter, or the same number with the other letter: each of those moves changes at most one note of the scale. They are starting points, since melodies, tuning and chord changes still affect the blend. The Camelot wheel guide explains the moves, and the Key and BPM Finder reads the key and Camelot code of a track.
Questions
What is the circle of fifths?
A diagram of the twelve keys arranged so that each step clockwise is a perfect fifth up, seven semitones. Going clockwise from C adds one sharp per step and going anticlockwise adds one flat, so neighbouring keys share six of their seven notes. Each major key's relative minor sits beside it on the inner ring.
How do you find the chords in a key with the circle of fifths?
Find the key on the outer ring. Its main chords are the key itself and its two neighbours (I, IV and V), plus the three minor keys just inside them (vi, ii and iii). In C major that is C, F, G, Am, Dm and Em. The seventh chord is diminished: B diminished in C major.
What do the Camelot numbers and letters mean?
Camelot labels each key with a number from 1 to 12 and a letter: A for minor, B for major. C major is 8B and A minor is 8A. Adjacent numbers with the same letter are neighbours on the circle; the same number with the other letter is the relative key.
Are relative minor and parallel minor the same?
No. Relative keys share a key signature, such as C major and A minor. Parallel keys share a tonic, such as C major and C minor, but have different scale notes. On this circle the relative minor sits inside its major key, and the readout links both the relative and the parallel key.
Is F sharp major the same as G flat major?
Yes, they are the same notes spelled two ways: F sharp major has six sharps and G flat major has six flats, and in equal temperament they sound identical. B major and C flat major, and D flat major and C sharp major, pair up the same way. The readout shows the other spelling of these keys.
Why does the minor chord table show a minor v chord?
The table uses natural minor. In A minor, its v chord is E minor: E, G, B. Many songs raise G to G sharp to make E major, the V chord of A harmonic minor, which pulls more strongly toward A minor.
Link to this circle
Share the circle in a lesson, a forum answer or an article. Here is a plain link with a credit line, ready to paste. It is ordinary HTML: no embed and no script.
<a href="https://vitricaudio.com/tools/circle-of-fifths">Interactive circle of fifths</a> by Vitric Audio