All 24 major and minor keys
Twelve major keys outside, twelve minor keys inside. The three keys at the bottom that have two names, such as F sharp and G flat major, switch spelling with one click.
Interactive Circle of Fifths
Click any key on the circle of fifths to see its key signature, relative minor and chords, and hear them.
How to use the circle of fifths
No signup and nothing to install. It runs on a laptop, a tablet, a phone or the classroom screen.
- 01
Pick a key on the circle
The outer ring holds the twelve major keys, the inner ring their relative minor keys. Click or tap one and you hear its tonic chord.
- 02
Read the key signature
The panel shows the sharps or flats on a treble and a bass staff, the scale with its accidentals in yellow, and the relative key.
- 03
Play the chords of the key
Seven chord buttons give you every triad of the key with its Roman numeral. Play them one by one or as the cadence I IV V I.
A circle of fifths you can hear
Made for music students, songwriters and music teachers who want to show keys and chords on the projector.
Key signatures in both clefs
Every key signature is drawn on a treble and a bass staff in the order musicians write it, with the number of sharps or flats in the middle of the circle.
Chords with Roman numerals
The six chords around the selected key light up on the circle. The chord buttons add the diminished seventh chord, the numerals and tonic, subdominant and dominant.
Keyboard and classroom ready
Arrow keys move round the circle and switch between major and minor, so the tool works without a mouse. The large circle stays readable on a classroom screen.
What the circle of fifths shows
The circle of fifths puts the twelve major keys around a clock face. C major, with no sharps or flats, sits at the top. Each step clockwise goes up a perfect fifth, from C to G, then D, A and E, and each of those keys has one more sharp than the last. Each step anticlockwise goes down a fifth, from C to F, then B flat and E flat, and adds one flat.
At the bottom of the circle the sharp side and the flat side meet. Three positions have two names that sound the same on a piano: B and C flat major, F sharp and G flat major, D flat and C sharp major. That is fifteen major key signatures in all, from seven flats to seven sharps, listed in the table with their relative minor keys.
| Major key | Key signature | Relative minor |
|---|---|---|
| C♭ major | 7 flats: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭, F♭ | A♭ minor |
| G♭ major | 6 flats: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭ | E♭ minor |
| D♭ major | 5 flats: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭ | B♭ minor |
| A♭ major | 4 flats: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭ | F minor |
| E♭ major | 3 flats: B♭, E♭, A♭ | C minor |
| B♭ major | 2 flats: B♭, E♭ | G minor |
| F major | 1 flat: B♭ | D minor |
| C major | None | A minor |
| G major | 1 sharp: F♯ | E minor |
| D major | 2 sharps: F♯, C♯ | B minor |
| A major | 3 sharps: F♯, C♯, G♯ | F♯ minor |
| E major | 4 sharps: F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯ | C♯ minor |
| B major | 5 sharps: F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯ | G♯ minor |
| F♯ major | 6 sharps: F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯, E♯ | D♯ minor |
| C♯ major | 7 sharps: F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯, E♯, B♯ | A♯ minor |
Order of sharps and flats
Sharps always enter a key signature in the same order: F, C, G, D, A, E, B. A common way to remember it is the sentence Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle. Flats enter in the reverse order, B, E, A, D, G, C, F, which the same sentence gives you backwards: Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles Father.
Two quick rules turn a key signature into a key name. With sharps, go up a half step from the last sharp: one sharp, F sharp, means G major. With flats, the second to last flat names the key: B flat and E flat mean B flat major. F major, with its single B flat, is the one to learn by heart.
Relative minor keys
Every major key shares its key signature with one minor key, its relative minor. The relative minor starts on the sixth note of the major scale: A in C major, E in G major, D in F major. On this circle it sits on the inner ring, right below its major key.
The minor scale shown here is the natural minor, which uses exactly the notes of the key signature. Songs and exercises in a minor key often raise the seventh note to get a stronger pull back home. That gives the harmonic minor, and it turns the minor v chord into a major V, for example E major instead of E minor in A minor.
Using the circle of fifths for chords and songwriting
The circle is a map of which chords belong together. The key you choose and its two neighbours give the three major chords of the key: I, IV and V. The three minor keys on the inner ring below them give ii, iii and vi. In C major that is C, F and G with Dm, Em and Am, the six chords most pop songs in C are built from.
Keys next to each other share six of their seven notes, so moving to a neighbour sounds smooth, while a jump across the circle sounds bold. Moving anticlockwise from chord to chord, such as E, A, D, G, C, is the classic circle progression of jazz standards and baroque music. Try the four-chord loop of a key in the beat maker: I, V, vi and IV.
For music teachers
Show keys and chords on the classroom screen
Put the circle of fifths on the projector, pick a key and let your class hear its chords, with no login for you or your pupils. When your students are ready to write their own songs, Make a Beat gives you a whole classroom: students join with a code and their name, no email addresses, and you set assignments, listen to what they hand in and grade it. GDPR, FERPA and COPPA ready, servers in Germany, and every school licence starts with a free trial.
Questions about the circle of fifths
What is the circle of fifths?
The circle of fifths is a diagram of all twelve major and minor keys, arranged so that each key is a perfect fifth above the one before it. Going clockwise from C, every step adds one sharp to the key signature. Going anticlockwise, every step adds one flat.
How do you memorize the circle of fifths?
Learn the order of sharps with a sentence such as Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle: F, C, G, D, A, E, B. Read backwards, it gives the order of flats. The major keys with sharps use almost the same letters, starting from G: G, D, A, E, B, F sharp and C sharp.
How do you find the relative minor of a major key?
The relative minor starts on the sixth note of the major scale, three half steps below the tonic. A minor is the relative minor of C major, and E minor that of G major. Both keys share the same key signature, which is why the circle shows them side by side.
What is the order of sharps and flats?
Sharps are always added in the order F, C, G, D, A, E, B, and flats in the reverse order B, E, A, D, G, C, F. A key with three sharps therefore has F sharp, C sharp and G sharp. A key with two flats has B flat and E flat.
How do you tell a key from its key signature?
With sharps, the major key is one half step above the last sharp: the last sharp of D major is C sharp. With flats, the major key is the second to last flat: B flat, E flat, A flat means E flat major. The relative minor shares the same signature.
Why is it called the circle of fifths and not of fourths?
It is called the circle of fifths because clockwise each key is a fifth higher than the last, and after twelve steps you are back where you started. Read anticlockwise, the same diagram is a circle of fourths, which is why some teachers and jazz books use that name.
How do you use the circle of fifths to find chords?
The six common chords of a major key sit next to each other on the circle. Take the key, its neighbours on both sides, and the three minor keys below them: in C major that is C, F, G, Dm, Am and Em. The seventh chord, B diminished, completes the set.
Is this circle of fifths free?
Yes. The interactive circle of fifths, the key signatures in treble and bass clef, the scales, the chords and the piano sound are free, with no account and no download. It runs in any current browser on a laptop, a tablet, a phone or the classroom screen.
From the circle to your own song
Open the beat maker with the four-chord loop of the key you picked on a piano track, then add drums, bass and a melody in your browser.