The circle of fifths, often written circle of 5ths, is a diagram of the 12 major keys and 12 minor keys arranged like a clock. Start at C at the top and move clockwise: each step goes up a fifth, the interval from C to G, seven half steps. C, G, D, A, E, B, F♯ and onward, until after twelve steps you are back at C, because twelve fifths add up to exactly seven octaves in equal temperament.
Moving counter-clockwise goes down a fifth each step, which lands on the same note as going up a fourth: C, F, B♭, E♭, A♭ and so on. That’s why some musicians call it the circle of fourths when they read it the other way.
Each major key shares its spot with its relative minor, the minor key that uses the same notes. On this chart the majors sit on the outer ring and the minors on the inner ring: C major with A minor, G major with E minor, F major with D minor.
The idea is old. Nikolai Diletsky described a circle of keys in his music grammar in the 1670s, and Johann David Heinichen printed one in 1711. Musicians still use it for the same jobs: reading key signatures, finding the chords of a key, and moving between keys.
How to read key signatures from the circle
The number of sharps or flats in a key signature equals the number of steps from C. G major, one step clockwise, has one sharp; D major, two steps, has two; and so on up to C♯ major with seven. Going the other way, F major has one flat and B♭ major two, down to C♭ major with seven.
Each new sharp is a fifth above the previous one, which gives the order of sharps: F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯, E♯, B♯. Flats come in the reverse order: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭, F♭. Key signatures always write them in that order and in fixed places on the staff, which is what the staff in the panel above shows.
Two shortcuts name a key from its signature. With sharps, the last sharp is the seventh note of the major scale, so the key is a half step higher: four sharps end on D♯, so the key is E major. With flats, the second-to-last flat is the key: four flats end B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭, so the key is A♭ major. The same signature also belongs to the relative minor, so four sharps means E major or C♯ minor.
At the bottom of the circle the sharp keys and flat keys overlap. B major (five sharps) sounds the same as C♭ major (seven flats), F♯ major (six sharps) the same as G♭ major (six flats), and D♭ major (five flats) the same as C♯ major (seven sharps). These are enharmonic keys: the same pitches on a piano, spelled differently. Composers usually pick the spelling with fewer accidentals.
Circle of fifths chart: all 15 key signatures
This chart lists every major key with its relative minor and its key signature, in circle-of-fifths order: sharp keys clockwise from C, then flat keys counter-clockwise.
| Major key | Relative minor | Key signature | Accidentals |
|---|---|---|---|
| C major | A minor | None | – |
| G major | E minor | 1 sharp | F♯ |
| D major | B minor | 2 sharps | F♯ C♯ |
| A major | F♯ minor | 3 sharps | F♯ C♯ G♯ |
| E major | C♯ minor | 4 sharps | F♯ C♯ G♯ D♯ |
| B major | G♯ minor | 5 sharps | F♯ C♯ G♯ D♯ A♯ |
| F♯ major | D♯ minor | 6 sharps | F♯ C♯ G♯ D♯ A♯ E♯ |
| C♯ major | A♯ minor | 7 sharps | F♯ C♯ G♯ D♯ A♯ E♯ B♯ |
| F major | D minor | 1 flat | B♭ |
| B♭ major | G minor | 2 flats | B♭ E♭ |
| E♭ major | C minor | 3 flats | B♭ E♭ A♭ |
| A♭ major | F minor | 4 flats | B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ |
| D♭ major | B♭ minor | 5 flats | B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ |
| G♭ major | E♭ minor | 6 flats | B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ C♭ |
| C♭ major | A♭ minor | 7 flats | B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ C♭ F♭ |
Three pairs in the chart are enharmonic: B and C♭ major, F♯ and G♭ major, C♯ and D♭ major, together with their relative minors. That is why the circle closes with 12 positions even though there are 15 written key signatures.
Relative minors and parallel keys
Every major key has a relative minor that starts on its sixth note, three half steps below the tonic: A minor for C major, E minor for G major, C minor for E♭ major. They share a key signature and all seven notes; what changes is the note that feels like home. On the wheel, the relative minor sits directly inside its major.
A parallel key keeps the tonic and changes the mode: C major and C minor. Parallel keys are three steps apart on the circle, because C minor has three flats. Songs in major often borrow chords from the parallel minor, such as iv or ♭VI, for a darker color.
Minor keys come in three versions. Natural minor uses the key signature as written. Harmonic minor raises the seventh note, which turns the minor v chord into a major V, E major in A minor, and gives a stronger pull back home. Melodic minor raises the sixth and seventh notes on the way up. The chart lists the natural-minor chords and adds the harmonic-minor V, because most minor-key songs use it.
Using the circle for chord progressions
In any major key, the three major chords I, IV and V sit side by side on the outer ring, with the three minor chords ii, iii and vi right inside them. That six-chord block, framed at the top of the wheel, covers the chords of a large share of pop, folk and rock songs. The seventh chord, vii°, is diminished, so it has no place on the wheel.
Progressions often move counter-clockwise, down by fifths, because each chord resolves naturally into the next. ii–V–I in C is Dm–G–C: three neighboring positions on the circle. Longer chains such as vi–ii–V–I keep stepping the same way, and jazz standards string these moves together through many keys.
Function labels help you substitute chords. Tonic chords (I, iii, vi) feel stable, subdominant chords (ii, IV) move away from home, and dominant chords (V, vii°) want to resolve. Swap a chord for another with the same function and the progression still makes sense: try vi in place of I, or ii in place of IV. The progression helper above plays each of these in any key you pick.
Modulation and transposition
Keys next to each other on the circle share six of their seven notes, so a change of key to the dominant, one step clockwise, or the subdominant, one step counter-clockwise, sounds smooth. In classical sonata form, a piece in a major key usually moves to its dominant for the second theme, and a piece in minor moves to its relative major. A jump to the far side of the wheel sounds like a deliberate surprise.
A common route into a new key is a pivot chord that belongs to both keys. From C major to G major, Am is vi in C and ii in G, so C–Am–D–G slides across, and D, the V of G, confirms the arrival.
To transpose a song, move every chord the same distance. In Roman numerals nothing changes: I–V–vi–IV is C–G–Am–F in C and D–A–Bm–G in D. Pick the new key on the wheel, read the numerals off the frame, and you have the chords. For a whole score or MIDI file, the Music Transposer does it for you, and the Chord Finder can pull the chords out of a recording first.
Memory tricks for the circle of fifths
The order of sharps has a classic mnemonic: Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle. Reverse it for flats: Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles’ Father. For the major keys clockwise from C, try Good Deeds Always Earn Big Favors (G, D, A, E, B, F♯). Counter-clockwise from C, the flat keys are F followed by the order of flats: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭.
Three facts rebuild the whole wheel from memory: C has no sharps or flats, each step clockwise adds a sharp, and each step counter-clockwise adds a flat. Add one more, that the relative minor is three half steps below its major, and you can fill in the inner ring too.
To practice, pick a random key on the wheel, say its signature and relative minor out loud, then check the panel. Play the scale and the chords in each key until the sound of the key is as familiar as its name.