Piano Lesson on the Web
Piano Lesson on the Web
  • Home
  • Music Courses
  • Buy Courses
  • Contact Me
  • About Me
  • Privacy Policy
  • Home
  • Music Courses
  • Buy Courses
  • Contact Me
  • About Me
  • Privacy Policy

Learn How To Use the Circle of Fifths In Your Piano Playing!

7/8/2019

1 Comment

 

​The Circle of Fifths is one of the best tools any piano player can learn to use to make their playing and understanding of music much better.

It tells us key signatures, helps us understand the makeup of chords and how to read them faster, and even know the specific primary chords of each key.

Every key signature – both major and minor keys – are shown on the Circle of Fifths. (I show you this in the video at the end).

A key signature in any piano piece or etude tells us what exact notes we are to play in that piece.
  • If we are in the key of G Major then we’ll play F# anytime we see an F in the music.

When we learn the key signatures for all of the different major and minor keys by memory, we will be able to automatically play the  correct notes simply by observing what they key signature is at the beginning of the piece (or sometimes each line of the music, as they key signature can sometimes change during a piece).

Scales are made up of 8 notes (the 1st and 8th notes are the same, just an octave apart) that share the same key signature.
  • If you play a G Major scale – the notes would be G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, & G again. We play F# because that is they key signature for G Major.

An easy way to learn your minor key signatures is to know that every minor scale has a shared key signature with its relative major key. In other words, G Major shares the same key signature with E Minor. Since G Major has F# in it, then E Minor will as well…and you just play E Minor the same way you would play G Major except that you start on E instead of G.

As you will see when you watch the video, the minor keys are listed on the inside of the circle next to its respective relative Major key.

Learning the Circle of Fifths is especially helpful to those who play by ear or with a group or band. You will be able to switch back and forth between different keys and Major and Minor modes easily without having to look up the key signatures.

Knowing your key signatures from the Circle of Fifths will help you recognize and play the primary chords and any other chords you are learning in your pieces.
  • Primary chords are those that start on the 1st, 4th or 5th tones of a scale. I will show you this on the keyboard in the video at the end!

Chords are played using the same notes in the key signature that we play in a scale. The difference is that the notes are being played together in a group at the same time instead of one at a time like we do in a scale.

Simply stated – any chords you play have to include the notes in the key for the piece. If the piece is in G Major, then all of the chords will have to have an F# in them (if indicated) to match the given key signature.

It’s much easier to read and play chords when you can identify what the sharps or flats are from the beginning and the Circle of Fifths helps you to do just that!

The Major Keys are listed so that you can pick out the primary chords for any key simply by going one key to the left and then go one key to the right of the key you are playing in.
  • If you need to know the primary chords for the key of C – the 1st chord starts on the note C, the 4th chord starts on the note F, (which is the key to the left of C on the Circle of Fifths chart, and the 5th chord starts on the note G, which is the key to the right of C on the chart. This works with minor keys as well. I will show you how this works in the following video!

Using the Circle of Fifths to learn and easily recognize your key signatures makes playing the piano much easier. You will be able to identify the primary chords of any key simply by knowing what is to the left and the right of the key you are looking at and you will be able to build chords with the correct notes without having to look anything up or think about which notes you are to play.

Use the video to help you visualize these tips in your music and on the keyboard. I also show you how to read the Circle of Fifths chart in case you have any questions. 

If you like my tips and lessons, you will love the courses over on my website. Whether you are a beginner looking to get a solid foundation to build on or you are looking to take you existing skills to that next level, the online music courses on my website https://www.pianolessonsontheweb.com will help you do just that.
1 Comment
John A Brown
4/3/2023 12:37:23 am

Interested in getting adept at playing chords using circle of 5ths etc

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Most  blogs written by
    ​Robin Hague Els

    Archives

    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    June 2014

    Categories

    All
    Christmas Piano Tutorial
    Christmas Sheet Music
    Chritmas
    Cost Effective Piano Lessons
    Do You Need To Know How To Read Music
    Finger Exercises Piano
    Five Things About Reading Music
    Hanon Piano Exercises
    High Quality Music Classes
    Holiday
    Holiday Piano Music
    Holiday Piano Sheet
    Holiday Piano Tutorial
    Holiday Stress
    How To Compose Music
    How To Find A Piano Teacher
    How To Get Better At Piano
    How To Play Christmas Piano
    How To Play Piano
    How To Play Piano Articulations
    How To Play With Dynamics On Piano
    How To Read Music
    How To Read Music For Piano
    How To Read Notes
    How To Read Sheet Music
    How To Sight Read
    Is Reading Music Important
    Key Signatures On Piano
    Kindle Sheet Music
    Learn Christmas Music On
    Learn Deck The Halls On Piano
    Learn Jingle Bells On The Piano\
    Learn Joy To The World On Piano
    Learn Oh Christmas Tree On Piano
    Learn Piano
    Learn Silent Night On The Piano
    Learn The Twelve Days Of Christmas On Piano
    Lessonsontheweb
    Lessonsontheweb Piano Teacher
    Musicianship
    Music Notation
    Music Notation Software
    Music Reading Practice
    Online Lessons
    Online Piano Learning
    Online Piano Lessons
    Online Piano Teacher
    Piano Blog
    Piano Fingering Technique
    Piano Lessons
    Piano Playing Basics
    Piano Playing Tips
    Piano Scales
    Piano Teacher Online
    Piano Technique
    Playing Piano
    Reading Music Articles
    Reading Music For Piano
    Staffpad
    Surface 3
    Surface Pro
    Take Lessons From Anywhere
    Thanksgiving
    Time Signatures Piano
    Tips For Beginning Piano Players
    Where To Find A Piano Teacher
    Work Out Hanon

    RSS Feed

Home
Buy Courses
Music Courses
Official Blog
Community
About Me
​Contact Me

​Testimonials
Copyright 2016-2025 © Lessons On The Web. All Rights Reserved.