Interactive Circle of Fifths Chart

Understanding key relationships is essential for musicians. This interactive circle of fifths chart shows how keys relate to each other, their key signatures, and which notes belong to each scale. Click any key to see its details.

What Is the Circle of Fifths?

The circle of fifths is a visual tool that shows the relationship between the 12 musical keys. Moving clockwise around the circle, each key is a perfect fifth higher than the previous one. Moving counterclockwise, each key is a perfect fourth higher (or a fifth lower).

This pattern reveals how keys are related and helps musicians understand key signatures, chord progressions, and modulation between keys.

How to Use This Tool

Click on any colored segment to see information about that key. The tool displays the major key name, its relative minor, the key signature (number of sharps or flats), and all the notes in that scale.

Keys next to each other on the circle are closely related and share most of their notes, making them easy to transition between when composing or improvising.

Understanding Key Signatures

As you move clockwise from C major, each key adds one sharp. G major has 1 sharp, D major has 2 sharps, A major has 3 sharps, and so on.

Moving counterclockwise from C major, each key adds one flat. F major has 1 flat, B♭ major has 2 flats, E♭ major has 3 flats, and so on.

At the bottom of the circle, F♯ major and G♭ major are enharmonic equivalents (the same pitches with different names). F♯ major uses 6 sharps while G♭ major uses 6 flats.

Relative Major and Minor Keys

Each major key has a relative minor key that shares the same notes and key signature. The relative minor is always shown alongside its major key in this tool.

For example, C major and A minor both have no sharps or flats. G major and E minor both have one sharp. These pairs use the exact same notes but start from different positions in the scale, giving them different emotional qualities.

More Tools

• BPM Tap Tool – Find the tempo of any song by tapping along.
• Metronome – Practice with adjustable tempo and time signatures.
• Transpose Calculator – Convert notes and chords between different keys.
• Interval Ear Trainer – Train your ear to recognize musical intervals with instant feedback.
• Capo Calculator – Calculate what chords you’re actually playing when you use a capo on your guitar.