How to use the circle of fifths

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The Circle of Fifths is an essential tool for musicians, composers, and producers to understand key relationships and build chord progressions quickly. With this interactive version, getting started is simple:

1. Select Your Tonic: Click on any note in the Tonic table to set your key. The circle will update to highlight the diatonic notes in that key.
2. Choose a Mode: Pick a scale from the Mode table (Major, Minor, Dorian, Lydian, etc.) to adjust the chord qualities and scale degrees inside the circle.
3. Read the Rings:
   • The Chord Ring shows the triads for each note in your selected key.
   • The Note Ring highlights which notes are diatonic (white) or non-diatonic (gray).
   • The Degree Ring displays Roman numerals representing the scale degrees.
4. Follow the Tonic Arrow: The black arrow points to the tonic, helping you quickly identify the starting note for your progressions.
5. Experiment with Progressions: Click different tonics or modes to explore compatible chords, see how keys relate, and create smooth, harmonically rich sequences.

Using this tool regularly will make it easy to transpose songs, analyze chord progressions, and understand the relationships between keys — all visually and interactively.