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The circle of fifths is one of the most basic and useful concepts in music theory. It can be used for many purposes; learn major and minor scales, the order of sharps and flats, construction of major and minor chords, progression of chords, understanding of keys and alterations that occur in keys.

In this article, I’m going to discuss how you can use the circle of fifths to play the two most common progressions in western music in any key. I am of course referring to progressions I-IV-V which are the most common chord progression in rock, folk and country music (examples: “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison, “Down on the Corner” by CCR and “This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie”) and ii-VI progressions which are the most common progression in jazz and equally common in all western musical genres. (Examples include “Satin Doll” by Duke Ellington, “How High the Moon” by Ella Fitzgerald and “Summertime” by Gershwin.)

To determine any I-IV-V progression:

1. Choose the key in which you want to play the chord progression. I will arbitrarily choose the key of D which is at two o’clock on the circle of fifths.

2. To find the IV chord, simply go counterclockwise one hour. With respect to a root note of D, an anti-clockwise hour corresponds to G.

3. To find the V chord, just go clockwise one hour. One hour clockwise after our root note of D is A.

I-IV-V in the key of D = DGA

There you go, it’s that simple! To reiterate, to calculate what an I-IV-V progression is in any key, you pick a root note, then step back one hour to find the IV chord, then spend two hours clockwise. clockwise (or one hour clockwise from the root) to find the V chords.

To determine an ii-VI progression:

1. Choose a key to play the chord progression. We will use the A key for the example which is at three o’clock on the circle of fifths.

2. To find the ii chord, go two hours clockwise from the root note. Our root note A is at three o’clock and two o’clock after three o’clock is five o’clock and on the circle of the fifth five o’clock is B.

3. To find the V chord, go counterclockwise one hour from the ii chord. The ii (B) chord is at five o’clock and a counterclockwise hour from five o’clock is four o’clock, so the V chord is E which is at four o’clock.

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Source by Eric Hankinson