Interactive Circle of Fifths

✨ Below is an interactive circle of fifths tool to help you visualize notes, chords and keys. As the name implies, in the circle of fifths, each note/key on the wheel is separated by a fifth. Click on any of the 12 keys to select the tonic:

Major

C major

relative minor: A

dominant: G

subdominant: F

chords in the key of C major

C major scale

notes: C D E F G A B

→ full C major scale/chord reference

G major

relative minor: E

dominant: D

subdominant: C

chords in the key of G major

G major scale

notes: G A B C D E F♯

→ full G major scale/chord reference

D major

relative minor: B

dominant: A

subdominant: G

chords in the key of D major

D major scale

notes: D E F♯ G A B C♯

→ full D major scale/chord reference

A major

relative minor: F♯

dominant: E

subdominant: D

chords in the key of A major

A major scale

notes: A B C♯ D E F♯ G♯

→ full A major scale/chord reference

E major

relative minor: C♯

dominant: B

subdominant: A

chords in the key of E major

E major scale

notes: E F♯ G♯ A B C♯ D♯

→ full E major scale/chord reference

B major

relative minor: G♯

dominant: G♭/F♯

subdominant: E

chords in the key of B major

B major scale

notes: B C♯ D♯ E F♯ G♯ A♯

→ full B major scale/chord reference

G♭/F♯ major

relative minor: D♯

dominant: D♭

subdominant: B

chords in the key of G♭/F♯ major

G♭/F♯ major scale

notes: G♭ A♭ B♭ C♭ D♭ E♭ F

→ full G♭/F♯ major scale/chord reference

D♭ major

relative minor: A♯/B♭

dominant: A♭

subdominant: G♭/F♯

chords in the key of D♭ major

D♭ major scale

notes: D♭ E♭ F G♭ A♭ B♭ C

→ full D♭ major scale/chord reference

A♭ major

relative minor: F

dominant: E♭

subdominant: D♭

chords in the key of A♭ major

A♭ major scale

notes: A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭ F G

→ full A♭ major scale/chord reference

E♭ major

relative minor: C

dominant: B♭

subdominant: A♭

chords in the key of E♭ major

E♭ major scale

notes: E♭ F G A♭ B♭ C D

→ full E♭ major scale/chord reference

B♭ major

relative minor: G

dominant: F

subdominant: E♭

chords in the key of B♭ major

B♭ major scale

notes: B♭ C D E♭ F G A

→ full B♭ major scale/chord reference

F major

relative minor: D

dominant:

subdominant: B♭

chords in the key of F major

F major scale

notes: F G A B♭ C D E

→ full F major scale/chord reference

A minor

relative major: C

dominant: E

subdominant: D

chords in the key of A minor

A minor scale

notes: A B C D E F G

→ full A minor scale/chord reference

E minor

relative major: G

dominant: B

subdominant: A

chords in the key of E minor

E minor scale

notes: E F♯ G A B C D

→ full E minor scale/chord reference

B minor

relative major: D

dominant: F♯

subdominant: E

chords in the key of B minor

B minor scale

notes: B C♯ D E F♯ G A

→ full B minor scale/chord reference

F♯ minor

relative major: A

dominant: C♯

subdominant: B

chords in the key of F♯ minor

F♯ minor scale

notes: F♯ G♯ A B C♯ D E

→ full F♯ minor scale/chord reference

C♯ minor

relative major: E

dominant: G♯

subdominant: F♯

chords in the key of C♯ minor

C♯ minor scale

notes: C♯ D♯ E F♯ G♯ A B

→ full C♯ minor scale/chord reference

G♯ minor

relative major: B

dominant: D♯

subdominant: C♯

chords in the key of G♯ minor

G♯ minor scale

notes: G♯ A♯ B C♯ D♯ E F♯

→ full G♯ minor scale/chord reference

D♯ minor

relative major: G♭/F♯

dominant: A♯/B♭

subdominant: G♯

chords in the key of D♯ minor

D♯ minor scale

notes: D♯ E♯ F♯ G♯ A♯ B C♯

→ full D♯ minor scale/chord reference

A♯/B♭ minor

relative major: D♭

dominant: F

subdominant: D♯

chords in the key of A♯/B♭ minor

A♯/B♭ minor scale

notes: A♯ B♯ C♯ D♯ E♯ F♯ G♯

→ full A♯/B♭ minor scale/chord reference

F minor

relative major: A♭

dominant: C

subdominant: A♯/B♭

chords in the key of F minor

F minor scale

notes: F G A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭

→ full F minor scale/chord reference

C minor

relative major: E♭

dominant: G

subdominant: F

chords in the key of C minor

C minor scale

notes: C D E♭ F G A♭ B♭

→ full C minor scale/chord reference

G minor

relative major: B♭

dominant: D

subdominant: C

chords in the key of G minor

G minor scale

notes: G A B♭ C D E♭ F

→ full G minor scale/chord reference

D minor

relative major: F

dominant:

subdominant: G

chords in the key of D minor

D minor scale

notes: D E F G A B♭ C

→ full D minor scale/chord reference

more about the circle of fifths

The circle of fifths comes in handy for visualizing notes, chords and keys. It helps in building chords as, for example, in a triad the 3rd note is always a fifth away from the root note (tonal).

It also helps to see which keys harmonize well with a selected key. Keys that are adjacent to another key in the circle of fifths are closely related and will usually harmonize well.

For a circle of fifths that also includes the 7 modes of the major scale , I recommend this one by Rand Scullard.

If you're interested in learning more about the circle of fifths in general, here's a very detailed post from Musical U, and here's a video that makes it quite simple to grasp.

piano samples

The piano samples used here are from “Salamander Grand Piano V3” by Alexander Holm, licensed under CC BY 3.0.

💡 You might also find this interactive major & minor scale reference useful