Interactive Circle of Fifths

How to use the interactive circle of fifths

1. Click a key on the circle, or tab to it and press Enter. The circle highlights the key and its neighbors.
2. Read the key signature, the relative minor, the major scale and the chords built on each note of the scale.
3. For the three keys at the bottom that can be spelled two ways, use the spelling menu to switch.
4. Turn the relative minor ring on or off with the checkbox.

How the circle works

The circle of fifths arranges the twelve major keys by the interval of a fifth. Start at C at the top. Going clockwise, each key is a fifth higher than the one before: G, D, A, E, B. Each step adds one sharp to the key signature, so G has one sharp and D has two. Going counterclockwise, each step is a fifth lower, which is also a fourth higher, and each step adds a flat: F has one flat and B-flat has two.

At the bottom the circle closes. F-sharp major, with six sharps, and G-flat major, with six flats, are the same keys on a piano. B major and C-flat major, and D-flat major and C-sharp major, are the same kind of pair, so those spellings are offered in the menu.

Reading the details

The relative minor of a major key shares its key signature. It starts on the sixth note of the major scale, so A minor goes with C major and E minor with G major. The scale is spelled so each letter appears once, which is why G major has F-sharp and not G-flat. The chords are the triads built on each note: major on the first, fourth and fifth, minor on the second, third and sixth, and diminished on the seventh. For G major they are G, Am, Bm, C, D, Em and F-sharp diminished.

This is standard music theory and is the same in any theory textbook. No source was fetched for this page. To write music out, use the sheet music paper, and to find a tempo, try the BPM tap counter.

Using it for practice

Songwriters use the circle to pick chords that sit well together: a chord and its two neighbors on the circle share most of their notes. Students use it to memorize key signatures and to find the key a piece is in by counting sharps or flats. The page is controlled by keyboard as well as by mouse, and nothing about your use is stored or sent.

Assumptions and limits

• Keys are major keys with their relative minors, in standard Western music theory.
• Key signature counts positive for sharps and negative for flats.
• Chords shown are the seven triads of the major scale.
• Enharmonic pairs, such as F-sharp and G-flat, are offered as two spellings.

Formulas reviewed October 10, 2026. See the calculation methodology for how SumPanda rounds, tests and sources its formulas.

Frequently asked questions