Neighbors sound good together.
In a major key, its two neighbors on the outer ring are IV and V. With I, they form the foundation of countless songs.
A little theory. A lot of possibilities.
Follow the fifths.
Find your key, see how chords connect, and hear what belongs together.
Choose a key on either ring. Gold shows its diminished chord; selecting that slice opens the underlying minor key.
Selected key
Related major chords
Related minor chords
Diminished chord
Clockwise: up a fifth. Counterclockwise: up a fourth.
Keyboard: left/right to move; up/down to switch rings.
Put the theory in your ears
Chords in C major
| Degree | Chord | Notes | Listen |
|---|
Choose a play button to hear a synthesized chord. No microphone or file access needed.
Make a connection
A map, not a memorization test.
Two keys. One signature.
Each major key shares its signature with its relative minor, normally labeled directly inside it. The gold slice temporarily shows a diminished chord instead. A major scale and its relative natural minor use the same notes, but have different tonal homes.
Move the pattern.
Try C–F–G, then D–G–A. Both are I–IV–V: the same harmonic pattern, transposed to a different key.
Get to know the circle of fifths
The circle is a map of musical keys. Major keys sit on the outer ring; their relative minor keys sit directly inside, except where the gold slice displays the selected key's diminished chord. For example, F major and D minor both use one flat, B♭.
Reading the circle
Start at C major at the top. Moving clockwise takes you up a perfect fifth: C, G, D, A, and so on. Moving counterclockwise takes you down a fifth, or up a fourth to the equivalent pitch class. Twelve steps take you back to the starting pitch class.
From C, the sharp side builds in this order: F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯, E♯, B♯. The flat side builds in this order: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭, F♭. Where the two sides meet, enharmonic keys such as F♯ major and G♭ major sound alike but use different note spellings. The key selector includes signatures from seven flats through seven sharps.
Choosing keys and reading the staff
Select either ring or use Explore a key. The orange segment marks your selection; green segments identify the other major triads in that key, and blue segments identify the other minor triads. Keys whose major or minor triads fall outside the selected scale remain neutral. One inner slice turns gold and shows the diminished chord instead of a minor-key label, with vii° in major keys or ii° in natural minor. All slices select keys: selecting the gold slice opens its underlying minor key. For example, selecting Bdim while viewing C major opens B minor. Use the chord table's Play buttons to hear chords.
Choose Treble for the clef most guitarists read, or Bass for the clef most bass players read. This changes the staff notation, not the key or the pitch of chord playback. The selected key always has an enlarged staff signature and a written list of its sharps or flats. Small staff diagrams around the circle are omitted on narrow phones to keep the display readable.
For keyboard navigation, focus the circle and use Left or Right to move around it; Up moves to the outer ring and Down to the inner ring. Moving to a slice selects its key, including the minor key beneath a gold diminished label. Enter or Space also selects the focused slice. The key selector offers every supported spelling.
Understanding and hearing the chords
Each table row is a three-note chord built from the selected scale. Roman numerals show its scale degree: uppercase for major, lowercase for minor, and ° for diminished. Choose Play to hear a synthesized triad, and use Playback volume to adjust subsequent chords. Chord roots ascend from the selected key's tonic as you move down the table, with each chord's third and fifth above its root. Each row keeps the same pitches regardless of playback order.
Relative keys share a key signature; parallel keys share a tonic. The buttons beside the circle let you compare them. Minor keys use the natural minor scale here; harmonic and melodic minor are not shown. If a parallel key would require double accidentals, the tool offers an enharmonic equivalent and labels that substitution.
To practice transposing, play I, IV, and V in C major (C, F, G), then choose A major and play the same degrees (A, D, E). The relationships stay the same even though the pitches change.