The Circle of Fifths is an easy way to find out the key a song is in. The Circle of Fifths tells you how many sharps or flats are in a given key. C has no sharps or flats. It is called the Circle of Fifths because as you go clockwise you go up a fifth. For example, the fifth note of the C major scale is G. The fifth note of the G major scale is D, and so on. C 0# G 1# F# D 2# F# C# A 3# F# C# G# E 4# F# C# G# D# B 5# F# C# G# D# A# F# 6# F# C# G# D# A# E# C# 7# F# C# G# D# A# E# B# C 0b F 1b Bb Bb 2b Bb Eb Eb 3b Bb Eb Ab Ab 4b Bb Eb Ab Db Db 5b Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Gb 6b Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cb Cb 7b Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cb Fb The Circle of Fifths can also be used to help to learn chords. You already know that the Circle goes in Fifths clockwise. Now look at how close the chords that are a fifth apart are together on the fretboard. You might not use this too much, but it will give you a broader view of the chords and how they are related to other chords. C G D A E B F# C# G# D# A# F C E :----3------5----|----7--------9----|-----11-------13-----| B :-5--3---7--5----|-9--7---11---9----|-13--11---15--13--17-| G :-5--4---7--6----|-9--8---11--10----|-13--12---15--14--17-| D :-5--5---7--7----|-9--9---11--11----|-13--13---15--15--17-| A :-3--5---5--7----|-7--9----9--11----|-11--13---13--15--15-| E :----3------5----|----7--------9----|-----11-------13-----|
ahhh....i was looking for this, thanx ronnie. just a question...u mustve heard smoke on the water, the chords to the inro are G5,A#5,C5. I cudnt figure wat the fk is the key, cuz G aint sharped but A is.?? Help me out here.
The intro of the song is G Blues Minor. The whole song is on G Minor key, which is the relative minor of A# Major. I guess the solo is played on D Lydian (Correct me if I am wrong). Intro: G, A#, C ; G, A#, C#, C ; G, A#, C ; A#, G. If you notice, it goes in the G Pentatonic Minor Scale but note that C#, which is the Flat 5th you add to make a Pentatonic Minor Scale a Blues Scale.
I guess, you tried looking at the Circle Of Fifths to figure out the key of the song. The song is in G Minor Scale which is the relative minor of A# Major. Now make the circle of fifths for A# Major or simpler just take the A# Major Scale A#,C, D, D#, F, G, A. You could see that A and D are sharpened and G isn't. The example I had posted was the circle of 5ths for C.
One small note about that solo. This is one of the very few composed solos of Ritchie Blackmore. Most of his solos are usually improvisational. When Ritchie came out with the solo, the whole band was not sure whether it could be done this way. Jon Lord was a real Maestro and he couldn't really understand that it could be made that way. But everyone agreed because they knew it was Blackmore and he wont be wrong. What people thought might not go well, became a real memorable solo.
Though i ca play both of em, i really love the highways star solo as compared to the smoke solo, although i really shudnt be comparing solos. ahhh shi.t...i didnt check out the scales for the accidental notes..yess it is A# , thanx ronnie
hi ronnie, i am new to guitar world though i,ve finished my beginners level in guitar and now i am in advance level. Could you please tell me more about this circle of fifths.
That famous triplet runs you hear in Highway Star is not Blackmore's own. Actually a person called Johny Brown taught that technique to Blackmore somewhere around early 60s. A decade later, Ritchie used that to compose one of the greatest solos of all time.
Hi Toxic, I dont know what do you mean by advanced. I am a beginner anyway and still have miles to reach even an intermediate level. Anyway do you know the interval theory and how to relate them to the fretboard. Can you form instantly simple Major and Minor chords anywhere in the neck. I will post on this soon. Anyway when you take a note and go to the 5th and then keep continuing to the 5ths of every 5th note, then you come back to the same note you began with. This is called circle of 5th.
Check out my lesson on chord formation all over the neck in the Beginner Q & A Forum. It didn't let me post in the Lessons Forum, so it was posted there. Check it out Toxic, maybe you already know it. If not, it'd useful for you.
