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The circle of fourths



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here i share my diagram about the circle of fourths diagram and i made a post about it on my guitar blog , the title is " May the 4th be with you, The Circle of Fourths (Part 1) "

i made few parts about the topic and schedule them since at first i thought it would be short one, but it is not. writing is different than direct guitar practicing.

 

circleoffourths.jpg

i made a poll up there about the difficulties in learning this. i will use it as one of my resource. it would be a pleasure if everyone is participating. thanks

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Please excuse me. The convention is to turn it round the other way so it is 5ths clockwise. The reason is perhaps something to do with this:

(EDITED)

The major scale can be seen as being 2 four note ladders called tetrachords, with the root note either at the start or the end. CDEF and GABC make C major scale. The intervals between the notes are T/T/ST.

Logically there is one tone joining the 2 groups of notes.

Proceed from C. CDEF. Next note must be G and there is a tone between F and G. GABC. This is the top half of the C major scale and the bottom half of the G major scale.

Start on G. GABC DEFG. E needs to be away from F and F needs to be closer to G so F is sharpened. DEF#G. So...GABCDEF#G, the G Major scale with one sharp at the seventh or last note of the scale.

Start again from D including the sharp F. DEF#G. This is the bottom half of D major scale and the note names of the top half can only be what is left, ABCD. B needs to be away from C and C needs to be closer to D so C is 'sharpened'. The sharps accumulate. DEF#G ABC#D. 2 sharps. Logically the next will be A and that must have 3 sharps.

 

CDEF is the bottom half of C major and the top half of....it must be the F scale. Go backwards from C (BAGF). Start it on F. FGAB. B needs to be nearer A and further away from C, so it is flattened and we get FGABb CDEF.

 

Have you harmonised the major scale into chords yet? This will help you with the modes. This is plenty to learn.

Eventually you will get to the Harmonic Minor and Melodic Minor scales and their modes and chords. A lifetime's work really.

 

Best wishes!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Please excuse me. The convention is to turn it round the other way so it is 5ths clockwise. The reason is perhaps something to do with this:

(EDITED)

The major scale can be seen as being 2 four note ladders called tetrachords, with the root note either at the start or the end. CDEF and GABC make C major scale. The intervals between the notes are T/T/ST.

Logically there is one tone joining the 2 groups of notes.

Proceed from C. CDEF. Next note must be G and there is a tone between F and G. GABC. This is the top half of the C major scale and the bottom half of the G major scale.

Start on G. GABC DEFG. E needs to be away from F and F needs to be closer to G so F is sharpened. DEF#G. So...GABCDEF#G, the G Major scale with one sharp at the seventh or last note of the scale.

Start again from D including the sharp F. DEF#G. This is the bottom half of D major scale and the note names of the top half can only be what is left, ABCD. B needs to be away from C and C needs to be closer to D so C is 'sharpened'. The sharps accumulate. DEF#G ABC#D. 2 sharps. Logically the next will be A and that must have 3 sharps.

 

CDEF is the bottom half of C major and the top half of....it must be the F scale. Go backwards from C (BAGF). Start it on F. FGAB. B needs to be nearer A and further away from C, so it is flattened and we get FGABb CDEF.

 

Have you harmonised the major scale into chords yet? This will help you with the modes. This is plenty to learn.

Eventually you will get to the Harmonic Minor and Melodic Minor scales and their modes and chords. A lifetime's work really.

 

Best wishes!

 

indeed a lifetime's work.. i'm trying to get what you said. thanks for sharing knowledge. thanks a lot

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Please excuse me. The convention is to turn it round the other way so it is 5ths clockwise. The reason is perhaps something to do with this:

(EDITED)

The major scale can be seen as being 2 four note ladders called tetrachords, with the root note either at the start or the end. CDEF and GABC make C major scale. The intervals between the notes are T/T/ST.

Logically there is one tone joining the 2 groups of notes.

Proceed from C. CDEF. Next note must be G and there is a tone between F and G. GABC. This is the top half of the C major scale and the bottom half of the G major scale.

Start on G. GABC DEFG. E needs to be away from F and F needs to be closer to G so F is sharpened. DEF#G. So...GABCDEF#G, the G Major scale with one sharp at the seventh or last note of the scale.

Start again from D including the sharp F. DEF#G. This is the bottom half of D major scale and the note names of the top half can only be what is left, ABCD. B needs to be away from C and C needs to be closer to D so C is 'sharpened'. The sharps accumulate. DEF#G ABC#D. 2 sharps. Logically the next will be A and that must have 3 sharps.

 

CDEF is the bottom half of C major and the top half of....it must be the F scale. Go backwards from C (BAGF). Start it on F. FGAB. B needs to be nearer A and further away from C, so it is flattened and we get FGABb CDEF.

 

Have you harmonised the major scale into chords yet? This will help you with the modes. This is plenty to learn.

Eventually you will get to the Harmonic Minor and Melodic Minor scales and their modes and chords. A lifetime's work really.

 

Best wishes!

 

 

aaaah i got what you meant... it's the T-T-ST intervals...

__T__T__ST_____T__T__ST________T__T__ST________T__T__ST________T__T__ST__

_C - D - E - F__G - A - B - C

_____________G - A - B - C_______D - E - F#- G

_______________________________D - E - F#- G_____A - B - C#- D

______________________________________________A - B - C#- D_____E - F#- G#- A and so on..

 

i see why they are on clockwise order..

 

thanks, i'll combine with other scales and modes.. this is very helpful.. thank you sir

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  • 4 months later...

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