Circle of Fifths: Everything You Need to Know 

It’s paper towel

@@josephelton3438 LOL! Really? I wouldn’t have guessed that, but I like it!

Facts

lol

thank god. we were all worried about your eyes being calm

That's a very mature way of looking at it. Even when I was at university it would take me that long to really comprehend what I was learning and it wasn't until I graduated that I was able to practically apply everything I'd learned into my playing. Even longer to be able to do it well. That was 15 years ago and I'm still learning from my colleagues from new experiences. Music is one of those things that the more you learn, the more you realise you have to learn. It can be daunting but luckily it's a live long endeavour.

It doesn't help that he speaks so fast. Playing it over and over is of help though.

@@brassholio Morale of the story...start young.....if you're too old......listen. Is that it. Because after 2 years....I haven't even got my head around any of this completely. Or should I forget music theory and just play what I can. I started piano at 65. Have I just been wasting my time!?!

@@phillipdonnelly6430 I don't think you're wasting your time at all. I was lucky that I started at 6, but there are prodigy type musicians who are way above my level and always will be. That doesn't mean I can't have a fulfilling and rewarding career. There's always going to be someone better than you, but that doesn't mean that you can't get an amazing amount of satisfaction with whatever you choose to do with your music. The fact that you're even approaching this sort of level after only 2 years is admirable. To me, music is for everyone. We're not in the 18th century where only the noble were taught, we're better than that and we can all share in it together. We're not in competition, there's no reason that we can't share in it for pure joy and learning. Keep going.

Learning some scales and chords and beginning to recognize patterns will probably make learning pieces a lot easier in the medium-long term. And every time you absorb something new, it will feed understanding of other related concepts. But of course, you should pursue your own goals for your own satisfaction. Good luck!

Excellent! Glad this was able to bring some things together for you. There’s no doubt your background, training, and experience helped massively though. This is all very overwhelming for a lot of people.

You sound like a very interesting person. How are you doing? What are you up to now?

At least you were able to tell the class how great you are. Geez…

I can relate, but it’s not clicking for me. I was terrible in Math too, so I guess it’s best to accept my limitations in brain power. Sigh.

Wow cool observation!

Thanks for sharing! I think I saw Victor Wooten mention this in one of his talks, recommend you check it out, it's very interesting!

this is SO CLUTCH!!! for the longest time i've always thought of major and minor scales in terms of their half step intervals, or, more specifically, there are half steps between the 2nd and 3rd and 5th and 6th notes in a minor scale and half steps between the 3rd and 4th and 7th and 8th in a major scale. what you've observed deepens and crystallizes my understanding of those intervals tremendously. thank you! time for some modulation!!

"flatted"

Thank you for this, and i mean that dude

You should stop dozing off in class :D

@@EnslaveTheWorld You obviously never knew my music teacher, he was hopeless. Lol

@@johnlong8082 he had an entire year curriculum to fill up (or drag on) for his paycheck lest he be viewed as not having anything to do.

Never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence. Not to drag on John’s music teacher, just saying. All the respect to teachers in general, but some of them are not the best either.

They will never teach you what you really need to know

i'm sorry but if you're a premed, then you have to give up your hobby if you ever get accepted into medical school

@@gartyqam update: I gave up premed to focus more on the hobby 😂

Whoa! Big update! How are you feeling about it?

@@BradHarrison feeling pretty good. Since the initial comment, I’ve learned a ton about music theory and have made a LOT of music. It’s become such a relaxing thing to do and I use Logic Pro to make all my music. I’ve released a few instrumental tracks under the name “Dawson Zentz” on streaming platforms and I’m just really enjoying the process of it all. But a lot of it started with this video so I appreciate it a TON!!!!!

@@dawsonzentz2078😆😆

I can relate . I’m an artist, also a biochemist. Learning only now how to play. Circle of fifth is my culprit.

it's because the Arts & sciences and Life are truly infinite like God who created them all ❕✝️ ....there is ultimately nothing mysterious about infinity in the knowledge of God , except to keep learning for infinity.... ru-vid.com/group/PLotPfw-ygPSUrJCsXjcr_b4N76Id6Zp5j

How am I even Understanding what @Dr Blue said🤔 Ah ha!Word Smith well put n said @Dr Blue 😅👌

@@ponolepono2165 heheh thanks bro I try. I guess it's something we all understand intuitively. You know, like how mixing red and blue produces purple, mixing sweet and salty gives you savory, and playing a C note with an E note gives you a sound that's completely different than the 2 notes by themselves. I've always found the chemistry of how our senses work really fascinating. And to think we didn't even invent any of this shit, it just exists in the universe and we're discovering it. Pretty amazing.

@@adikickass84 Maybe you will be interested in "The Glass Bead Game". It's a novel by fantastic writer, central motive is exactly mixing music and science. It's about Main character's personal development and career in a civilisation of high culture where philosophy, art and science are very close to each other and are the most important things.

Mee too..

Actually less than a thousand years old

High praise! Glad you enjoyed!

Excellent! That was the plan!

There are many benefits to understanding the wonders of the circle of fifths.

Dude what? I was just watching a tutorial on yt about the circle of Fiths when this came up on my feed

The creepy algorithm knows all!

thank you

@@BradHarrison Where have you been all my life. For 50 years I have said screw music theory, wish you were around in the first grade. Absolutely loved the illustrations and explanations, you are the greatest and you have no contemporaries; everyone is just students compared to you. Thanks so so much. (all in 11 mins may I add, simply amazing).

Same

Neat, huh?

@@BradHarrison You were having too much fun, Brad. ;)

Haha. Thanks for the support! Glad you enjoyed and let’s hope the algorithm smiles up on me. ;-)

Check my channel for the videos on major scales and on key signatures. I think that will clear everything up for you! Good luck!

I had piano lessons in the 1990s, I was in my late 20s I never was told about this by my teacher, however, I wanted to learn the basis skills I could write down the music on manuscript form, I could read it and learned my own instrumentals in a few months You can be self taught, but to be a real talented musician this is essential to study in my opinion 👍🎹🎼

Lots of great jazz players and improvisers didn’t know anything about theory. But I agree, for most of us mortals, understanding this stuff can be incredibly useful. Cheers!

Was looking for this comment! Haha

me too

Thanks for the kind words! I would never want to gatekeep and say this information is necessary to be a good musician when there are plenty of great musicians who don’t know than stuff. But it’s also insanely useful for communication and learning and anyone who thinks this stuff is too complicated or isn’t useful should maybe reconsider. Every craft/discipline has theory.

@@BradHarrison May I ask what software do You use to make all this stunning videos?

Imagine making music if you are deaf, like Beethoven at his end

Intuition is our capacity for direct knowledge of complicated things... I agree. All these elements and connections are representations of what is already there, in existence. Marvelous use of the left brain, though... Thank you.

@@ralisgroffen incredible genius to be able to ‘hear’ the notes in his head!

This is an interesting question. Also comments about Beethoven being deaf. Was just talking about that recently. I find that I can conceptualize or"hear" music in my mind. Kind of understand how he could compose 9th while deaf. Problem I have is translating what's in the mind to keyboard. That's where a sound knowledge of theory is valuable. I find videos like this very helpful and my abilities are gradually expanding. I believe that the theory enabled Fagin to bring his ideas to life. But technique is also a vital component.

Excellent! Glad you enjoyed!

Interesting to read one of the comments from a pro - the "dueling pianist " regarding his "mental" use of the Circle in performance. My experience too.. from a vocalists standpoint: When hired to sing jazz Standards in local country club gigs with the Jack Burke Trio, he would only ask me "if I knew the lyrics" & listen to me sing a few notes -(quietly to Jack at the piano) - and we were off and running for a great time.. the base player jumped right in, as did the percussion. When asked how he did that, Jack said "the great Standards follow a given circle of harmony" ...it never changes if you want to sing the tune higher or lower. When I took up the piano after Jack passed on, it all worked beautifully as I got a handle on the simplicity of the Circle. As the great Bill Evans, in one of his many interviews shared his story of learning the Classical "rote" lessons when young.. but in his 20s after his US Service, he moved in with his parents in New Jersey, bought a piano and spent over 2 years in a "watershed" self-learning mode, so he could play with the best in NY and without any music. Awesome, this life-learning endeavor to play the beautiful harmonies I too "hear in my head."

Haha. Fantastic! Mission accomplished.

Excellent! Happy to help!

Thanks for the kind words! So glad you enjoyed!

Excellent! Glad you enjoyed!

Hello Cathy, How’re you doing ?

The pattern is actually much more than just this; the order in which the diatonic modes (I believe this is what you meant by "major modes") appear actually moves from the brightest (Lydian) to the darkest (Locrian). If you take the 7 notes going round clockwise from C (C, G, D, A, B, F#), you have the lydian which is the brightest diatonic mode. If you move this selection set one step round anticlockwise, the F# becomes an F and you have C Ionian (or C major) which is the second brightest mode. If you do this again, the B becomes Bb and you have notes of the C mixolydian scale, which again is less bright than Ionian. The full order is: Brightest C Lydian: C, G, D, A, E, B, F# C Ionian (major): F, C, G, D, A, E, B C Mixolydian: Bb, F, C, G, D, A, E C Dorian: Eb, Bb, F, C, G, D, A C Aeolian (minor): Ab, Eb, Bb, F, C, G, D C Phrygian: Db, Ab, Eb, Bb, F, C, G C Locrian: Gb, Db, Ab, Eb, Bb, F, C Darkest

@@M0odez yeah, that's just another perspective of what I said. I've never been a fan of the "Brightest" and "Darker" explanation of the modes - as the feel and flexibility of them goes much deeper than that.

@@lastdaysguitar I was trying to rephrase it in a way that helps derive the modes in a more natural ordering - I got really confused by your derivation and I think relying on all major scales to derive modes is one of the fundamental causes of confusion around modes (common questions arise like "if it's just F major starting on C, how is it different to F major?"). Even if you find the words darker/brighter too narrow, it's hard to deny that overall they do a decent job of describing the way modes are overhwelmingly applied, and as the terms are only describing the modes relative too each other, they are much better than terms like "dreamy" for Lydian, "Jazzy" for Dorian etc. This is why I love the pattern; not only does it make the modes easier to learn (you can read them off the circle of fifths, rather than needing to know all your major scales by heart) but it also gives you some basic guidance as to how to apply them. As with all music theory, it's just a guide on what might be best to try at any point. if you have a metal riff using Aeolian and it just isn't evil enough, swapping that 2 to a b2 to bring it into Phrygian is very likely to push the riff in the direction you want it.

Thanks for your comment that started an enlightening discussion. Maybe that's why we call it "theory" instead of "law."

You both explain it perfectly, this is how I think he should have taught it, because it adds the teaching of the modes

Thanks!

Ah!, grasshopper, it is school that is insane! Self taught rules.

Excellent! Glad you enjoyed!

Thanks for writing! The videos take a long time to make and it’s been a bonkers busy year. But I’ve got two more coming soon!

It’s really pretty cool.

Glad you enjoyed! Thanks for the kind words!

Thanks so much! This is one of the nicest comments I’ve ever received!