Thanks for this great video! I once learned a handy pneumonic for remembering the order of sharps and flats in each key signature around the circle of fifths. For the sharps it goes: Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle And you simply reverse it for the flats: Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles’s Father
Videos are super clear and visually very appealing, great job! Just one doubt: at 3:08 you say to start on B flat and go counterclockwise, which is true just till the 3rd flat, because the 4th flat is D flat and not C flat (as the video suggest). Thanks :)
here is a saying sort of thing to help you remember the order of notes: Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle. for the sharp side, use that order and for the flat side use it backwards to it would be Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles Father.
Great job on the circle of 5ths. The mirror of 5ths/4ths and it's universal mnemonic device is an alternative for those who will find the circle of 5ths a bit intimidating. The book the mirror of 5ths/4ths decoding the circle after 300+ years explains how the mirror works in details.
Hi, very nice video! I do think however there is a mistake. The order of flats is: B E A D G C F, So if you go anti-clockwise from B flat you get in trouble after A flat (i.e. C sharp). If you just proceed to take the same notes as the order of sharps but turn it around starting from B (the green line you drew) then you do not have that problem. Other than that super cool video!
Okey let's make a small nuance, if Csharp and Dflat are the same (which is kind of true) this indeed solves the problem I mentioned earlier, but Just reversing the sharp order will do and not confuse anyone :) .
3:49 Ive watched a couple videos on the circle of fifths and I am wondering, is there any reason why you start on these notes when determining which notes are sharp or flat? Seems kind of arbitrary! But if thats always the case I can probably just remember that.
I know nothing, but my guess would be that it is because you will never see a (valid) key signature containing only one sharp where the sharp is NOT on the F line. Or, a valid key signature containing only one flat where the flat is anywhere other than on the B line.
I thought it seemed easy but at 2.00 minutes it says C has no sharps but then at 2.41 he starts on F and counts C at the top as a sharp and no mention about D, which seems to contradict the C at the top having no flats or sharps. I’d be grateful if someone could explain this please.
You can also find the relative minor/major using the actual scale. The relative minor of a major chord is the minor 6th. And the relative Major for a minor scale is the major 3rd. I.e. for the key of C major, the scale is C d e F G a bdim C. The minor 6th is a, so that's the relative minor. For a minor, the scale is a bdim C d e F G a. The major third is C, so that's the relative Major of a minor. Works with any key. The relative minor of F is: F g a Bb C d edim F. Minor 6th is d, relative minor is d minor. The relative Major of d minor is: d e F g a Bb C d. Major 3rd is F, relative Major is F.
@@zinnianexile8925 The leading note of the new scale will always be a semitone lower than the new tonic so if the new tonic is arrived at in perfect fifths then the leading notes to those new tonics will also rise up in perfect fifths. Now you can easily recognise the sharp scales by adding a semitone to the last sharp in the key signature: f sharp = G major; the last sharp to the right in the key signature of D major (which is 5 up from G major) is c sharp (which is 5 up from f sharp)...etc. If we look at the key signature of B major, for example, the last sharp to the right is ‘a’ sharp (‘f’ sharp - 5 up to ‘c’ sharp - 5 up to ‘g’ sharp - ‘d’ sharp 5 up to ‘a’ sharp = leading note to B major 😊
It's counterintuitive but clever.. it's not showing you the notes in linear fashion. Just grouping things together. I tried to work it out on f minor and it works. I don't have a flat symbol so I have to use ' lowercase = minor capital = major ° = diminished f g° A' b' c D' E' On the inner circle of fifths going counterclockwise g° c f b' E' A' C#
why the enharmonic only happen on these three?...It could happen in all 5 black notes no?.. Why not?.. they all can be called with a flat or sharp.. I just do not get it. why in minute.4,52 you say it happens only in these three keys....
When you ascend the major scales, in the W W H W W W H pattern, F# is the first sharp that is encountered when going up. Next is C#, then G# and so on (going up fifths). So it starts at F because F is the first accidental note.
So I understand what your saying, but how do you match keys for music. For example, let's say you a kick drum in the note of D, what notes can be used for the bass? and how do you determine this. This is where I get a little confused. I saw a video awhile back explaining it, but I can't find it. Like you can't use a D note kick drum with a A flat bass. That wouldn't sound good.
Use the notes in the scale you're using. For example, in the C major scale, you'd use all the natural notes. In the key of F, you'd use all natural notes except for B which becomes B flat
Hi, one thing I don't quite understand. You said the three enharmonic keys at the bottom are the only three keys that have two names for the same notes, why is that? I thought the key of Ab could be called G# and the notes would be the same? Is that not the case? If someone could explain that would be great
This is because the maximum number of sharps or flats in a key signature is 7. G-sharp Major has an F double sharp in its key signature, making it impractical to use. Same issue with F-flat Major (has a B double flat).
there are 2 types of 5 in counting intervals, a regular 5th that counts 5 semitones steps and a perfect 5th, which counts 7 semi-tone steps, in the video he uses Perfect 5ths
I'm still so confused. Is there a more basic video that goes more slowly and explains every little bit? Like for instance ~why~ does the order of flats start at F and why does the order of sharps start at B-flat? #feelingdumb lol
That's just a memory aid, nothing more. Going clockwise from F, the first # in the order of sharps as they appear in key signatures is F#; the second # is C#; the third # is G#, and so forth. Going counter-clockwise from Bb (or from B at the 5:00 position on the wheel), the first flat in the order of flats as they appear in key signatures is Bb, followed by Eb, then Ab, and so forth. I hope this helps.
In any given scale, we prefer to use each letter once, not twice. So for the key of E major, we don't want to say that it has the notes A flat and A - we prefer to say it has G sharp and A, even though G sharp and A flat are the same note.
The reason is because a scale is determined by the exact number of semitones up from one note to the next. The second note in a major scale is exactly 2 semitones up from the tonic. Sharp of flat or natural, doesn't matter. Then the next note is 2 semitones. Then the next note is 1 semitone and so on according to the specific pattern. Whether a note is sharp or flat or natural doesn't matter really, it's just by coincidence following the pattern of the scale. For a major scale, the distance in semitones to the next note is: Tonic: 0 Minor 2nd: 2 semitones Minor 3rd: 2 semitones Perfect 4th: 1 semitone Perfect 5th: 2 semitones Minor 6th: 2 semitones Diminished 7th: 2 semitones Perfect 8th: 1 semitone I.e. C d e F G a bdim C for the key of C major
I can tell you which keys have 1, 2 3 or 4 flats and sharps easily. I have to think for half a minute when saying which keys have 5, 6 or 7 flats and sharps.
