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The Circle of Fifths
Builds on Major Scale Construction
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Each major key has its own key signature — a fixed set of sharps or flats applied throughout a piece so its notes fall into that key's major scale automatically, without marking every accidental individually.
The circle of fifths arranges all twelve major keys so each step clockwise is a perfect fifth higher and adds exactly one sharp; each step counter-clockwise is a fifth lower and adds one flat. C major (no sharps or flats) sits at the top; going clockwise: G (1 sharp), D (2 sharps), A (3 sharps), and so on.
⚠️ Common mistake
Mixing up 'sharp keys' and 'flat keys' direction. Moving up in fifths (clockwise) adds sharps; moving down in fifths (counter-clockwise) adds flats — it's easy to flip this backwards from memory.
📝 Summary
The circle of fifths orders the twelve major keys by ascending perfect fifths, and doubles as a map of how many sharps or flats each key's signature has.
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