Circle of Fifths

Update 4/3/07: Fear not!! Fun with the Circle Of 5ths and Identifying Chords referred to below is actually quite understandable and very useful. Check it out! Much more useful then my example, that's for sure...

Update 1/9/07 11pm: A Circle of Fifths Chord Application

I have recently been checking out the Circle of Fifths and trying to see what kind of patterns I could find. I was really happy to discover how easy it was to use to find Major & Minor triads, among other things.

Here I demonstrate how simple it is to find triads in the image above. (Diagram courtesy of Wikipedia.) I was pretty impressed when I showed the patterns to my six-year old and he was able to use them to come up with the correct notes to other triads from the chart. Cool.

I have been checking out the diagram for a couple of days now trying to find all the patterns that I can. My little example above is nothing compared to what someone has done in a post entitled Fun with the Circle Of 5ths and Identifying Chords. Wow! If you have any interest in this subject at all you should see what he has come up with. It looks like you can do it all with this chart if you put your mind to it.

Geometry, math, music. My head is spinning...

I think I just need to break out one of the guitars and play an AC/DC song or something!

Update: I have been looking for applications that will allow you to rotate the Circle of Fifths depending on what you are looking to find. Here is one that allows you to set the key and it will generate the chords for that key: Julie Waters: The Circle of Fifths

If you find applications of this nature, please leave a comment.