Mondo Knows Facts
The circle of fifths orders every key
Moving one step adds a sharp or removes a flat Keys that sit next door sound close because they share most notes. Composers use the circle to plan modulations that feel smooth. It also maps the twelve pitch classes in the order of perfect fifths. It sits in Mondo's music collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
Where this comes from
Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
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More facts like this
Sonata form sets two ideas against each otherExposition, development and recapitulation is the usual patternA minor key lowers the thirdFlattening one note changes the whole emotional colour of a scaleSome composers write in quarter tonesThat doubles the steps in an octave to 24Simple frequency ratios sound calmOctaves are two to one and fifths three to two, and they blend rather than clashBaroque music ran on a bass line and chordsThe continuo filled in harmony from a figured bassSome instruments sound at a different pitch from the notes writtenA written C on a B flat clarinet comes out as B flat
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Tags: harmony, keys, theory
The circle of fifths orders every key: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Moving one step adds a sharp or removes a flat. The figure is taken from Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a music fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Music shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.