From the course: Theory for the Contemporary Guitarist
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Cycle of 4ths and 5ths
From the course: Theory for the Contemporary Guitarist
Cycle of 4ths and 5ths
- [Instructor] Another way to learn key signatures is by using the cycle of fourths and fifths. If you start at the top at C and go clockwise around the cycle, you're following the order of sharp keys. Notice that the distance between each key name is five notes. This is why it's called the cycle of fifths. If you start at C and go counterclockwise, you get the route of each of the flat keys. Each of these routes is four notes away from the next. This is known as the cycle of fourths. So we can use the cycle of fifths to learn sharp key signatures and the cycle of fourths to learn flat key signatures.
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