The Circle of Fifths can be used for:

• Identify scales and chords of a particular key
• Create chord progressions
• Chord substitutions
• Modulating
• Transposing songs

The outer circle represents major keys, inner circle represents the minor keys.

If you go clockwise, you have the circle of fifths. If you go counterclockwise, you have the cycle of fourths.

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To find your grouping of 6, for C major we would go one space counterclockwise F and one space clockwise G. We would move to the inner circle Am one space counterclockwise Dm and one space clockwise Em. This gives us our grouping of six. For instance, if we were writing a song in C major we can build chord progressions using only these chords.

To find the major scale of C for instance. Go one space to the left and count seven spaces. This will be the C major scale, you may have to rearrange the notes in order. This tells you if there are any sharps or flats. Also, the first 3 spaces (F, C, G) would be major, the next 3 spaces (D, A, E) would be minor and the last space would be diminished.

To find the pentatonic scale of C for instance. Go one space to the left and count seven spaces, cross out the first and the last spaces, the notes left will be the pentatonic scale for C.

To find a major triad in a key, D for instance go one space clockwise (A), and one space down from A (F#). These 3 (D, A, F#) notes would be a major triad.

To find a minor triad in a key, Cm for instance go one space clockwise (G), and one space up from Cm (Eb). These 3 (C, G, Eb) notes would be a major triad.

To find the dominant 7 chord. For instance, if we want to resolve to Am, we look at the circle of fifths find the space directly to the right of the Am, which is Em. If you instead play an E7 it will create tension that resolves to Am. Basically, any space 1 to the right if played as a seventh chord will resolve to the original chord.

You can also use the Circle of Fifths to determine what mode to play. For instance, if we are in the key of C. C would be Ionian. One space down Am would be Aeolian. Inner circle one space counterclockwise Dm would be Dorian. Inner circle one space clockwise Em would be Phrygian. Outer circle one space counterclockwise F would be Lydian. Outer circle one space clockwise G would be Mixolydian. Using the last note in the key of B would be Locrian.

You can also use the circle of fifths to find borrowed chords. If we are in the key of C major, you find the parallel key which is the minor version of C major which would be Cm. If we were in Cm the parallel key would be C major. So now that we use Cm to find our neighboring grouping of 6 keys, we can then borrow any of these keys in our chord progression.

We can also use the parallel key of Am which would be A. Now we are going the other way to find a neighboring group of 6 and choose A. We can also use any of these chords as borrowed chords in our progression. You can use the Circle of Fifths to find perfect fifth. For instance, the perfect fifth of C is G. It is just one space clockwise from C. So if we start on E, move one space clockwise we end on B, which is the perfect fifth of E. You can do this for every space on the circle of fifths.