The Guitar Master

Question: What is the Difference between the circle of fifths and the circle of fourths?

Answer: Nothing.

It is the same circle, but if you go clockwise around the circle, you are going up to the fifth degree of the major scale from the first note to the second. And if you go anti-clockwise round the circle you will be going up to the fourth degree.

For example, starting at C and going clockwise the next stop is G:



1 2 3 4 5

C D E F G

And if you continue on from G going clockwise you end up on D:



1 2 3 4 5

G A B C D

As mentioned before, if you go anti-clockwise from C, your next stop is F:



1 2 3 4

C D E F

And from F ant-iclockwise your next stop is A# / Bb:



1 2 3 4

F G A Bb

Check out Stages of Mastering the Guitar and The Interactive Circle of Fifths for more useful tips.

The Guitar Master

Tags: circle of fifths, theory