Easy Circle of Fifths Chords for R&B

Updated on June 16, 2016

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What are the circle of fifths?

This is rather simple theory which shows an interesting relationship of chords. Once you learn these it makes improvising a lot easier
since you will understand better which chords can follow without having to resort to trial and error.

Simply playing the chords around the circle in any direction gives a gospel sounding vibe. This is because even though the chords are
related to each but will have different scales. Playing a set of chords within a given scale may sound and feel technically correct but
there will be very little tension or emotion in your production. It will also lack originality. The Circle of fifths will enable you to explore
chords in a variety of scales for a deeper sound.

Circle of 5th's (4ths chart)

Looking at the chart it is actually easier to read counter-clockwise, in steps of four. In every scale there a two major chords. e.g. in the
scale of C Major the two majors are C Major and F major 4 steps away. So C Maj Circlethen
of 5th's (4ths
F Maj chart)
are the first two steps and naturally go
together. The F major is also of course the first chord in the F scale. The next major chord is the B flat Major. If you try playing C Maj, F
Maj then Bb Maj you will notice how natural they sound together. It's very useful and easy to memorize all of these in a circle, since it
will help you jump around scale for improvisation.

Many people who improvise tend to be stuck in their (comfort zone) scales and keys, including myself before understanding the circle
of 5ths (4ths). A good idea is to simply memorize them by continuously playing around the circle. The inner circle follows the same
principle except its the minor chords.

You could easily base a whole song using the chords in a circle, however you would need a very good singer who could handle the
constant changes in key. An amateur singer would no doubt have difficulty since they would be looking a single key. It would also be
good for a bridge in a song where the key often goes on a tangent then gets resolved back to the verse. Try introducing some of these
extra major chords into your productions and notice how you will get strong tension from the chords.

Great learning method

Where this is used

You will hear chord sequences based on the circle of 5th's in Gospel / Neo Soul sounding music. Since every chord is a Major (or
minor) there is naturally a lot of tension in the changes which suits the Gospel / soul genre. Jazz differs a little in that Jazz will be based
in one key (in most cases) but will "borrow" chords from others scales for mood/tension and then resolve back to the main scale. In any
case this theory is very useful to know for musicians of any genre.

It is also good for improvising since you can easily move into other scales by going 5 steps up from the Major.

A simple technique on the keys

If you are playing on the keyboard, there is a really easy short cut to follow.
For example, if you play a Cmaj7th or even a plain Cmaj, have a look where your the 5th key is, it's on the "G", therefore the Gmaj is
the beginning of the second chord. The 5th of the Gmaj chord is the "D" therefore simple play the Dmaj and so on simple. For a guitar
player is it much different, you will unfortunately need to memorize the chords in the circle, but they shouldn't take that long to learn
anyway.

Singing over it
This will be the biggest obstacle for many singers unless you are used to singing Gospel. Since all the chords are major chords, there
are constant key changes, well at least other chords since the keys overlap. The singer real needs to be able to follow the correct key
and harmonize in the correct melody, otherwise it will sound very off and out of key.

The singer in the below video is able to do this extremely well, however she is a Gospel singer, and very used to the keyboardist (her
husband) playing very complex chord arrangements in various keys.

Finding that perfect fifth

Some people don't actually know where the perfect 5th is on the piano. An easy way to remember is to simply start on any key e.g. C
and count 7 step to the right including the black keys. So if you start on C and count 7 keys to the right to end of with G which is the
perfect 5th and the root of the next chord in the sequence. Try it again with G, count 7 steps to the right including the black and to
arrive at D - magic. Each step in the 5th has a relationship in terms of music. It doesn't add up quite correct in terms of mathematics,
but it is half of a octave in terms of music.

Try playing these notes round and round again on the keyboard and you will be able to hear clearly the relationship of the notes in
tone.

Incidentally, going around the opposite direction gives you the circle of 4ths instead which some people actually find easier to relate to.
The circle of 5ths is a good chance to learn how to improvise over all 12 scales, since every over technical change of chord is a new
key. Therefor it can be a really good exercise for you to continuously go round and round with the scales.

Soulful Keys - Neo Soul and R&B Production

Learn Neo Soul Chords by downloading the MIDI files.
Improvise cool R&B chords for piano - Part 2
Welcome to my second part of Improvising R&B chords. This time I will show you some more chords that fit around the E flat key.
Improvise cool R&B chords for piano
R&B / Soul chord progressions tend to have a lot more tension than other common chord chords for piano.