Chord Chemistry and the Circle of Fifths by Eve Goldberg We are probably all familiar with this: Doh Re Mi Fa So La Ti Doh When we sing Doh Re Mi, we are singing a MAJOR SCALE. We can start singing or playing “doh re mi” anywhere we want. If we start on a C note, we get the following notes in our scale: C D E F G A B C We can name these notes by “doh re mi,” or by the names of the notes, but we can also number the notes in our scale: C 1 D 2 E 3 F 4 G 5 A 6 B 7 C 1 We can also build chords based on the notes in the scale. It turns out when we do this, the chords built on the 1st, 4th, and 5th notes of the scale are MAJOR CHORDS. C D E F G 1 2 3 4 5 Maj Maj Maj I IV V A B C 6 7 1 There are many, many songs that only use these three chords. They are the most common chords found in the key of C. We can call them C Major, F Major, and G Major, but we can also call them the “I chord,” the “IV chord,” and the “V chord” (a capital roman numeral stands for a major chord). Chord Chemistry and the Circle of Fifths >> www.evegoldberg.com >> 2 Why do we care about the numbers of the chords? It turns out that whatever note we start our “doh, re, mi” on, the chords based on the 1st, 4th, and 5th notes will be major chords. What would be the major chords in the key of G? G A B C D E F# G 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 We can use this to help us move a song from the key of C to the key of G. Chord Chemistry and the Circle of Fifths >> www.evegoldberg.com >> 3 You Are My Sunshine Use Roman Numerals to identify the chords: C You are my sunshine, my only sunshine F C You make me happy when skies are gray F C You'll never know dear, how much I love you C G C Please don't take my sunshine away _____ You are my sunshine, my only sunshine _____ _____ You make me happy when skies are gray _____ _____ You'll never know dear, how much I love you _____ _____ _____ Please don't take my sunshine away Write in the chords in the key of G: _____ You are my sunshine, my only sunshine _____ _____ You make me happy when skies are gray _____ _____ You'll never know dear, how much I love you _____ _____ _____ Please don't take my sunshine away Chord Chemistry and the Circle of Fifths >> www.evegoldberg.com >> 4 What about the chords built on the other notes of the scale? It turns out that the chords built on the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th notes of the scale are all MINOR chords. C D E F G A 1 2 3 4 5 6 Maj min min Maj Maj min I ii iii IV V vi B C 7 1 Maj I These are the next most common chords in the key of C (minor chords are notated with lower case roman numerals). Now we have six chords that “fit” in the key of C. Chord Chemistry and the Circle of Fifths >> www.evegoldberg.com >> 5 And just as with our major chords, if we start our scale on another note, the chords built on the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th note of that scale will be minor. What would be the minor chords in the key of G? G 1 A B C D E F# G 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 Now we have expanded our chord vocabulary and we have six chords that “fit” with the G major scale. Chord Chemistry and the Circle of Fifths >> www.evegoldberg.com >> 6 Where Have All The Flowers Gone Pete Seeger Use Roman Numerals to identify the chords: C Am F G Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing C Am F G Where have all the flowers gone long time ago C Am Where have all the flowers gone F G Young girls picked them every one F C F G C When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn _____ _____ _____ _____ Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing _____ _____ _____ _____ Where have all the flowers gone long time ago _____ _____ Where have all the flowers gone _____ _____ Young girls picked them every one _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn Write in the chords in the key of G: _____ _____ _____ _____ Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing _____ _____ _____ _____ Where have all the flowers gone long time ago _____ _____ Where have all the flowers gone _____ _____ Young girls picked them every one _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn
Chord Chemistry and the Circle of Fifths >> www.evegoldberg.com >> 7 The Water Is Wide
traditional Use Roman Numerals to identify the chords: C F C The water is wide I can’t cross over Am Dm G And neither have I wings to fly Em Am F Build me a boat that can carry two Dm G C F C And both shall row my love and I ____ ____ ____ The water is wide I can’t cross over ____ ____ ____ And neither have I wings to fly ____ ____ ____ Build me a boat that can carry two ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ And both shall row my love and I Write in the chords in the key of G: ____ ____ ____ The water is wide I can’t cross over ____ ____ ____ And neither have I wings to fly ____ ____ ____ Build me a boat that can carry two ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ And both shall row my love and I Chord Chemistry and the Circle of Fifths >> www.evegoldberg.com >> 8 So we’ve figured out six chords that naturally occur in the key of C, and six chords that naturally occur in the key of G. But what about all the other keys? You could spend a lot of time figuring out all the notes in the scales and numbering them, but here’s a magical tool that will take all the guesswork out of it. Introducing… the incredible Circle of Fifths! Chord Chemistry and the Circle of Fifths >> www.evegoldberg.com >> 9 Let’s take our key of C. Find the C note on the outside of the circle – that’s our I chord. If we go one spot clockwise from C, we come to G, which is the V chord. If we go back to C and go one spot counter-­‐clockwise, we come to F, which is our IV chord. Tied to C on the inside of the circle is the vi chord, Am. One spot clockwise from the vi chord is Em, the iii chord. And one spot counter-­‐clockwise from Am is the ii chord, Dm. I IV V ii vi iii Chord Chemistry and the Circle of Fifths >> www.evegoldberg.com >> 10 Now here’s the cool part: It doesn’t matter where you go on the circle, the same chords will be in the same relative
places. Just find your one chord, and look at the chords on either side of the outside of the circle to find your IV
and V chords. The three chords on the inside of the circle across from your I, IV, and V will be the vi, iii, and ii
chords.
IV I ii vi V iii Chord Chemistry and the Circle of Fifths >> www.evegoldberg.com >> 11 The Water Is Wide
traditional C F C The water is wide I can’t cross over Use Roman Numerals to identify the chords: ____ ____ ____ The water is wide I can’t cross over Am Dm G And neither have I wings to fly Em Am F Build me a boat that can carry two Dm G C F C And both shall row my love and I ____ ____ ____ And neither have I wings to fly ____ ____ ____ Build me a boat that can carry two ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ And both shall row my love and I Write in the chords in the key of E: ____ ____ ____ The water is wide I can’t cross over ____ ____ ____ And neither have I wings to fly ____ ____ ____ Build me a boat that can carry two ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ And both shall row my love and I Chord Chemistry and the Circle of Fifths >> www.evegoldberg.com >> 12 You might be wondering about the chord built on the 7th note of the scale, because we haven’t talked about it yet. It turns out to be a DIMINISHED chord. Diminished chords are wondrous chords that can do special tricks, but they are not nearly as common as MAJOR and MINOR chords. They are used a lot in some forms of music, but they don’t come into play too much until a little further down the music theory road. So it’s good know that they exist, but you probably don’t need to worry about them too much right now. C D E F G A B C 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 Maj min min Maj Maj min dim Maj I ii iii IV V vi viio I There is much more to explore in the world of chord theory, but what we covered in this workshop should be helpful no matter what kind of music you play. Happy ukeing!! Eve Goldberg is a Toronto-­‐based musician and educator who teaches classes and workshops in ukulele and guitar at community colleges, music camps, festivals and through her own private studio in Parkdale. She is the founder of The Parkdale Ukulele Group, which offers small group ukulele classes to adults in a supportive and fun environment. www.evegoldberg.com Chord Chemistry and the Circle of Fifths >> www.evegoldberg.com >> 13