by Don ONeill
(Gold Canyon, AZ, USA)
How many chords are there for each key on the circle of fifth? I looked at chord charts for chord progressions and sometimes it seems like some are missing or are different. Take A Major for example. The chord progression goes:
I: A - C# - E
IV: A - D - F#
V7: G# - D - E
When Looking at chord charts the IV & V7 do not show up. (Learning from a friend that can’t explain it.)
Maria's Answer:
Hi!
Thank you for your question! From what I can understand, some of the concepts you've learned may have become somewhat "tangled". I will do my best to "untangle" it for you. But it's not a short answer as you might have guessed!
Just to clarify:
1. The chords in your example are:
I: A major chord (in root position),
IV: D major chord (in 2nd inversion) and
V7: E major 7th chord (in 1st inversion omitting the 5th).
2. Chords can be played in different inversions (notes in a different order) and will then look different.
3. Basic chords (triads) can also have notes added to them, like a 7th, 9th etc. Often then another note from the basic chord will be omitted (usually the 5th as in V7 above).
Using the Circle of Fifths:
The circle of fifths is a tool that can be used for different things, one is to easily see the relationships between the main chords in each key.
The main chords in any major (or minor) key are the I, IV and V chords. For example; pick a tonic key (I), lets say A major, on the circle of Fifths. To the right you'll find its dominant (V): E, and to the left you'll find its subdominant (IV): D.
Sometimes in a circle of fifths we also write the minor relative keys inside the circle. Then you will also see that next to A you have F#m (the relative minor key), next to E is C#m,