Hello! I'm trying to analize some chord progressions, I got some cool info about this magic circle and now it's time to apply it. I listened some examples on youtube, it's really cool but I'm having some problems in the "real" world.

For example, not every song starts with the root key, then I don't know how to follow the circle of fifths. Also, I get lost when trying to figure it out the chord progression.

here it is what I mean. This is the piano chord progression from Calvin Harris - Flashback. The root key is A minor, but it starts with a D , which is the IV.
How would I read this with the circle of fifths?



This is another example from Madeon - For you (I included the bass), the root key is G major



These are the midi files MIDIS

I would like some help with music theory, thanks for your time.

 

i'm using the Circle only when a need to identify scales. When producing use your ears. When writing in a minor scale i usually start from the VI note of the scale for my bassline. A lot of tracks doesn't start from the root key. it's really common in Progressive House/EDM and of course other genre.

sorry i forgot, study a little bit of music theory, there are good videos on youtube

 

IV is the perfect 4th

 

Take 5 minutes and check these channels, it'll be helpful for you if you're struggling with circle of fifths.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Rhaptapsody/videos

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX8mVc5UxpZK1lYjL_cnjYQ/videos

P.S: Piano is still hard for me to learn.

I Love the song Flashback btw

 

Looks like Dm7(iV chord with an added 7th in Am) to Em7(v7 chord in Am), Fmaj7 (VI chord with an added 7th) to Gmaj chord(VII chord in Amin), Am chord (i chord in Amin) to B/G Chord, Gmaj to Em7 to Gmaj with added root and third for color. So to solve your ploblems i would suggest taking a music theory class or picking up a book. If you are really interested in figuring our progressions like these (specially the Madeon which has a progression that plays with the bass) you need some music theory no other way around. Circle of fifth alone is not going to cut it if you like music with melodic aspects like these.

 

I would draw the circle of fifths and inside the circle, trace out the flow of the chords with arrows, you could even number them if you wanted.
This helps diagram and "visualize" the progressions, start to finish in the way that tidus1990 laid out above.

 

I knew someone who was developing an app for this called Gramatika that was free. I couldn't find it in an applestore search, but it seemed like the best and easiest way to learn this. The extra features were $$. Maybe keep an eye out for it. I bet he just ran out of funding and didn't finish it yet.

 

ah yes. the circle of fifths . . .

 

madeons song is using something called figured bass where the harmonies are playing in the treble and melody in the bass

ask for those chrod progressions they look like 7th chords not diatonic chords

2 year theory student anymore questions feel free to ask me

ask for chord for example if you in

C Major

I= Cmajor ii= Dminor iii= Eminor IV= Fmajor V= Gmajor vi= Aminor vii Diminished = Bdiminished you can use any of these chords in any progression in the key of C Minor is a complete different way and alot more chrod progressions you can use for the song to lazy to type the progressions just search on google hope this helps

 

Try this its part of a project that I did years ago in flash, it may help you understand how things work:

http://www.std.karoo.net/

click on the link, and download the file, its self extracting, so extract it to your desktop, and run the flash file.
Hope this helps.
:dancing:

 

"in the "real" world." as u said, there's no circle of fifths (that stuff is just a representation of something)...

I know that sounds crazy, but that's not even real theory, that's a circle used mostly by DJs and lazy people...

The circle was design to represent the correlation between keys, but if you are telling you don't know why some pop producers doesn't start from the root key, then u gotta start by understanding what's the difference between a key, a scale and a mode.

If you really want to learn music theory, then this is the best advice u can get... Dig it, bleed it, so u can become a great producer...

 

The Question isn't that clear, you can't ''read'' something in ''circle of fifths'', the circle of fifths is just a way to visualize the relationship between the 12 tones of the chromatic scale, if you want to use the circle of fifths to make harmonic progressions, i suggest you study a little bit of contemporary harmony, in other words JAZZ, the only way to fit fifths that way is to structure ( ii - V7) , or using dominants and secondary dominants so you can fit all the chords you need to complete the circle in any way you want, but, thats kind of advanced harmony, and it will take a while to understand , and even longer to use in a proper ''musical'' manner, either way, it will sound kind of jazzy. The songs you posted have nothing to do with the circle of fifths, ''FLASHBACK'' is ( Dmin7, Emin7 , Fmaj7, Gmaj, Amin7, Gmaj/B, Gmaj/C , Emin, Gmaj) , this is just an ascending DIATONICAL progression, as it is Aminor, it theoreticly would look like this ( iv-7, v-7, bVImaj, bVII7, i-7, bVII/B, bVII/C, Vmin, bVII), what makes it interesting is the harmonic rhythm, the correct use of 7ths( Avoiding the bVII7), and a small ''line cliche'' feel after the Amin7. Any questions, let me know!