The Circle of What?
You may have heard of this before in your musical journeys, but what exactly does it mean and how can you apply it to YOUR music? According to Dummies.com – “In the sixth century B.C., the Greek scholar and philosopher Pythagoras decided to try to make things easier for everyone by standardizing, or at least dissecting, musical tuning. He had already discovered pitch frequencies in musical instruments by vibrating different lengths of string, and he had defined what exactly an octave was, so he figured this was the next logical step and created something that is now called the Pythagorean Circle, which eventually led to the more common Circle of Fifths.
Now, let’s start back up at C again and move “5” steps to the left. This is the flat(b) side of the circle. Pretty much everything explained just a moment ago is opposite for flats. Definition of a flat: The first key to the left of a note (white OR black). So the same process happens for this side as well. 3. On the inside of the circle we have what is called the “Relative Minor” keys. This simply means the Major and the Minor keys are “related” by the same key signature. So, for example if you are playing in the key of C, the relative minor is a minor which means there is no sharps or flats in either key. More explanation can be found in private lessons!! Applying scales in practice and theory excercises can GREATLY increase the musical knowledge of an aspiring musician and can help in all aspects of playing and writing. Have questions??
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