Here are my favorite tips and tricks to practice your Cycle of Fifths.
View the full lesson at The Cycle Of 5ths In Practice | JustinGuitar
I think understanding how a guitar is tuned and why it is tuned that way a great way to memorizing the fretboard. For example knowing that every note (think of it in terms of key) on the 5th string has it’s 5 chord on the 6th string and it’s 4 chord on the 3 sting really helped me a lot. Just a suggestion. For example 3rd fret G,C,F Thanks for all the lessons really enjoying them.
2 Likes
This lesson helped give me a better understanding of the Hey Joe chord progression. I always thought it seemed like a cycle of fifths progression but the E to C transition was confusing me. Now that you explained that the first five notes are the notes of the Major Pentatonic scale, it makes more sense. I’m guessing the C Major Pentatonic scale would be a good choice to use for soloing over the song. Thanks.
1 Like
Always wondered where your professor’s Fat Cats Get Drunk At East Brighton came from, Justin! Now I get it! 
I understood the point of that very cool pattern but wondered how he figured out the order of the notes.
1 Like
I have now started to post instalments in a new topic on the theory and practical uses of the Circle of Fifths, beginning here: The Circle of Fifths Part 1 - where does it come from?
I hope people find it useful.
Cheers 
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide, Approved Teacher & Moderator
2 Likes
Not only it gives you how many sharps key has, but also which are those sharps. Just omit one next to the key you want to know sharps of. C has no sharps, G has F# ( one before C, right), D has two sharps - F# and C# etc…
2 Likes
Hi Richard, and thanks! New to community, not new to Justinguitar in general. Still wrapping my head around circle, I still haven’t got used to it, actually. Will check out your post about it up there.
1 Like
Does Justin show/explain a Cycle of 5ths with the relative minor keys on an interior circle? In that (enhanced) graphic, you can clearly see, for example, The minor chords Dm, Am and Em sitting nicely under F, C and G. This would give the same result as continuing around the circle to D, A and E and making them minor.
1 Like
@jonesdch It is all coverd, in extensive detail, in my Circle of Fifths series Dana: The Circle of Fifths Part 1 - where does it come from?
The minor chords is in part 5. I told you it was extensive!
I hope that helps.
Cheers
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide, Approved Teacher & Moderator
1 Like
I cant be the only one who figured out that by stopping at the 4th in the key of C, the song “Lean On Me” pours out of the guitar?? hahahah… Good stuff. Loving this course. Great job Justin and team!
1 Like
So the other cool thing I saw that helps me remember the circle is that starting at c, every other point around the circle is one tone. Starting at g also, one tone at every other mark. So all I have to remember is c and g and the circle writes itself. This stuff is fascinating!
I learned recently that if you follow the strings from top to bottom, you follow the cycle of 4ths, assuming you skip a fret between strings 2 and 3, for example, for the 7th fret you have the following:
7 8
1 |-|C|
2 |-|G|
3 |D|-|
4 |A|-|
5 |E|-|
6 |B|-|
You get the cycle of 5ths going from string 1 to 6 (again, moving a fret at the 2/3 strings
1 Like
Can you clarify this Steven?
Moving from C to G is an interval of a 5th, not one tone.
Yes. The guitar is tuned in 4ths.
If you start at fret 5 …
Low E string fret 5 → A = open A string
A string fret 5 → D = open D string
D string fret 5 → G = open G string
G string fret 5 = C yikes, fret 1, not the open string, that pesky B string which breaks the pattern
B string fret 5 → E = the open high E string
C skip a note(G) is D, C to D is a tone. D skip a note(A) is E
1 Like