Musicians Practice the Circle of Fifths

In music, the most natural combination of two chords are two major chords based on notes a fifth apart. That means a chord build on C and a chord built on G. The G chord to the C chord is called a five-one progression. This is usually written in roman numerals as V-I. There are twelve possible starting chords for this progression, and musicians often practice them in a single exercise by starting on the C chord and going down a fifth to the F chord. They then go down another fifth to the B-flat chord. After going through twelve chords, they end up back at the C chord. This is called the circle of fifths, because you circle back to the starting point.

Those who play harmonic instruments are very familiar with this, but players of melodic instruments (which play only one note at a time) also need to develop their ear to hear the progression. The picture above is the circle of fifths written out for woodwind players to practice. This exercise is especially good for the clarinet, saxophone, or flute, and is in an easy range for all three instruments. I suggest that you click on the picture to enlarge it and then print it out to practice.

There are three good reasons to practice this exercise. Tthe first is to develop your ear to hear the chords and how they fit together. The second is to develop your fingers. Some chords, such as C, are very easy on woodwinds. Other chords, such as A-flat, are more difficult. By playing the whole set of easy and difficult chords in one exercise, you will naturally combine the easy work with the hard work and smooth out your playing. Woodwind players often do exercises or play songs with the notes next to each other, such as playing scales. However, chords are a bit more challenging as your fingers 'skip' notes. Some work on this will really increase your flexibility.

The final reason for this particular exercise is to work on smoothly covering the 'bridge'. The bridge is between A and B on the clarinet and between C and D on the saxophone and flute. It is the change from the low register to the high register. For a musician to go from one note to the next, usually only one or perhaps two fingers have to move. But to change over the bridge, almost every finger must move at the same time. With the clarinet and saxophone a register key is pressed with the thumb at the same time, but with the flute the lips and breath must make the proper register sound. This arrangement of the circle of fifths constantly jumps back and forth over the bridge. One big difference between an 'intermediate' player, who can easily read any individual note, and an 'advanced' player is the ease and smoothness of crossing the bridge.

I suggest practicing each measure of the exercise separately and slowly, repeating it until it is easy. After mastering each measure, they can be combined to play through all twelve chords. Once you are able to play the notes comfortably, try different patterns of articulation.