How to Play the Circle Fifths on a Tuba

Video Transcript

"Hi everyone. Kevin Smith back here from Tuba Love doing a typical practice session. I'm going to work on what I call the "Circle of Fifths" and these are nice things to learn in learning how to interpret keys a lot easier. Your going to see things in reading music where this has flats or this has sharps. What key is it? There's a very systematic way and it's great once you figure it out. If I've already said, the key of C in western music doesn't have any sharps or flats. This is a C Major. Okay, when I say Circle of Fifths, I'm going to keep going up a fifth. Each time I go up a fifth, I?m adding one sharp to this key. Fifth meaning just the fifth note from that C. C,D,E,F,"G" is the fifth on C. Interestingly enough, the sharp you use is the semi-tone to that note which in this case, the F sharp to the G. C has no sharps or flats, G has one sharp; the F leading into it. If I go a fifth in G; G,A,B,C,"D" I'm at a fifth there so D has two sharps and as I said, when you add a sharp, it's the leading tone on that note we just found so in the case of D it's a C Sharp. We can keep doing this forever. We go up to D,E,F,G,A. They key of A has three sharps. We've already got C Sharp and F Sharp from the other two; now we're just using a leading tone to the A which is a G Sharp. Three sharps now, I go up to another one; A,B,C,D,"E". I've already got three sharps so I'm adding a fourth sharp. What's the leading tone to D? It would be an E Sharp. So I've still got the three sharps plus I'm adding a fourth one. I don't even think I have time to go through all the different scales, but with the "Circle of Fifths", just keep going up a fifth from where you started. Each time you do it for major scales, your going to add one sharp to that key. So C, keep going, C,G, wherever I was, D,A,E etc, etc. If it sounds real complicated now, when you see it on paper, it really is quite an easy and systematic way to learn your major and sharp keys."