Frequently Asked Questions

The Circle of Fifths is a basic building block for harmonic movement.

All musical notes are based on a pitch we can hear. When a note moves from one pitch to another, we can hear a difference in that movement. When such movement occurs from one pitch to another, the span between those notes has an interval value. A long time ago, someone with a great ear for music decided that an interval movement (value) of a "perfect fifth" is the most solid, stable, and pleasing to the ear. That theory still holds true today and music is loaded with such fifths progressions.

The Circle of Fifths breaks down these fifths progressions into major and minor key. That solid and stable sound often indicates a resolution or ending point of a piece of music. It is the basis of the V-I progression and the vi-ii-V-I progression of Jazz.

A real quick overview of music theory:

Music is created by movement through various sound pitches over a given time-span. The smallest interval between pitches in western music is the semitone or half-step, (each semitone can be viewed as one black or one white key on the piano, or one fret on a guitar; i.e. the chromatic scale is made of 12 consecutive semitones).

The spanning of semitones forms larger musical intervals on which keys, chords, scales and modes and are built.

How these intervals are ordered is what creates the unique flavor of any given key, chord, scale and mode. This specific ordering of intervals forms the unique scale degrees of any chosen key or mode. Built on the scale degrees of the key are the chords that form its harmony.

The Circle of Fifths is the fundamental harmonic building block of western music. In its simplest form, harmonic movement is created by moving between the scale degrees of a given key. This harmonic movement creates tension which draws towards a tension-releasing resolution, (a musical cadence).

The strongest musical progressions (tension to resolution) are intervals moving down a perfect fifth (down 7 semitones), or up a perfect fourth (up 5 semitones). Chord progressions with roots that follow this pattern are cycling through the Circle of Fifths.

PowerWheel™ products help in understanding music in this way:

Any key, chord, scale or mode is built from a specific pattern of musical intervals. The PowerWheel™ line of products lay out these patterns in a simple and uniquely visual way that allows a user to easily reference those patterns against any key or tonic starting note. Once a chosen key is dialed in, every point of a pattern is identified by a specific note.

1. Key patterns
2. Chord patterns
3. Scale patterns
4. Mode patterns (PowerWheel™ Pro)
5. Circle of Fifths Patterns (PowerWheel™ Standard and Pro)

Dial in any key and that key's entire harmonic structure is at your fingertips.

The Powerwheel’s™ design maps the musical spectrum in this way and puts it in front of you on a single interactive page that can easily fit into your notebook or gig bag.

Powerwheel™ products are durable and laminated to last.

Yes, PowerWheel™ products can help when playing an instrument.

Understanding the elements that fall within key structures and the circle of fifths helps you improvise and/or remember chord and scale progressions.

You'll see a lot of music is based on structural elements that recur over and over again throughout pieces of music. You'll start seeing and understanding how these patterns work by using the PowerWheel™ and its unique visual design.

The PowerWheel™ reinforces understanding of musical structure and aids in memorization for performance.

We highly recommend you study music theory from a book or teacher, and there are plenty of great ones to choose from.

Many serious music theory books are upwards of 200-300 pages and it becomes a lot of information to process, especially if you're new to the language of music. Our PowerWheel™ products are specifically designed to help reinforce the concepts you are learning in a uniquely visual way that is based on the Scale Degrees of Keys and the Circle of Fifths (Standard and Pro versions). Rather than spreading out the information among hundreds of pages, the PowerWheel™ condenses a high degree of musical information making it readily available to you on a single interactive page. At the turn of a wheel you can reference any key's entire harmonic structure. Our conclusion is you will learn faster and retain a higher level of comprehension by reinforcing what you learn through use of the PowerWheel™.

A very big yes on music analysis!

Most music is "key based" and quite often contains bridges and points of modulation that move the piece to another key. The PowerWheel™ line of products are all designed to reference music structure by key. So once a chosen key is dialed in, all the diatonic harmony of that key (and its relative major or minor) can be instantly referenced.

Quickly and easily you'll be able to recognize if the musical element you're analyzing is within the key and then identify what its function may be.

When any key is set, that chosen key's relative major or minor key is also instantly set, so immediately you'll be able to analyze such "modally borrowed" elements as well.

You'll also be able to quickly identify musical elements not within the chosen key (chromatic elements) or elements moving towards another key. If the musical piece does modulate to another key, simply dial in the new key and proceed with your analysis.

The PowerWheel™ references the diatonic notes (scale) of a key, the notes that make up any diatonic chord of the key, the chord's scale degree within the key, the quality of each chord and the circle of fifths progression (Standard and Pro versions) of the key.

Because of its simplicity, clarity and ease of use, we believe you'll be using the PowerWheel™ a lot as a musical analysis tool.