Rllink
Well-known member
When I first started playing the ukulele I was pretty quiet about it. I have a lot of very musical family and friends and frankly, they were a bit intimidating to someone with no musical background at all. So I quietly played my ukulele with little or no advertisement of it. But there came a point where keeping it under wraps was not possible anymore, and it came out that I had been secretly posing as a musician. When one of my more musically absorbed in-laws found out, she kindly embraced me as a peer and we started talking music talk. One of the first things she advised me was that I absolutely needed to learn the I-IV-V in numerous, if not all, keys. With that progression of chords I could play anything, according to her. I could jam with the best of them. Some time later, she introduced me to the circle of fifths, telling me that with the circle of fifths I could play anything. I could jam with the best of them. So I printed it out and taped it to the back of my ukulele for quick reference.
The discovery of the circle of fifths was like a warm spring day, after the winter of the I-IV-V. I-IV-V had not been treating me well. Because of one thing, that pesky third minor. Here I am, armed with my I-IV-V, playing the key of C, and there’s an Em, just as proud as could be, standing there with the G and the F. Then there were A minors, which my all knowing sister-in-law informed me were actually a C, and therefore quite in line with the formula. And all of a sudden, I-IV and V were not so transparent. There were a number of hidden chords there as well that I wasn’t aware of. By then I had decided that I was going to concentrate on songs in the key of C, because frankly, I-IV-V was getting very complicated, and trying to deal with more than one key was putting me in overload. And all those A minors, D minors, E minors, E7s, A7s were constantly throwing me off. So when I printed out the circle of fifths and taped it to the back of my ukulele for quick reference, I was quite satisfied to leave the I-IV-V behind and chalk it up to experience. Ahh, but then came the realization that possibly the circle of fifths was no more than a I-IV-V disguised in a circle. But I kept the faith, as my chart taped to the back of my ukulele showed me that an A minor was in fact a C. It was right there in that inner circle, all I had to do was stop whatever I was playing and look. A little cumbersome when I was sitting in on a jam session, but I was sure that I would get better at it. But then, it all came crashing down.
I was starting to wonder about the circle of fifths when a friend wanted me to learn Hotel California. I had met him earlier in the summer playing at the farmer’s market, and he had invited me to join him. So with my circle of fifths taped to the back of my ukulele I joined my new friend each Saturday with the knowledge that I could figure it out, as long as I had my circle of fifths. The only problem was that I didn’t have a lot of time to consult my little circle in the middle of the songs, so I satisfied myself by muting and strumming whenever I got lost, happy to just keep the rhythm going. But then one day he suggested that I learn Hotel California, and we would play it, key of C for my benefit. On a piece of scrap paper, he wrote, Am,E7,G,D,F,C,Dm,E7. I have to say, that to this day, I’m still not sure that is the key of C, and to this day I can not make that chord progression fit into the circle. Frankly, this guy is amazing. He just seems to know how to play songs with no reference material at all. I am still trying to figure out just what formula he is using. I ask him, what formula do you use, and he just laughs, keeping it his secret.
So let me end this manifesto. I bring all this up, because so often I hear and see people who apparently have much more knowledge of music than I do, suggesting to people new to music and new to playing the ukulele, that the circle of fifths is the holy grail. Learn it and you can play any song. Where am I going wrong? After four years I just don’t see it, and I hesitate to pass it on to newbies. Anyone else saying, that circle of fifths just isn't working for me?
The discovery of the circle of fifths was like a warm spring day, after the winter of the I-IV-V. I-IV-V had not been treating me well. Because of one thing, that pesky third minor. Here I am, armed with my I-IV-V, playing the key of C, and there’s an Em, just as proud as could be, standing there with the G and the F. Then there were A minors, which my all knowing sister-in-law informed me were actually a C, and therefore quite in line with the formula. And all of a sudden, I-IV and V were not so transparent. There were a number of hidden chords there as well that I wasn’t aware of. By then I had decided that I was going to concentrate on songs in the key of C, because frankly, I-IV-V was getting very complicated, and trying to deal with more than one key was putting me in overload. And all those A minors, D minors, E minors, E7s, A7s were constantly throwing me off. So when I printed out the circle of fifths and taped it to the back of my ukulele for quick reference, I was quite satisfied to leave the I-IV-V behind and chalk it up to experience. Ahh, but then came the realization that possibly the circle of fifths was no more than a I-IV-V disguised in a circle. But I kept the faith, as my chart taped to the back of my ukulele showed me that an A minor was in fact a C. It was right there in that inner circle, all I had to do was stop whatever I was playing and look. A little cumbersome when I was sitting in on a jam session, but I was sure that I would get better at it. But then, it all came crashing down.
I was starting to wonder about the circle of fifths when a friend wanted me to learn Hotel California. I had met him earlier in the summer playing at the farmer’s market, and he had invited me to join him. So with my circle of fifths taped to the back of my ukulele I joined my new friend each Saturday with the knowledge that I could figure it out, as long as I had my circle of fifths. The only problem was that I didn’t have a lot of time to consult my little circle in the middle of the songs, so I satisfied myself by muting and strumming whenever I got lost, happy to just keep the rhythm going. But then one day he suggested that I learn Hotel California, and we would play it, key of C for my benefit. On a piece of scrap paper, he wrote, Am,E7,G,D,F,C,Dm,E7. I have to say, that to this day, I’m still not sure that is the key of C, and to this day I can not make that chord progression fit into the circle. Frankly, this guy is amazing. He just seems to know how to play songs with no reference material at all. I am still trying to figure out just what formula he is using. I ask him, what formula do you use, and he just laughs, keeping it his secret.
So let me end this manifesto. I bring all this up, because so often I hear and see people who apparently have much more knowledge of music than I do, suggesting to people new to music and new to playing the ukulele, that the circle of fifths is the holy grail. Learn it and you can play any song. Where am I going wrong? After four years I just don’t see it, and I hesitate to pass it on to newbies. Anyone else saying, that circle of fifths just isn't working for me?
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