Cycle Wheel Guide

Cycle Wheel

Open the Cycle Wheel →

What it’s for

The Cycle Wheel turns harmony into geometry. Put a chord or scale on the circle of fourths and fifths and it becomes a shape you can see: a major triad is a triangle, a diminished 7th is a perfect square, a whole tone scale is a regular hexagon. The symmetry explains things that are hard to see on paper, such as why there are only three diminished 7th chords, or only two whole tone scales.

Progressions become journeys round the wheel, played as chords. Every chord is placed on the ring that matches it, major on the outside and minor on the inside, so you see what you hear: switch a minor key from natural to harmonic minor and you watch the V move out to the major ring as it becomes a dominant. Choose a concept, such as relative keys, tritone substitutions or the modes, and the wheel draws it across all twelve keys at once.

Secondary dominants, ii–V cells, backcycling and turnarounds each open a worked panel below the wheel, and on Pro the Turnarounds builder lets you substitute your way through hundreds of variations on one chain, play each one, and send it to Progression Lab.

Who it’s for

Everyone. If you’re starting out, it’s the clearest way to learn key signatures and how keys relate. If you’re further along, it’s a map of substitution and reharmonisation.

Free and Pro

Free Open to everyone, including visitors who aren’t signed in:

• The wheel, all ten concepts, every chord, scale and progression shape, and sound
• ↗ Universe, which opens the key you’re on in Harmonic Universe

Free With a free account:

• ↗ Sketchpad, which puts a picture of the wheel on your Sketchpad page
• Save and Load: up to three saved setups

Pro Pro:

• As many saved setups as you like
• The Turnarounds Builder and Named Turnarounds
• Sending a turnaround to Progression Lab

Compare Free and Pro

Getting around

The wheel sits in the middle. Musical Concepts are on the left; Chords, Scales and Prog. shapes on the right. Above the wheel is the control row, and the line under it shows your root and what’s selected. On a phone, the two side panels open from the ≡ Concepts and Shapes ≡ buttons under the title.

Above the app, the pathways strip offers five guided routes: Read the wheel, Chords and scales are shapes, Progressions as geometry, Turnarounds (Pro) and Take it with you.

The wheel

The outer ring holds the major keys and the inner ring their relative minors. Click an outer key to make a major key the root, or an inner key for a minor root; everything you’ve chosen redraws from there.

With a minor root, a Minor scale switch appears under the control row: Natural, Harmonic or Melodic. Progressions are built from the scale you choose, so ii–V–i in E comes out as F♯m7♭5 · Bm7 · Em7 in natural minor, F♯m7♭5 · B7 · Em(maj7) in harmonic, and F♯m7 · B7 · Em(maj7) in melodic. Harmonic and melodic minor give the i chord as m(maj7), as the scale does; in practice it’s often played as m7.

The control row

• ← Sharps / Flats → — turns the wheel round the other way, switching between the Circle of 4ths and Circle of 5ths.
• ▶ Play — plays the chord, scale or progression you’ve chosen, from your root. Progressions play as chords. Press again to stop.
• ↗ Sketchpad — puts a picture of the wheel, as it stands, on your Sketchpad page. Needs an account, free or Pro.
• ↗ Universe — opens the key you’re on, and the concept you’ve chosen, in Harmonic Universe.
• ✕ Clear — clears every selection.
• Save and Load — keep this setup in your library and open it again.

Musical Concepts

Concept	What the wheel shows
Key Signatures	The sharps or flats beside every key.
Relative Keys	Each major key joined to its relative minor.
Parallel Keys	Each major joined to the minor on the same root.
Enharmonics	The keys spelled two ways: the bridges between sharp and flat keys.
Dominant Gravity	The pull of every dominant towards its I, all round the wheel.
Secondary Dominants	Opens a panel below the wheel: the V7 of every diatonic chord in the key.
Dominant Minors	Opens a panel below the wheel in three parts: The ii–V cell, ii–Vs everywhere and Backcycling.
Tritone Subs	Lines joining each dominant to its tritone substitute, with a panel below the wheel.
Turnarounds	Opens the Turnarounds panel (below).
Modes	The seven modes of the key, spread across seven neighbouring keys.

Concepts marked with a small arrow open below the wheel rather than on it. ↗ Explore in Harmonic Universe, at the top of that panel, opens the same concept full size.

Shapes

• Chords — Major Triad, Minor Triad, Augmented Triad, Diminished 7th, Dominant 7th, Major 7th, Minor 7th.
• Scales — Major Scale, Natural Minor, Major Pentatonic, Whole Tone Scale, Diminished Scale.
• Prog. — ii–V–I, I–IV–V, I–VI–II–V, I–VI–IV–V, III–VI–II–V–I, Alternate Cycle (the tritone-sub reharmonisation of I–VI–II–V), Full Cycle (dominant 7ths round all twelve keys).

Each is drawn on the wheel from your root and named for its shape, with a line on what that shape means. Chords and scales light the notes they contain. Progressions light each chord on its own ring and draw the path between them; on a minor root their names change to the minor scale’s numerals, such as iiø–v–i.

Turnarounds

Choose Turnarounds in Musical Concepts and the panel opens below the wheel with three tabs:

• The Parent — the plain I–VI–II–V–I that every turnaround is built on, in major and minor.
• Builder (Pro) — four slots, each with five or six substitutions. Choose Major or Minor, tap an option to swap it in, and ▶ Play to hear your turnaround; each chord lights as it sounds. Randomise tries something new, Reset goes back to the parent, and → Send to Progression Lab takes it on with voice-led diagrams.
• Named Turnarounds (Pro) — well-known turnarounds, such as the tritone sub of V and the bebop chromatic descent, loaded into the Builder so you can hear how each one changes the parent chain.

Works with

• Harmonic Universe — ↗ Universe and ↗ Explore in Harmonic Universe open the key and concept you’re on, and Harmonic Universe’s Selection tray can send a key and its chords back here.
• Sketchpad — receives a picture of the wheel.
• Progression Lab (Pro) — receives a turnaround from the Builder.
• My Library — your saved setups.
• Theory Glossary — links to the Cycle Wheel.

Related concepts

• Circle of fifths
• Relative keys
• Key signature
• Enharmonic
• Secondary dominant
• Tritone substitution
• ii–V–I
• Turnaround
• Harmonic minor
• Melodic minor
• Symmetrical harmony
• Practical modes

Try it

1. Choose Chords → Diminished 7th and play it. Now click C, then E♭, then F♯ on the outer ring: the square doesn’t change. That’s why there are only three.
2. Choose Prog. → ii–V–I from C and press ▶ Play. The ii is minor, so it lights on the inner ring.
3. Click Em on the inner ring, then switch the Minor scale between Natural and Harmonic. Watch the V move to the outer ring, and listen to it change.
4. Choose Turnarounds and play The Parent. On Pro, open the Builder, change one slot at a time and press ▶ Play after each.