Circle Progression

In music, the circle progression is a chord progression named for the circle of fifths, along which it travels. It is "undoubtedly the most common and the strongest of all harmonic progressions" and consists of "adjacent roots in ascending fourth or descending fifth relationship", with movement by ascending perfect fourth being equivalent to movement by descending perfect fifth due to inversion.

The circle progression is commonly a circle through the diatonic chords, chords of the diatonic scale, by fifths, including one progression by diminished fifth (in C: between F and B♮) and one diminished chord (in C: Bo):

I-IV-viio-iii-vi-ii-V-I Circle progression in major: full

Shorter common progressions may be derived by selecting certain specific chords from the series completing a circle from the tonic through all seven diatonic chords, such as the primary triads book-ending the progression:

I- V-I = I-V-I Circle progression excerpt: I-V-I I-IV- V-I = I-IV-V-I Circle progression excerpt: I-IV-V-I

The ii-V-I turnaround lies at the end of the circle progression, as does the vi-ii-V-I progression of root movement by descending fifths, which establishes tonality and also strengthens the key through the contrast of minor and major.

The circle progression may also contain dominant seventh chords.

Read more about Circle Progression:  I−vi−ii−V

Famous quotes containing the words circle and/or progression:

    “Sense is a line, the mind is a circle. Sense is like a line which is the flux of a point running out from itself, but intellect like a circle that keeps within itself.”
    —Ralph J. Cudworth (1617–1688)

    “Measured by any standard known to science—by horse-power, calories, volts, mass in any shape,—the tension and vibration and volume and so-called progression of society were full a thousand times greater in 1900 than in 1800;Mthe force had doubled ten times over, and the speed, when measured by electrical standards as in telegraphy, approached infinity, and had annihilated both space and time. No law of material movement applied to it.”
    —Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)