Circle of fifths exercise?

[Mushroo]

Thank you for the explanation and taking the time to type it. I understand the concept of 5ths and them being 7 frets apart but you lost me with this part:

So first you play FMaj, G7, CMaj
Then you play CMaj, D7, GMaj
And then you play ???

I’ll have to look at it again but I don’t understand the reasoning behind the above sequence or why there are seventh and major chords. How do you know which chord is supposed to be a 7th or a major?

You "know which chord is supposed to be a 7th or major" because your Fender book says so. The most important takeaway is, you don't need to understand the music theory behind a pattern, in order to practice that pattern "around the circle of fifths." All you need, is to understand what a fifth is. You can move any pattern up a fifth (7 frets) even if you don't have the music theory knowledge yet, to understand the intricacies of the music theory behind that pattern.

Or, as @Papageno has wisely and patiently explained, you can go around the circle in perfect 4ths (5 frets) instead of perfect 5ths. A perfect 4th is an inverted perfect 5th, and they add up to an octave. The Circle of 4ths and the Circle of 5ths are the same circle; you are just making the choice whether to go around it clockwise or counterclockwise. You end up in the same place, in the end.

So I am still waiting for your answer. I think you can do it, I have faith in you.

First you play FMaj, G7, CMaj
Then you play CMaj, D7, GMaj
And then you play ???

Also you never answered my other question: Can you think of any famous songs that use this progression? Learning songs is the best way to study music theory.

 

[Bassist59]

You "know which chord is supposed to be a 7th or major" because your Fender book says so. The most important takeaway is, you don't need to understand the music theory behind a pattern, in order to practice that pattern "around the circle of fifths."

So I am still waiting for your answer. I think you can do it, I have faith in you.

First you play FMaj, G7, CMaj
Then you play CMaj, D7, GMaj
And then you play ???

Also you never answered my other question: Can you think of any famous songs that use this progression? Learning songs is the best way to study music theory.

I appreciate the info! Now for my test.

Following the pattern IV, V7, I:

IV, V7, I
F, G7, C
C, D7, G
G, A7, D
D, E7, A
A, B7, E
etc...

I hope I passed, lol! I’ll have to spend some time with my instrument this afternoon after work to see what songs are using the progression...I already understand from my self-initiated study that the answer is 90% of every song!

I can definitely play those chords in sequence on my bass as I memorized a lot of arpeggios on bass over the years (out of my Mel Bay Bass book). It’ll take a little while to play the whole thing flawlessly, but that’s my goal.

(There’s an arpeggio progression buried in David Overthrow’s 30 Day Bass Workout book that sounds fantastic when played so I’m a big fan of chord progressions on bass - they just sound cool!!)

If I can play through at least part of the cycle and it sounds good, I’ll post a quick video for your critique.

Thanks again!!!

 

[Mushroo]

I appreciate the info! Now for my test.

Following the pattern IV, V7, I:

IV, V7, I
F, G7, C
C, D7, G
G, A7, D
D, E7, A
A, B7, E
etc...

I hope I passed, lol! I’ll have to spend some time with my instrument this afternoon after work to see what songs are using the progression...I already understand from my self-initiated study that the answer is 90% of every song!

I can definitely play those chords in sequence on my bass as I memorized a lot of arpeggios on bass over the years (out of my Mel Bay Bass book). It’ll take a little while to play the whole thing flawlessly, but that’s my goal.

(There’s an arpeggio progression buried in David Overthrow’s 30 Day Bass Workout book that sounds fantastic when played so I’m a big fan of chord progressions on bass - they just sound cool!!)

If I can play through at least part of the cycle and it sounds good, I’ll post a quick video for your critique.

Thanks again!!!

You totally got this, totally on the right track.
You're correct that the "which songs?" was kind of a trick question, because it's such a common progression.
Also, Dave Overthrow is a really good teacher in my opinion. You're in good hands.

 

[Papageno]

I appreciate the info! Now for my test.

Following the pattern IV, V7, I:

IV, V7, I
F, G7, C
C, D7, G
G, A7, D
D, E7, A
A, B7, E
etc...

I hope I passed, lol! I’ll have to spend some time with my instrument this afternoon after work to see what songs are using the progression...I already understand from my self-initiated study that the answer is 90% of every song!

I can definitely play those chords in sequence on my bass as I memorized a lot of arpeggios on bass over the years (out of my Mel Bay Bass book). It’ll take a little while to play the whole thing flawlessly, but that’s my goal.

(There’s an arpeggio progression buried in David Overthrow’s 30 Day Bass Workout book that sounds fantastic when played so I’m a big fan of chord progressions on bass - they just sound cool!!)

If I can play through at least part of the cycle and it sounds good, I’ll post a quick video for your critique.

Thanks again!!!

Yes you got it. Now you just to practice it , clockwise and anticlockwise, through all 12 keys and it will become 2nd nature.

As you already noticed, it is not that complicated, once you have taken some time to look closely at it.

 

[Minus]

My suggestion, and one I've used for years, go to www.toddjohnsonmusic.com store. Get his cycle exercise.

 

[Bassist59]

My suggestion, and one I've used for years, go to www.toddjohnsonmusic.com store. Get his cycle exercise.

Thanks for the suggestion, I might do that. I noticed on his site he had a Jazz (bassists only) workout weekend last March. It probably got canceled due to COVID, but that looks like it’d be a fun road trip / vacation. If he has another one, I might go!

 

[Bassist59]

You guys are good teachers because I really did not understand the cycle of 5ths (clockwise) and 4ths (counterclockwise) earlier this week. Now I think I get it. I understand how practicing scales and arpeggio sequences through the cycle can be useful.

I took today off and hurriedly worked on it going around clockwise (5ths). I thought I’d put my iPad on the music stand do a quick video. Yeah....it’s a little sloppy. I need to practice it at a slower tempo. I don’t think this’ll make the top 40, lol!

 

[Papageno]

I took today off and hurriedly worked on it going around clockwise (5ths). I thought I’d put my iPad on the music stand do a quick video. Yeah....it’s a little sloppy. I need to practice it at a slower tempo. I don’t think this’ll make the top 40, lol!

Good if the info was useful to you.

It seems to me you are playing too fast in your practice. One of the goals of this kind of exercise is to learn your fingerboard. I would suggest to play it as slowly as necessary to always know the notes (both their name and scale degree) you are playing at any time. If you are just shifting some shape around, you won't be learning much.

 

[Bassist59]

Good if the info was useful to you.

It seems to me you are playing too fast in your practice. One of the goals of this kind of exercise is to learn your fingerboard. I would suggest to play it as slowly as necessary to always know the notes (both their name and scale degree) you are playing at any time. If you are just shifting some shape around, you won't be learning much.

You are absolutely right. I carefully double-checked the root of each arpeggio when I first learned it and it was a good exercise in finding notes on the fingerboard. It became apparent that it’s a repeating pattern so I kicked up the tempo once I got the hang of it just to make the video shorter.

There are also minor arpeggio patterns in the book I’m studying that seem like they could be substituted for the major arpeggios. I’ve got more work to do on it.

I looked up David Overthrow’s arpeggio exercise from his 30 day bass workout book. I somewhat misremembered it. He has the following arpeggios to be played in this order: major7, dominant7, minor 7, and minor7 flat5 (half-diminished). Then you start the whole sequence again one fret higher and keep going up chromatically. Playing that on bass sounds so good, in my opinion! That belongs in the middle of a Rush song, lol! Instead of playing them and ascending chromatically, playing those chords around the circle of 5ths and 4ths would likely sound fantastic. I might try that soon.

You and Mushroo really helped. I’ll keep working on it. Thanks again, guys.