In Jazz it appears that many musicians (most ?) will use the circle of 5ths as a circle of 4ths. I have no idea why this is the case because it’s very clear how to use the circle in both directions.
Clockwise from C to G to D to A etc … with a perfect 5th in between every interval. (P5)
Looking at the circle of 5ths counter-clockwise is (of course) going down on the keys from C to F to Bb to Eb etc… with, again, a perfect 5th in between.
In other words it’s always a circle of 5ths, in both directions.
Visual aid: visualise the clock cut open at 6 and laid flat on the table, comparing that to a piano keyboard it’s clear that the one direction uses ascending notes and the other descending ones.
I had a teacher who insisted I view it as the circle of fifths rather than fourths because the fifth wants to resolve to the one. A little dogmatic, but he had a point.
Tnx Wendy and Scott
To me its only about doing the same thing in my actions as what I pretend to know or what I see.
When I see a stair with 4 steps I’ll call it 4 steps, and my brain agrees. If I don’t go up but change direction and need to find the same product (so to speak) and it reads 5 steps down, then I want my brain to be happy with the correct information. Thus I take 5 steps down to reach the octave down of the same note that upstairs reached its value in a 4 steps move.
That’s all it is. And the circle of 5ths has a lot more to offer then just those steps.
Cheers
Edit: PS. Learning music gets the brain working to make new connections and networks of another kind that it was used to. When we concentrate and learn a new move while slowly playing it and always repeat it the same way, then the brain will literally make a groove in its mass.
Rings a bell ? when you think of the name of our maestro’s website?!