The Guitarist’s Guide to the Circle of Fifths
The complete visual roadmap to keys, chords, scales, and fretboard mastery
Unlock the single most powerful “cheat code” in music theory
If you’ve ever wished music theory made more sense — or that you could recall scales, build chords, or understand keys instantly — this guide hands you the missing piece.
The Circle of Fifths isn’t just a diagram. For guitarists, it’s the periodic table of music — revealing the relationships between notes, chords, key signatures, modes, intervals, and even your favourite chord progressions.
This book shows you exactly how to use it.
Whether you’re finally trying to understand music theory, or you want to take your fretboard knowledge from good to “wow, I actually get this”… this is the simplest, clearest, guitar-friendly explanation you’ll find.
What you’ll learn
This is not a textbook-style treatment. It’s a guitarist’s playbook — visual, logical, and instantly applicable.
12 Circle Facts that unlock the entire fretboard
You’ll learn:
1. Why The Circle exists and how perfect 5ths and 4ths run the entire musical universe
Forget vague explanations. You’ll see why everything connects.
2. Major & minor scales simplified
Never question which notes are sharp or flat again. The Circle tells you in seconds.
3. Key signatures instantly decoded
Just glance at The Circle and know the sharps/flats of any key.
4. Enharmonic notes finally explained clearly
B vs C♭ … F♯ vs G♭ … it all makes sense when you see the overlap.
5. How to use The Circle to navigate the fretboard
Practical patterns, shapes, and exercises that build real fluency.
6. Relative minors - the inner layer
A visual way to understand how major and minor keys connect.
7. The primary chords in every key (I–IV–V)
Songwriting, blues, and jam-session confidence skyrocket.
8. Full chord families for all keys
All diatonic chords — major, minor, diminished — clearly mapped.
9. The Circle for your guitar practice
Note-finding drills, sequence training, scale work, patterns — all guided by the Circle.
10. Pentatonic scales inside The Circle
Visualise the major and minor pentatonic relationships instantly.
11. Modes without confusion
The “brightest to darkest” concept + mode construction made simple.
12. Advanced harmony through The Circle
Intervals, tritone substitution, quartal harmony, sus shapes, seventh chords — crystal clear.
Why guitarists love this guide
This guide removes the fog of theory:
- No unnecessary academic jargon.
- No piano-only explanations.
- No memorising endless formulas.
- Everything shown through fretboard logic and clear visual diagrams.
You’re not learning theory “because you should.”
You’re learning it because it makes you a better musician — instantly.
Perfect for:
✔ Self-taught players
✔ Intermediate guitarists wanting to level up
✔ Anyone who wants to understand keys, chords, and songs properly
✔ Players who want to improvise more musically
✔ Songwriters who want better chord choices
✔ Guitarists who like visual explanations
✔ Anyone stuck memorising shapes without understanding the why
About the author
Ry Naylor is a guitarist and educator known for clear, visual teaching that makes complex ideas simple. His courses and books have helped thousands of players improve their fretboard fluency, confidence, and musical understanding.
If you enjoy guitar content that actually makes sense, you’ll love this book.
What’s inside the book
- 182 beautifully presented pages
- Dozens of full-colour diagrams
- Step-by-step explanations
- Exact fretboard shapes for every concept
- Exercises to build real-world skill
- “Test Your Knowledge” quizzes (with answers)
- Appendices with blank Circle templates, chord lists, and interval maps
This is the most complete, guitarist-focused Circle of Fifths guide available anywhere!
You’ll finish with:
✔ Clear understanding of keys
✔ Instant recall of scale notes
✔ Confidence building chords in any key
✔ The ability to analyse songs properly
✔ Better improvisation and fretboard vision
✔ A rock-solid foundation for advanced theory
✔ A practical framework for your daily practice
This is not theory for theory’s sake.
It’s theory for real musicians who want results.
What students are saying
"This is an outstanding training/reference book on Co5ths! It’s extremely well-written and beautifully illustrated, with the contents presented in a logical and easy-to-understand format.
Ry is an exceptional guitarist and a terrific teacher as well. You’ll find a TON of value from buying this book which, by the way, is also very reasonably priced!
Highly, highly recommended resource for any guitarist!"
Adam Price, USA
"In the last three years, I have truly tried every instructor out there. I bookmarked all the sites, watched all the videos, and have suffered through dozens of poorly taught explanations on everything from intervals to modes.
Ry Naylor's instructional courses are the easy-to-digest and motivating content I was looking for, and 'The Guitarist's Guide to the Circle of Fifths' has been an absolute game-changer.
The theory is simple to understand, the visuals are clear and engaging, and guess what? It makes you want to play! The Circle of Fifths guide unlocks WAY more playing concepts than I thought it would.
Highly recommended for all guitarists, regardless of experience."
Adam Garel-Frantzen, USA
"Ry has successfully dissected the circle of fifths for the guitarist. He peels the layers of the circle like an onion and shows the relationship between note, chord, and key. The important thing to note here, is that Ry gives you practical applications to use the circle of fifths on your continuing guitar journey.
This is detailed and well illustrated with those characteristic excellent diagrams. My advice is to buy it and learn to unlock the DNA structures of guitar music."
Gordon Lynch, UK
"I thought I was pretty familiar with the Circle of Fifths (and couldn't imagine what you could have to say about it for 183 pages!), but I'm finding new insights in each section of the book, especially the more advanced concepts in Part 2.
As always, the diagrams are beautiful and helpful, and I really appreciate the "Test Your Knowledge" sections. Highly recommended."
Leisha Cook, USA
"I love Ry Naylor's books as they are so well constructed and the infographics are superb in conveying musical information in an easy-to-understand way.
The 'Guitarist's Guide to The Circle of Fifths' is another fabulous example of how to explain musical concepts in an engaging and exciting way. I have started the book and enjoying what I have read so far and I can't wait to get stuck into the meat of it and get my head around how useful the Circle of Fifths can be.
All Ry's books are excellent, and his new book is no exception I am really happy to add it to my collection of his books."
Michelle Deeprose-Dent, UK
"I have bought many books on The Circle of Fifths, but this is the first time it has been explained in a way that I could understand, I cannot recommend this too highly."
Graham Ellis, USA
"The Guitarists Guide To The Circle Of Fifths is absolutely awesome. The detailed theoretical information, the superb graphics, and the print layout, in general, is brilliant.
Ry explains even the smallest fact in complete, concise, yet understandable detail. I consider this recent release to be of tremendous value, both financially and practically, to any guitar/music student, and would definitely recommend its purchase."
Phil James, South Wales, UK
"It’s all here, perfectly clear laid out insight into chords, scales, intervals, chord progressions, even a comprehensive way to study modes. All very well structured and built up from the basics of music theory using the circle of fifths.
It’s the kind of course I wish I had when I started playing guitar, you don’t really need anything else to make music. But I’m also very glad I picked it up now as it is an invaluable reference and Ry has a very clear way of structuring and presenting all the material which makes it all much easier to digest.
Also, offering examples and ways to explore and learn the vast amount of information found in the circle. I already knew a lot of it, but I was still astounded by the sheer amount of useful information.
This one is going up on my wall for sure!"
Gert De Groof, Belgium
Get your copy today
The Guitarist’s Guide to the Circle of Fifths
Your roadmap to the entire musical landscape — built for guitarists, explained clearly, and designed to save you years of confusion.
Before you buy...
- Please note that this product is sold as a digital download (PDF).
- You will be able to download it instantly and print it at home after purchasing it.
- You will receive access to the PDF as soon as you check out.
- As the product is delivered upon confirmation of purchase, I am unable to offer any refund