Listen to the whole journey
- Cm
- Ab
- Fm
- G7
- Cm
How the tension moves
Phase 1 • Diatonic Tonic
The Home (Tonic — Degree i)
CmTonal rest function (Riemann, 1893): Acts as the acoustic gravitational center and tonal anchor. All notes of the diatonic scale find stability in this chord. Playing Cm establishes the consonant foundation of the key — generating neither tension nor urgency of movement.
Listen
- Cm
Phase 2 • Subdominant and Relative
The Landscape (Relative Major and Subdominant — Degrees VI and iv)
AbDiatonic voice leading (Schoenberg, 1911): Moving to Ab brings the first bright colour into the minor key. Ab is the major chord on the sixth degree and shares two notes with Cm, so the change stays smooth before the progression heads toward the dominant.
Listen
- Cm
- Ab
Phase 3 • Dominant with Tritone
The Adventure (Dominant — Degree V7)
Fm → G7Instability and harmonic pull (Rameau, 1722): The dominant chord G7 harbors the leading tone and the diatonic tritone interval. This internal dissonance produces the peak acoustic tension of the progression, and the ear waits for the return home.
Listen
- Fm
- G7
Phase 4 • Authentic Cadence
The Return (Cadential Resolution)
CmRelease and resolution of tension: The descending fifth bass movement (G7 to Cm) instantly dissolves all accumulated harmonic tension. The tritone resolves contrary-motion into the third and root of Cm, completing the cycle with total acoustic balance.
Listen
- G7
- Cm
Check it with your ear
Two short questions to solidify what you've just read. There's no grade or record, so if you get it wrong, you can listen again and try again.
Which chord creates the tension that asks to return to Cm?
Listen to both endings. Which one sounds finished?
Try it on your guitar
Play and stay there for four beats without moving. Then play . That relief you feel is the resolution this lesson talks about. Repeat it three times and then try the whole circle at 85 BPM.
Inside the key of C minor
The seven notes of C minor are C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab and Bb. It has three flats, Eb, Ab and Bb.
Eb major uses the same seven notes, which makes it the relative major. Compared with F minor, only one note changes, D becomes Db. Compared with G minor, only one note changes, Ab becomes A.
In G7, the third B and the seventh F sit six semitones apart, a tritone. In the guitar shape of G7, B sounds on string 5, fret 2 and open string 2 and F on string 1, fret 1.
With a capo it also works with other shapes. You can play it with the Am shape and the capo at fret 3.
Theoretical Foundations
Hear and practise this circle in context
The bass line and the tonal centre
Play Cm alone, then play the four chords in order: Cm – Ab – Fm – G7.
Tonic, preparation and dominant
Apply that map to Cm – Ab – Fm – G7 rather than assuming that the same chord must play the same role in every song. Name the starting chord Cm aloud; then pause after Ab and ask which note you still hear as home. Repeat after Fm and after G7.
When the dominant contains a tritone
In this circle, G7 is a dominant seventh chord: the “7” in its symbol marks the added seventh. Its third and seventh form a tritone, an interval of three whole tones that creates tension toward Cm. Play G7 → Cm below and follow those two inner voices: the third rises by a semitone toward the tonic, while the seventh descends by step to a note in the tonic chord.
Listen
- G7
- Cm
Common tones and economical fingering
Move from Cm to Ab slowly and listen for a pitch that can remain still; if there is none, listen for voices that move by the smallest intervals. Repeat with Ab to Fm, Fm to G7, and the return to Cm.
A measured practice routine
First play Cm – Ab – Fm – G7 with one downstroke at the beginning of each measure.
Transpose without changing the functions
Compare the two versions by singing the first note of Cm and then the first note of its counterpart in the new key.