How to Harmonize the Circle-of-Fifths Progression with 7th Chords

We have studied the circle-of-fifths progression in this music theory lesson. But now that we’ve covered voice leading seventh chords, and complete and incomplete chords, we’re ready to take a more detailed look at the circle-of-fifths progression using seventh chords.

Here’s the progression in C major and C minor:

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A Magical Pattern

The circle-of-fifths progression uses every diatonic seventh chord except for I7. The voice leading follows a distinct and simple pattern. Let’s take a look at one voice at a time to see how it works.

First the bass: Since the progression is a sequence of descending fifths, the bass should alternate between descending fifths and ascending fourths. The result is that every other tone moves down by step as indicated by the arrows. Play this bass line on a keyboard in a few different keys, and you’ll discover how nicely it fits under the hand:

Now let’s look at one of the upper voices:

In the example above, the upper voice starts with the root of the tonic chord, stays as a common tone, becoming the fifth of the IV7. Then, the fifth moves down by step and becomes the root of the vii7 chord. This pattern repeats until the progression ends.

Next, we’ll look at the voice that starts with the third of the tonic chord:

This pattern is exactly like the root-fifth common-tone pattern, only now it is the third-seventh. The third of the tonic chord stays as a common tone, becoming the seventh of the IV7 chord; the seventh moves down by step to become the third of the vii7 chord. The only reason the pattern breaks on the last chord is so the progression will end on a triad and not a seventh chord. If this were jazz, the last chord could be a I7, so the pattern would continue to the end of the progression.

We have one more voice to go:

This is the same pattern as before, only offset by one chord, that is, this voice has the third on the IV7 chord. The pattern doesn’t begin on the first chord because it is a triad, not a seventh chord.

Now we’ll put all of the voices together:

After the first tonic triad, the pattern of the upper voices is:

Two voices down by step (green arrows)
One voice stays as a common tone. (red arrow)

This pattern is followed by:

Two voices stay as common tones (red arrows)
One voice moves down by step (green arrow)

You can also think of the pattern this way: two voices down by step, one voice down by step, which repeats until the end of the progression.

Since all of the upper voices are either common tones or move down by step, the resulting progression has a smooth, effortless quality.

More Incomplete Chords

There is one more thing to observe about the circle-of-fifths progression with seventh chords: every other chord (vii7, vi7, and V7) is an incomplete chord (missing the fifth). See this music theory lesson for the concept of complete and incomplete chords.

The Circle-of-Fifths Progression in Music Literature

There are numerous examples in music literature of the circle-of-fifths progression using seventh chords. One of my favorites is this one from the first movement of Mozart’s Piano Sonata in F, K. 332:

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Alicia de Larrocha’s recording of Mozart’s Piano Sonata in F is exquisite. The album below includes three sonatas Mozart wrote for his sister.

Practicing the Circle-of-Fifths Progression

Below is a slide show using a keyboard to demonstrate the circle-of-fifths progression with seventh chords. Practice the patterns in this lesson, then watch the slide show to help you see it on the keyboard.

You can download a pdf version of the progression written out in all major and minor keys on the Harmonic Progressions Page.