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Highlight in the circle of fifth every keys where the current chord exists (with any function)

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Hi,

Currently, when playing a chord in the palette, other keys where it plays a tonic, subdominant or dominant function are highlighted in the circle of fifth. 

It would be nice to have another layout (to mimic the palette's jargon) where, when playing a chord, any other key where it appears (even by enharmony) are highlighted. 

This way, it would become super easy to use the chord as a pivot in a wider range of modulations.

Best, 

Matthieu

NB : by "enharmony", I mean chords like : 
- Cm6 & Am7(b5) (C, Eb, G, A)
- Csus2 & Gsus4 (C, D, G)


Fr., 25.08.2023 - 14:26 Permalink

Every chord (at least the triads) has some functional meaning in almost every key. Highlighting all but a single key or so in the circle would not be very informative.

Fr., 25.08.2023 - 15:26 Permalink

I'm not sure to get your point. 

Here's my current understanding of the thing :

A major scale has 3 major chords & 3 minor chords meaning that : 

  • for any major chord I currently play (in whatever key or mode) there are 3 possible functions (I, IV or V)
  • same thing for a any minor chord (ii, iii, vi) 

For minor scales there are a bit more combinations due to the several modes but also a greater variety of chords so it should roughly be the same.
 

What reasoning leads you to "Every chord (at least the triads) has some functional meaning in almost every key" ?

EDIT : ah ! maybe this is because of the suspended chords, I come from a background where they're usually not really taken into account as functional chords but including them would actually lead to your conclusion

Fr., 25.08.2023 - 15:40 Permalink

A key is not just a single scale. These are the functions of a minor chord. Only a single tonal center is without a function (6 semitones offset).

   0 -> t
   1 -> Dg
   2 -> dp, ss
   3 -> Tp, Sg
   4 -> tg, sp
   5 -> d
   6 -> 
   7 -> s
   8 -> Tg, Dp
   9 -> tp, dg, sss
   10 -> Sp
   11 -> sg

You can make a cut and limit that to T D S, which is what the circle does. If you are looking for a general thing like "included with a key" however, there will be many more. In the extreme you'll get all keys but one.

Fr., 25.08.2023 - 16:21 Permalink

Thanks a lot for taking the time to respond ! 

That's great, I'll have to think & experiment with what it really means and implies !