Camelot wheel explained, with a chart

The Camelot wheel is a circle of codes for musical keys. Camelot is a system from Mixed In Key. A code is a number and a letter, such as 8A or 9B. You can spot the next track without writing the full key name.

A key is the home note of a song, and whether that song is minor or major. The code is a short way to write that down. You do not need sheet music to use it.

The map of all 24 codes is the Camelot wheel chart. This page is the plain-language version. It covers what the numbers mean, how to read that chart, and how to use the wheel on a real pair.

What the 12 numbers and the letters mean

The number runs from 1 to 12. It is a seat on the circle. It is not a count of semitones. A semitone is one piano step, from one key to the next. One number on the wheel is a bigger jump than that. 8A to 9A is A minor to E minor.

There are two rings.

• A is minor. 8A is A minor.
• B is major. 8B is C major.

The same number with the other letter is the relative major or minor. A key signature is the set of notes a key uses. Relatives share that set, and they start on a different home note. 8A and 8B are relatives. They are not the same key.

The circle wraps. After 12 comes 1. One step up from 12A is 1A. One step down from 12A is 11A.

How to read the Camelot wheel chart

The chart is two rings, with a table under the picture. 12 sits at the top. The numbers run clockwise, from 12 toward 1, then 2.

Open the Camelot wheel chart. The inner ring is A, the minor keys. The outer ring is B, the major keys. A code on the inner ring and the code straight outside it share a number. That pair is the relative major and minor. 8A sits inside 8B.

The table under the picture is the same chart in rows. Each row has the code, the musical name, the codes that mix cleanly, and a last column for the energy boost. Read the row for the track that is playing.

Each code also has its own page. 8A is A minor, with the moves written out. The key checker answers any two codes.

How to use the Camelot wheel

Read the code on the track that is playing. Then look for the next track in one of three places. These are the safe moves. Sonata calls each of them In key.

• The same code. 8A into another 8A. The key does not change.
• One number up or down, same letter. 8A into 9A, or 8A into 7A. One number up is a perfect fifth. That is seven semitones, the gap from A up to E. It is a small lift, and it is still In key.
• The other letter, same number. 8A into 8B. That is the relative major. The mood often feels brighter. The notes stay in the same family.

Anything else is a key clash. That includes two numbers away, and a diagonal step. A diagonal is the other letter and a different number, such as 8A into 9B. Sonata flags a clash. It does not move the pitch to hide one. You can still play the record. The flag means you chose it.

A matching code is a reason to try the blend. Vocals, bass, and tempo still have to agree. If the tempos are far apart, plan a cut rather than a long overlap.

Sonata reads the key from the files you add and suggests an order from these moves. You still pick the track. The first mix is free, up to 10 tracks, and it does not ask for an account.

The same codes in a DJ library are a separate job. Camelot keys in rekordbox and Camelot keys in Serato are the clicks for those apps.

A short example from 8A

Say the deck is on 8A, A minor. The clean next steps are on that row of the chart.

• Stay on 8A. Same key.
• Step down to 7A, D minor.
• Step up to 9A, E minor. That is the perfect fifth, the usual small lift.
• Switch letter to 8B, C major. Same number, still In key.

A tidy run that stays In key at every join is 8A, then 9A, then 10A, then 10B. Each step is one number up, until 10A into 10B, which is the relative switch. B minor into D major.

Jumping 8A straight to 10A skips 9A. That is two steps, not one. It is the energy boost, and Sonata flags it. Landing on 10A by way of 9A is a different path. Each join is only one step.

9B is G major, the relative of 9A, so 9A into 9B is In key. 9B into 10A is not. The number and the letter both change. That diagonal is a key clash, even though the two codes sit near each other on the chart.

From 12 the wheel does not stop. 12A into 1A is one step up, the same kind of move as 8A into 9A. 12A is C♯ minor. 1A is A♭ minor.

When an energy boost is the move

Two steps up, same letter, is the move DJs call an energy boost. Add 2, keep the letter. 8A goes to 10A. A minor goes to B minor. The home note rises by a whole tone. A whole tone is two semitones, the gap from A up to B. You can feel the key change.

Sonata flags that pair as a key clash. It is not one of the three safe moves. Use it when you want the room to notice a new key, often on the way into a peak. Hear it first. Do not use it as the ordinary step between every track.

One step up is not this move. 8A to 9A is seven semitones, a perfect fifth, and it is already In key. Seven Camelot numbers is a different thing. 8A to 3A is only one semitone between the home notes, and it clashes. If a note says "+7" and does not say semitones, check which one it means.

The longer note on that jump is harmonic mixing energy boosts. When a transition can leave the wheel on purpose, read is harmonic mixing necessary?.

Sonata is not affiliated with Mixed In Key.