Both van der Waals corrected density functional theory and classical calculations show that the potential relief of interaction energy between layers of graphite and few-layer graphene can be described by a simple expression containing only the first Fourier components. Thus a set of physical quantities and phenomena associated with in-plane relative vibration, translational motion and rotation of graphene layers are interrelated and are determined by a single parameter characterizing the roughness of the potential energy relief. This relationship is used to estimate the barriers to relative motion and rotation of graphene layers based on experimental measurements of shear mode frequencies. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.