History Main / Modulation

Going into the 19th century, musicians started to experiment with more remote modulations, such as going from a key with no flats or sharps and then modulating to a key with a number of sharps or flats (e.g., from C major to [=Ab=] major). These remote modulations are harder to pull off, because there's fewer chords in common between the keys. One related trend that helped make remote modulations more feasible was the emancipation of dissonance. By the late 19th century, a much wider range of harmonies were deemed acceptable, including chords with dissonant intervals. Moreover, some of these dissonant chords were ambiguous and thereby could create a way to escape from the orbit of closely-related keys and explore more remote keys. For example, playing a fully diminished seventh chord in the key of C major, the 'b diminished seventh' chord, can resolve to several different chords.

In Western classical music tradition (on which much of today's popular music worldwide is based), modulations are usually between keys that are close to each other--that is, they differ by at most one or two sharps or flats, if at all. These feel natural because the two keys have a lot of pitches in common with each other (for example, modulating from the key of C to the key of G[[note]]The key of C major is the "white notes" on the piano. The key of G major differs from C major only in one note: the F#. Thus, C major and G major do bot sound hugely different, except that they emphasize different notes and chords.[[/note]]). As well, closely related keys have chords in common, so it makes the transition sound smoother. For example, the keys of C major and G major both contain the chords of C major, G major, 'a minor' and 'e minor'.

Modulations are ''very'' common in classical music, being a staple of tonal music (i.e. dating from the late 1500s forward, as opposed to modal music, which cannot change keys by virtue of not ''having'' a key in the first place). They occur both in miniature (lasting only a couple bars, or even ''a couple beats'') and larger-scale (for entire sections of a work) forms. In popular music styles, some styles have few or no modulations, such as funk and ThreeChordsAndTheTruth genres such as PunkRock. Other popular music styles have lots of modulations, such as jazz, jazz fusion and progressive rock ("Prog").

Modulation, in music, is the phenomenon of changing the tonality of the music--that is, changing what key it's in.

In Western classical music tradition (on which much of today's popular music worldwide is based), modulations are usually between keys that are close to each other--that is, they differ by at most one or two sharps or flats, if at all. These feel natural because the two keys have a lot of pitches in common with each other (for example, modulating from the key of C to the key of G). As well, closely related keys have chords in common, so it makes the transition sound smoother.

One prominent exception to this is going between the major and minor keys of the same home note (e.g. C major and C minor) - but that's not really a modulation anyway, just a mode shift.

Going into the 19th century, musicians started to experiment with more remote modulations, such as going from a key with no flats or sharps and then modulating to a key with a number of sharps or flats (e.g., from C major to [=Ab=] major). These remote modulations are harder to pull off, because there's fewer chords in common between the keys. One related trend that helped make remote modulations more feasible was the emancipation of dissonance. By the late 19th century, a much wider range of harmonies were deemed acceptable, including chords with dissonant intervals. Moreover, some of these dissonant chords were ambiguous and thereby could create a way to escape from the orbit of closely-related keys and explore more remote keys.

This culminated in the 20th century where songs sometimes had little clear sense of a key, or even, with atonal music, didn't have a key at all.

The resulting repertoire of common modulations grew quickly. This was also where the TruckDriversGearChange, the business of modulating up by a mere half-step, began to gain ground. These were unlike prior modulations because they didn't add a sharp to the key signature, they added a sharp to ''every note being played''. Typically, this means shifting from a sharp key to a flat key or vice versa, which would have given some classical composers apoplexies (indeed, if you were to plot this type of modulation on the UsefulNotes/CircleOfFifths, you would be jumping to a position almost directly opposite the starting key), but it works because the keys are so similar.

Going into the 19th century, musicians started to experiment with more remote modulations, such as going from a key with no flats or sharps and then modulating to a key with a number of sharps or flats (e.g., from C major to [=Ab=] major). These remote modulations are harder to pull off, because there's fewer chords in common between the keys. One related trend that helped make remote modulations more feasible was the emancipation of dissonance. By the late 19th century, a much wider range of harmonies were deemed acceptable, including chords with dissonant intervals.

Going into the 19th century, musicians started to experiment with more remote modulations, such as going from a key with no flats or sharps and then modulating to a key with a number of sharps or flats (e.g., from C major to [=Ab=] major). This culminated in the 20th century where songs sometimes had little clear sense of a key, or even, with atonal music, didn't have a key at all.

Modulations are ''very'' common in classical music, being a staple of tonal music (i.e. dating from the late 1500s forward, as opposed to modal music, which cannot change keys by virtue of not ''having'' a key in the first place). They occur both in miniature (lasting only a couple bars, or even ''a couple beats'') and larger-scale (for entire sections of a work) forms. In popular music styles, some music have few or no modulations, such as funk and ThreeChordsAndTheTruth genres such as PunkRock. Other popular music styles have lots of modulations, such as jazz, jazz fusion and progressive rock ("Prog").

Modulations are ''very'' common in classical music, being a staple of tonal music (i.e. dating from the late 1500s forward, as opposed to modal music, which cannot change keys by virtue of not ''having'' a key in the first place). They occur both in miniature (lasting only a couple bars, or even ''a couple beats'') and larger-scale (for entire sections of a work) forms.

In Western classical music tradition (on which much of today's popular music worldwide is based), modulations are usually between keys that are close to each other--that is, they differ by at most one or two sharps or flats, if at all. These feel natural because the two keys have a lot of pitches in common with each other. One prominent exception to this is going between the major and minor keys of the same home note (e.g. C major and C minor) - but that's not really a modulation anyway, just a mode shift.

Going into the 19th century, musicians started to experiment with more stuff (culminating in the 20th century where songs sometimes didn't have a key at all). The resulting repertoire of common modulations grew quickly. This was also where the TruckDriversGearChange, the business of modulating up by a mere half-step, began to gain ground. These were unlike prior modulations because they didn't add a sharp to the key signature, they added a sharp to ''every note being played''. Typically, this means shifting from a sharp key to a flat key or vice versa, which would have given some classical composers apoplexies (indeed, if you were to plot this type of modulation on the UsefulNotes/CircleOfFifths, you would be jumping to a position almost directly opposite the starting key), but it works because the keys are so similar.

In western classical music tradition (on which much of today's popular music worldwide is based), modulations are usually between keys that are close to each other--that is, they differ by at most one or two sharps or flats, if at all. These feel natural because the two keys have a lot of pitches in common with each other. One prominent exception to this is going between the major and minor keys of the same home note (e.g. C major and C minor) - but that's not really a modulation anyway, just a mode shift.

Going into the 19th century, musicians started to experiment with more stuff (culminating in the 20th century where songs sometimes didn't have a key at all). The resulting repertoire of common modulations grew quickly. This was also where the TruckDriversGearChange, the business of modulating up by a mere half-step, began to gain ground. These are unlike prior modulations because they don't add a sharp to the key signature, they add a sharp to ''every note being played''. Typically this means shifting from a sharp key to a flat key or vice versa, which would have given some classical composers apoplexies (indeed, if you were to plot this type of modulation on the UsefulNotes/CircleOfFifths, you would be jumping to a position almost directly opposite the starting key), but it works because the keys are so similar.

Going into the 19th century, musicians started to experiment with more stuff (culminating in the 20th century where songs sometimes didn't have a key at all). The resulting repertoire of common modulations grew quickly. This was also where the TruckDriversGearChange, the business of modulating up by a mere half-step, began to gain ground. These are unlike prior modulations because they don't add a sharp to the key signature, they add a sharp to ''every note being played''. Typically this means shifting from a sharp key to a flat key or vice versa, which would have given some classical composers apoplexies (indeed, if you were to plot this type of modulation on the UsefulNotes/CircleOfFifths, you would be jumping to the position almost directly opposite the starting key), but it works because the keys are so similar.

Going into the 19th century, musicians started to experiment with more stuff (culminating in the 20th century where songs sometimes didn't have a key at all). The resulting repertoire of common modulations grew quickly. This was also where the TruckDriversGearChange, the business of modulating up by a mere half-step, began to gain ground. These are unlike prior modulations because they don't add a sharp to the key signature, they add a sharp to ''every note being played''. Typically this means shifting from a sharp key to a flat key or vice versa, which would have given some classical composers apoplexies, but it works because the keys are so similar.

Modulations are VERY common in classical music, being a staple of tonal music (i.e. dating from the late 1500s forward, as opposed to modal music, which cannot change keys by virtue of not ''having'' a key in the first place). They occur both in miniature (lasting only a couple bars, or even ''a couple beats'') and larger-scale (for entire sections of a work) forms.

Going into the 19th century, musicians started to experiment with more stuff (culminating in the 20th century where songs sometimes didn't even have a key at all). The resulting repertoire of common modulations grew quickly. This was also where the TruckDriversGearChange, the business of modulating up by a mere half-step, began to gain ground. These are unlike prior modulations because they don't add a sharp to the key signature, they add a sharp to ''every note being played''. Typically this means shifting from a sharp key to a flat key or vice versa, which would have given some classical composers apoplexies, but it works because the keys are so similar.

Usually, you can tell a modulation if the "flavor" of the music (and usually, though not necessarily, the emotion) changes. This doesn't happen too often in modern popular songs, partly because they're rather short and partly because it's hard to do them smoothly, but can sometimes be found between verses and refrains, with verses in one key and refrains in another. Examples of this technique include Music/TheBeatles' "Good Day Sunshine", BoyBand Midnight Sons' "If Only Tears Could Bring You Back", and--most notably for tropers--JonathanCoulton's "[[VideoGame/{{Portal}} Still Alive]]" and "[[VideoGame/{{Portal2}} Want You Gone]]." (These two get extra credit for switching ''between'' sharp keys and flat keys: D to F in the first, B♭ to G in the second.)

-->--'''Don Pippin''' (musical director and vocal arranger on ''Mame'', ''Dear World'', ''Mack & Mabel'' and ''La Cage aux Folles'')

Going into the 19th century, musicians started to experiment with more stuff (culminating in the 20th century where people sometimes didn't even have a key at all). The resulting repertoire of common modulations grew quickly. This was also where the TruckDriversGearChange, the business of modulating up by a mere half-step, began to gain ground. These are unlike prior modulations because they don't add a sharp to the key signature, they add a sharp to ''every note being played''. Typically this means shifting from a sharp key to a flat key or vice versa, which would have given some classical composers apoplexies, but it works because the keys are so similar.

In western classical music tradition (on which much of today's popular music worldwide is based), modulations are usually between keys that are close to each other--that is, they differ by at most one or two sharps or flats, if at all. One prominent exception to this is going between the major and minor keys of the same home note (e.g. C major and C minor) - but that's not really a modulation anyway, just a mode shift.

Going into the 19th century, musicians started to experiment with more stuff (culminating in the 20th century where people sometimes didn't even have a key at all). The resulting repertoire of common modulations grew quickly.

Usually, you can tell a modulation if the "flavor" of the music (and usually, though not necessarily, the emotion) changes. This doesn't happen too often in modern popular songs, partly because they're rather short, but can sometimes be found between verses and refrains, with verses in one key and refrains in another (examples including Music/TheBeatles' "Good Day Sunshine" and Midnight Sons' "If Only Tears Could Bring You Back".

Modulations are VERY common in classical music, being a staple of tonal music (i.e. dating from the late 1500s forward, as opposed to modal music, which cannot modulate by virtue of not having a key in the first place). They occur both in miniature (lasting only a couple bars, or even ''a couple beats'') and larger-scale (for entire sections of a work) forms.

* ChromaticThirdRelation

Usually, you can tell a modulation if the "flavor" of the music (and usually, though not necessarily, the emotion) changes. This doesn't happen too often in modern popular songs, partly because they're rather short, but can sometimes be found between verses and refrains, with verses in one key and refrains in another (examples including TheBeatles' "Good Day Sunshine" and Midnight Sons' "If Only Tears Could Bring You Back".

In western classical music tradition (on which much of today's popular music worldwide is based), modulations are usually between keys that are close to each other--that is, they differ by at most one or two sharps or flats, if at all. One prominent exception to this is going between the major and minor keys of the same home note (e.g. C major and C minor).

However, going into the 19th century, musicians started to experiment with more stuff (culminating in the 20th century where people sometimes didn't even have a key at all). The resulting repertoire of common modulations grew quickly.

Modulations are VERY common in classical music, being a staple of pretty much all tonal music dating from the late 1500s forward. They occur both in miniature (lasting only a couple bars, or even ''a couple beats'') and larger-scale (for entire sections of a work) forms.

Modulations are VERY common in classical music, being a staple of the SonataForm and other forms derived from it.