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CHAPTER7BASICS

MODULATION

BasicsofModulation

Followingisadescriptionofsomeofthebasicsofmodulation(i.e.keychange)forthosereaderswhowouldfindthis
usefulbeforereadingthemaintextofthischapter.DuringthecourseofthisdescriptionIwillalsohighlightsomeof
theargumentsforviewingmodulationintermsofchordprogressionsratherthanthemoreconventionalapproaches
whicharebasedaroundadescriptionofpivotchords,ordegreesofrelatednessbetweenkeys.

Modulationistheprocessthatpiecesofmusicgothroughtochangethetonalcentrefromonekeynotetoanother.
Forexample,apieceofmusicmaymodulatefromCmajortoGmajorsothatGtakesover(albeittemporarily)from
Casthekeynote.

Modulationiscentraltocompositionaltechniqueinclassicalmusicbuttoalesserextentinmodernpopularmusic.
Muchhasbeenwrittenincompositiontextbooks,harmonybooksandtheoreticaltextsaboutmodulation,probably
becausetheprocessofkeychangeisreasonablywellunderstoodasitisaconsciouslylearnedprocessfor
composers.Thiscontrastswiththeorganisationofchordprogressionsintosyntacticstructureswhichislargely
subconscious.Seethesectiononlinguisticsforfurtherdiscussiononthistopic.

Thepurposeofmodulationistohelpgivemusicstructure,directionandvariety.Thedistanceofthekeychange
variesbetweenperiodsinmusicalhistoryandfromcomposertocomposer.Thelengthofthestayineachnewkey
canalsovaryconsiderablyfromabriefstopoff(sometimesreferredtoastransientmodulationortonicization)to
awholesectioninanewkey(sometimesreferredtoastranspositionalthoughthiscanalsomeanthetransferofa
wholepieceintoanewkey).Sometimespiecescanpassthroughseveralkeysbeforesettlingonanewkeycentreor
returningtothehomekey.

Modulationinapieceisoftenassociatedwiththeformalstructureofapiece.Apieceinamajorkeyoftenmodulates
toitsdominantkeyandthereisoftenacadenceinthedominantattheendofthefirstsectionofthepiece.For
example,apiecestartinginCmajoroftenendsitsfirstsectionwithacadenceinGmajor.Thesecondsectionofa
piecethentakesthemusicbacktothetonickeyeitherdirectlyorviaotherrelatedkeys.

Piecesintheminorkeyoftenmovetoacadenceintherelativemajorkeyattheendofthefirstsection.Forexample,
apieceinAminormayenditsfirstsectionwithacadenceinCmajor.Thesecondsectionthentakesthepieceback
totheoriginaltonickey.

ModulationandthePivotChord

Mostbasicteachingontheprocessofmodulationconcentratesontheroleofthepivotchord.Achordischosen
whichiscommontothetwokeysinvolved.Thechordisambiguousandtakesononefunctioninthefirstkeyandis
reinterpretedasachordonadifferentdegreeofthescaleinthenewkey.Forthechordtobetrulyambiguousthenit
shouldbeneitherthetonicnordominantofeitherkey.Thisprocesssmoothestheflowfromthefirstkeytothe
secondkey.Anoutlineofthiswouldbeasfollows:

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Inthisharmonicoutline,theAminorchordiscommontothekeys:CmajorandGmajorandconsequentlycanbe
usedtosmooththetransitionformonekeytotheother.TheAminorchordismovedtoaschordVIinCmajorand
quitaschordIIinGmajor.Thisideaassumesthatthemindperceiveschordsdifferentlyinrelationtothekeys
precedingandfollowingthechord.Thisisonlyanassumption.

Analternativeinterpretationistosaythatthemindunderstandsthisexampleasachordprogressionmadeupofone
fallingthird()progressionandtworisingfourth()progressions.Wewillreturntothisissuelater.Anexampleof
thisprogressionisgiveninExample7.1.inthemainsectionofthischapter.

Themodulationfromthetonictothedominantkeyisoneofthemostcommonmodulationsintonalmusic.Thepiece
normallyreturnstothetonickeyeitherdirectlyorindirectlyviaotherrelatedkeys.Bythetheoryofpivotchordsthis
returncouldbemadeusingthesamecommonchordasfollows:

GAminorG7C

However,thisproducesapoorchordprogressionbecausethestaticharmonypattern:G[Aminor]G7doesnot
produceafeelingofmovement(back)tothekeyofCmajor.Morecommonly,composersuseamoredirectchord
progressionbyconvertingtheGdirectlytoaG7chordasfollows:

Thisintroducesoneofthealternativemethodsofmodulation:thedirectmovementtothenewdominantchord.
Thismethodisfrequentlyusedbycomposersandnosmoothingpivotchordisused.Whilstitiscertainlyusefulto
understandtheuseofpivotchordsinmodulation,thisexamplehighlightsoneoftheproblemsofaviewofmodulation
whichisbasedonpivotchords.Thatis,itassumesthatcomposerswanttoavoidthejuxtapositionofchordsfrom
differentkeystoavoidsomekindofunsmootheffect.However,actualpracticeshowsthatcomposersfrequently
usemoredirectwaysofmakingkeychanges.Infact,chromaticjuxtapositionsarefrequentlyused,evenwhenno
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modulationisinvolved,soitwouldbestrangeiftheyweretoavoidthesewheremodulationisinvolved.Ratherthan
tryingtosmooththechangefromonekeytoanother,composersfrequentlyusechromaticjuxtapositionsasafeature
torelishratherthanavoid.Abetterviewoftheprocessofmodulationistoconsiderthechordprogressionsinvolved.
Thetypesofchordprogressionsthatcomposersusearediscussedinthemainsectionofthischapter.

ModulationKeyRelationships

Anotherwayofdescribingmodulationbetweenkeysistodescribetherelativedistancefromonekeytoanothervia
thecycleof5ths.Thecycleoffifthsisasequenceofnotes,aperfectfifthapartfromeachother,asfollows:

Inequaltemperament,GflatisthesamenoteasF#sothesequenceformsacompletecycle.Asteptotherightin
thissequenceinvolvestheadditionofasharp(orremovalofaflat)fromthekeysignature.Asteptotheleftinvolves
theadditionofaflat(orremovalofasharp)fromthekeysignature.

Uptothe18thcentury,modulationwasgenerallytothemostrelatedkeys.Thatis,theadjacentkeysinthecycleof
5thsandtheirrelativeminors.Thisispartlyaresultofthetasteofthetimebutalsobecauseofthelimitationsofthe
tuningofinstruments.

Bythismethod,therelationshipbetweenthehomekeyanditsclosestrelativescanbeshownasfollows:

Thedominantisafifthhigherthanthetonicanditskeyhasonemoresharp(oronelessflat),thesubdominantisa
fifthlowerthanthetonicanditskeyhasonemoreflat(oronelesssharp).Theminorkeysaretherelativeminorsof
thesekeys.(i.e.theminorkeyswithatonicathirdlowerandwhichhavethesamekeysignatures).

InCmajorthiswouldbe:

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Foranexampleofhowtousethistableinpractice,pleaserefertotheExampleHarmonisationSectionofthis
website.

Thesearethemostcloselyrelatedkeysforseveralreasons:

Thetonicchordsofallofthefiverelatedkeys(andonlythese)arecontainedwithinthescaleofthehomekey.
Allfivekeysarecontainedwithintheclosestkeysignaturestothetonic.Forexample,CmajorandAminor
havenoaccidentalsGmajorandEminorhaveonesharpandFmajorandDminorhaveoneflat.Thismeans
theyareallthekeysthatcanbereachedwithjustonechangeofaccidentalinthekeystructure.
Thesekeysallhavechordsincommonwiththehomekey.Inthefollowingtable,I'veshownthesecommon
chords(takingtheminorkeysintheirharmonicform):

Thechordsshowninboldarechordswhichareeithertonicordominantchordsofeitherthestartingkeyorthekey
movedto.Thereforethenonboldchordsarethebesttouseasapivotchord.NotethatthemodulationfromC
majortoDminordoesnothaveacommonchordthatisnotthetonicordominantofeitherkey.Thebestmodulation
hereistogodirecttothedominantchordofthenewkey.Thiswouldbe:

CA7Dminor.

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Thisisanexamplewherethepivotchordideabreaksdown.Seethemainsectionofthischapterformore
informationaboutthe'directtodominant'methodofmodulation.

Followingisacorrespondingchartofthecommonchordsthatcanbeusedwhenmodulationfromaminorkey(A
minorusedintheexample).Again,I'vetakentheminorkeysintheirharmonicform.Thischartshowsthatthe
availabilityofcommonchordsismorelimitedthanitisformodulationsfromthemajorkey.

OnlymodulationstoCmajorandFmajorhavecommonchordswhicharenotthetonicordominantofeitherkey
involvedinthemodulation.Thishighlightsagaintheneedforanunderstandingoftheprocessofmodulationbasedon
chordprogressionsratherthattheuseofpivotorcommonchords.

Thekeyrelationshipsdescribedsofar,werethemostcommonlyusedformodulationsupuntilaroundthemid18th
century.Thegeneraladoptionofequaltemperamentmethodoftuninganddevelopmentsinmusicalinstruments,
graduallyfromthe18thcenturyonwardsmeantthatallkeyswereequallyintuneandmodulationtomoredistant
keysbecamepossible.

SomewriterssuchasSchoenberginStructuralFunctionsofHarmony(seebibliography)havehighlightedthe
relationshipbetweenamajorkeyanditstonicminor.Forexample:betweenAmajorandAminor.Thisalsoopens
upotherpossiblemodulationsindirectlyviathisrelationship.However,adescriptionoftheserelationshipsisbeyond
thescopeofthissectionandisnotnecessaryinordertounderstandhowchordprogressionsareusedinmaking
thesekeychanges.Pleaserefertothebibliographyforfurtherreadingonthis.

Summary

Astudyofmodulationbasedoncommonchords(pivotchords)isausefulstartingpointintheunderstandingofthe
processofmodulationbut,inpractice,composersuseavarietyoftechniquesformodulationandabetter
understandingcanbemadeofthissubjectbystudyingthechordprogressionsused.Themainbodyofthischapter
willproceedonthisbasis.

ReturntoMainSection

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