Theory:

The Complete Musician (https://tinyurl.com/4jsj632h)

Chapter 18 of 32: Modulation

This chapter delves into the topic of modulation. Modulation is essentially the art of moving from one key, whatever it may be, C major, f minor, to another key, Bflat major, bflat minor, and estalbishing that new key as the tonal center of the music. Modulation is an intrinsic and necessary part of the concept of structural function as it exists in Western art music. Basically, a long piece of music staying in one key would eventually lose all dramatic tension and become fairly boring. Most modern pop music can avoid modulation because of the brevity of the music, but as musical works take on sufficient dimension, modulation is a key component in sustaining interest and developing the music.

The prior chapter, chapter 17, discussed tonicizations, which can be seen as the precursor to modulations. The main differences are that tonicizations are temporary and do not disrupt the home key, they generally occur within phrases, and they return to the home key before the main cadence.

In contrast to this, modulations are not temporary, occur at the end of phrases, and cadence to a new key. One harmonic technique very helpful (and central) to the act of modulation is the use of pivot chords, chords which exist within the original key and the new key. In other words, this harmonic device ‘pivots’ between keys. 

Learning to modulate requires thorough knowledge of major and minor keys and their respective key signatures, which are collections of sharps and flats that enable a musician to visually determine they key signature. To start the process, modulation to closely related keys is generally the first step. The general rule is that any major or minor key has five closely related keys. For context, there are a total of 30 keys available, 15 major and 15 minor. The possibilities are:

• Major: ii, iii, IV, V, vi (most common is modulation to the dominant ( I → V)
• minor: III, iv, v (not V), VI, VII (most common are to relative major (i → III) and to minor subdominant (i → V)

To achieve these modulations, we have two options:

• Diatonic Triads (below)
• Key signatures: those keys which differ from the original at most by one sharp or flat

As mentioned previously, to enact the modulation, the composer will utilize pivot chords. The hallmarks of pivot chords are:

• Pivot chords are always diatonic in both keys
• Pivot chords are usually root position or first inversion triads
• The strongest pivot chords act as pre-dominants in the new key

To set up the move to the new key, using an embedded phrase model can help ease the transition to the new key. I was going to include sheet music examples for this, but the usable examples in the chapter amounted to about 6 bars of music, and I was not able to figure out how to include the harmonic analysis in a convincing manner, so there will not be any examples with accompanying recording.

Electronic Music Production:

I was up really late last night and I am completely mentally depleted. I am looking forward to meeting the goal of finishing the theory review so I can immerse myself in creating music for a while before considering more learning. Tomorrow is a new day.