Mailbox Monday: How Do I Modulate?

Virginia, I want to thank you for your note and for your request. Such a great question... "How do I modulate?" If your playing for your own enjoyment or for church, you'll definitely want to learn how to do it. I've blogged about it before and if you have the time, look at these posts: What if there isn't a transpose button? and How to transpose, modulate, and memorize.

My answer: Usually it's the V7 chord of the next key you want to go to that is the pivotal chord. You can hear how the sound sets it up. So, if you're playing along in the Key of D, you've landed on the V chord which is A, and you want to head over to the Key of E, then play B7 chord. Do you hear the change?



Modulation and the Pivot Chord
Most basic teaching on the process of modulation concentrates on the role of the pivot chord. A chord is chosen which is common to the two keys involved. The chord is ambiguous and takes on one function in the first key and is reinterpreted as a chord on a different degree of the scale in the new key. For the chord to be truly ambiguous then it should be neither the tonic nor dominant of either key. This process smoothes the flow from the first key to the second key. An outline of this would be as follows:

In this harmonic outline, the A minor chord is common to the keys: C major and G major and consequently can be used to smooth the transition form one key to the other. The A minor chord is moved to as chord VI in C major and quit as chord II in G major. This idea assumes that the mind perceives chords differently in relation to the keys preceding and following the chord. This is only an assumption. (Credit: http://www.harmony.org.uk/book/modulation_basics.htm)

While we're on the subject of transposition, I'd like to share Chapter 18 from Edly's Music Theory For Practical People - Third Edition. I sure hope the information helps many of you.

Transposition

What is transposition? It is simply changing the key of the melody, a chord progression, or even an entire song.

Why might one want to transpose? Common reasons include: to put a song within a certain singer's vocal range, or a certain instrument's best playing range, or to allow instrumentalists to play in a key with fewer accidentals, or for a transposing instrument to read from concert key sheet music. Lastly, transposition is used part way through a song in the form of modulation (changing key), to "freshen" the aural palette, and especially in pop music, to create a feeling of intensity.

Basic Transposition... Transposing Melodies

How does one transpose? The most basic way to transpose a melody is to use the chromatic scale, and move each note the same number of half-steps up or down. A common example of this is men and women singing the same melody together. Women's vocal ranges are naturally about an octave higher than those of men. Singing the same melody separated by an octave is the simplest transposition: octave transposition.

Some melodies fall into a range that men and women share. In this case, they can sing in unison. An example requiring a bit more thought on the part of the transposer is a melody which is a bit too slow for a female singer and a bit too high for the male singer to sing in unison. A solution for this is to transpose the melody up, for example, five half-steps for the woman, and down seven half-steps for the man.

One could use this method (of transposing using half-steps) to transpose any distance, but there is an easier way for anyone comfortable with intervals. This easier, quicker, way is to transpose by interval. If you know your intervals, transposing each chord or melody note up or down the appropriate interval is a breeze. Up five half-steps is a perfect fourth, and down seven half-steps is a perfect fifth. Why count half-steps when you can calculate by interval? So, both of these techniques yield the same result: the men and women will be singing in octaves in the key a fourth higher (or a fifth lower).

More Advanced Transposition... Transposing Chords

Chords can also be transposed. I'll show you an example... When transposing chords, change only the root of the chord! Do not change the chord type at all. If you were to change the chord type, you'd be reharmonizing (changing the harmony), not transposing. 

For example, take the chord progression Em, Eb, Abmaj7, G6, and transpose the roots up a minor third. You wind up with Gm, F#, Bmaj7, Bb6. Easy!

* There's lots more to the chapter but basically this last point is essential here. *

The quickest way to transpose is based on understanding keys well enough that you can think of (and ideally, hear) what you're playing, whether melodies or chords, in non-key-specific terms. This would mean that you are sufficiently aware of chords' (or notes') relationships to each other, that you see (and hear) the original key as just one of twelve possibilities. That is, instead of thinking of C, F, and G7, you think think of I, IV, V7 occurring. If you know your keys and scaled well enough, it is easy to think of I, IV and V7 in any of the twelve keys.

The more you transpose, the more it will come naturally to you!

You may want to check out Song Robot Software to help with modulation of songs.

Best,

"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King

What If There Isn't A Transpose Button?

Suppose you're the new keyboard player in the band. This rock band just hired you and welcomed you aboard. Now, you're going to your first gig tonight. You arrive excitedly, greet the other musicians and begin to look over the music set. Most of the songs you do know but there's a few complex ones that change keys several times. No worries because your keyboard has a transpose button so you will just press it a few times. On this special night you soon discover that there isn't a transpose button. Now what are you going to do?

If you have found yourself in this same scenario as I have before, you are faced with a few choices.

1. Learn how to modulate; change keys within the song.
2. Play the first song in the original key. Lay out on the chord that sets up the next key. Jump back in with the new key.
3. Just play through the song once and lay out all together while the rest of the musicians play.

The chances of you actually performing at a live gig, playing a fast, lively song that changes keys several times, like the ones by Israel Houghton and then reaching for the transpose button and clicking away, yet remaining in the groove can cause a train wreck and mess up the other musicians.
The answers to learning how to modulate on your own can be found in learning the Circle of Fifths and using the Number System. Here are a few tips to help you on your way to transposition or simply stated, moving a piece of music from one key to another.

1. Know the scale of the original key.
2. Number each note of the melody by the numbers of the scale.
3. Review the scale of the new key, finding the numbers (degrees) associated with the notes and reconstruct the melody.

The same formula is true with transposing a chord progression. Let's say the original key is C Major and we're playing I chord (C) and the IV chord F. The singer chooses to modulate to the Key of Eb to fit her voice range better and cause a dynamic move in the song. With the same previous steps for changing the melody line, we will now apply to the new key. In the Key of Eb, we play I chord (Eb) and the IV chord (Ab).

Going back to our opening scenario, you will need to know HOW to arrive at the new key and that is called Modulation. Forget that button on your keyboard and discover the solution by learning these easy steps.

To begin, let's say we are starting in the Key of F and we want to move up a half step. Here's what you need to know.

1. A dominant chord is built on the fifth degree of the scale.
2. The most direct movement is from the dominant chord to the tonic chord.
3. This is known as the V-I progression.
4. A dominant seventh chord may also be used, and this is called a V7-I progression.

Now you're ready for your new gig. It's a new day. The band starts a particular song in the Key of F Major. Now to move to F# Major, you are playing the dominant chord (V) of the New Key to set up the new change and that chord would be C# and you begin anew in the key of F# with I chord. Congratulations "smooth modulator."

"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King