Have you ever heard a piece of music that sounds like it was going along just fine and suddenly the whole thing sounded higher or lower? Or have you heard a piece that sounded just as happy as can be and then with the flip of a switch, it became sad?

This isn’t by accident. Composers employ a technique called modulation to accomplish that. So why do they do it, anyway? Sometimes there are real-world reasons such as a duet between two singers with very different ranges in their voice. By moving the whole piece up or down, two people with very different vocal ranges can sing it.

Often, though, there are much less technical reasons. Sometimes composers employ modulation simply to make a piece of music sound fresh in the listener’s ear. Music is largely based on repetition and repetition can get boring. Modulation makes the music sound fresh in the ears of the listener.

But you’re probably saying, “You’ve told me what modulation does but you haven’t told me what it is or how to do it.”

Here it is: Modulation is simply changing the key of a piece of music while the piece is being played. For example, maybe the key of the music was G Major but that key was getting a little stale in the ears of the listener so the composer changed it to A Major just to freshen it up.

Sometimes the composer changes the written key signature in the music while other times they don’t. If the modulation is a very temporary event, the written key signature often doesn’t change. If it is going to remain for a long period of time, the person playing the piece will often see a new key.

Now, you’re probably saying, “That’s really cool. How do I do it?” There are musicians who specialize in the study of music and how it’s put together. These people are called music theorists. They will tell you that modulation is often difficult. Not all keys can be used next to each other (the way not all colors can be combined on the same painting) There’s a complicated process in the world of music theorists.

There’s good news, though. There’s a whole other school that isn’t really a school at all. Musicians without all of that advanced knowledge figured out that sometimes modulation works by simply changing the key abruptly. They found that an abrupt change is sometimes pleasing to the ear. They also found that if they can get to the V Chord (five chord) which is the chord that is built on the fifth note of the key, that makes it easy to jump in to another key.

Those scholarly music theory types look over their glasses and say, “we call the V chord a pivot chord.” That’s just a fancy name for a chord that can be found in both keys.

By the way, if you’ve heard of transposition, modulation is different. Transposition is taking an entire piece of music and changing it to another key. Modulation is a change in key within a piece of music instead of the entire piece.

If you want to study modulation more, there are plenty of books written on the subject and those academic types are right, it is rather complicated sometimes but sometimes music is all about finding something that sounds good and doing it. Spend some time experimenting with modulation. We have a course on modulation and transposition at our catalog site - click the link below.
Copyright by Duane Shinn June 12, 2011. Do not use without permission.

Remember to check out all the piano courses at Play Piano Catalog!

Often you can give your songs a “lift” by modulating up a half-step from the key you are in. For example, if you are playing a song in the key of A major, try playing the last verse or chorus of the song in Bb. All you have to do is locate the V7 chord of the new key, and off you go.

If you need help in the area of modulation and/or transposition (they are similar but different) please go to Modulation and Transposition.

Do you know how to modulate from one key to another key? Do you get modulation confused with transposition? When you transpose a piece of music, you play it in a key which is different from the original key. Let’s say you are playing for a singer, and the song is too high for them. You can transpose (change keys) the song to a lower key. (For a complete course on modulation and transposition, click here.)

Modulation is different: It is the process of getting from one key to another. Listen to this podcast and you’ll catch on quickly:

When is a C not a C? It’s not a riddle or a trick question. It’s

a musical principle. The answer is: a C is not a C when you’re

playing a transposing musical instrument. And it’s not the instrument

that transposes, unfortunatly — some arranger or the player

himself must do that.

To understand what this means, you first have to understand the

definition of concert pitch. Pitch, of course, refers to the

frequency of sound. Concert pitch is the universally agreed upon

definition of the pitch of middle C (and subsequently, every

other note in an octave). From the dawn of written music to the

present day, no matter where on earth you are, middle C always

sounds the same. In other words, every musician in the world

understands and interprets middle C in the same way. This is the

simple definition of concert pitch.

Many instruments, therefore, are manufactured to concert pitch.

This means that when multiple musicians read “C” (or any other

note on a scale) on a musical score, they produce identical

sounds. Instruments that are manufactured in concert pitch

include the piano, some brass instrumnets such as the trombone

and baritone, some woodwinds such as the flute, oboe, and

bassoon.

Many other instruments are not made to produce concert pitch

sounds. These are referred to as transposing instruments. Many

woodwind instruments and some brass fall into this category. When

a transposing instrument player reads and plays “C” in a musical

score, it sounds different from a “C” played by a non-transposing

instrument.

Therefore, music that is written for a band consisting of both

transposing and non-transposing instruments must be adapted for

individual types of instruments. A typical marching band, for

example, may have the same score of music transposed into two,

three or more different keys.

The clarinet is an excellent example of this. It is a transposing

instrument, typically manufactured in B flat. If a B flat

clarinet and a piano played a “C” at the same time, the sounds

produced would not be the same. In order for a B flat clarinet to

play a note that matches a piano playing a “C,” it would have to

play one whole step higher. In other words, it would have to play

a “D.”

What if the two instruments had to play a song together? Music

for the piano would be written at concert pitch. The same music

would have to be transposed one key higher so that the clarinet

would produce the same sound. Though the two songs appear to be

in different keys, the sounds that each instrument would produce

will match in pitch.

Bb instruments include the Bb clarinet, the Bb bass clarinet, the

Bb tenor sax, the Bb trumpet. Music for these instruments are

written in a key which is a whole step higher than concert pitch.

Eb instruments include the Eb clarinet, the Eb alto clarinet, the

Eb alto sax, the Eb bariton sax, and the Eb alto horn. Music for

this group of instruments needs to be written a minor 3rd lower

than concert pitch.

F instruments include the french horn and the English horn. Music

for these instruments must be written in a key that is a perfect

4th lower than concert pitch.

It sounds complicated. You may even ask: why not just manufacture

the clarinet (or other transposing instruments) in concert pitch?

Though it seems this would solve some problems, there are good

reasons that certain instruments produce other pitches. The B

flat clarinet is preferred because it produces a cleaner, more

pleasant sound than a C soprano (concert pitch) clarinet. In

fact, the same is true of many transposing instruments. So while

using transposing instruments make more work for the composer, in

the end it’s all about the product. Serious musicians are known

for their keen sense of hearing. Since only the best quality

sound will do for them, composers will keep writing scores with

both types of instruments in mind.