“How to Harmonize a Melody” shows you what to do when you’ve got a melody but no idea how to add chords to support it. It describes how and when to change chords, and how to be creative in what you chords you choose.
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Changing the key in a piece of music is called “modulation.” There are seven chords that exist naturally within a song’s key, plus a whole host of other so-called “altered chords” that add to the palette. Changing key doesn’t offer more chords to use, but it can be a great way to boost musical energy, particularly if the key change is in an upward direction.
Key changes can be abrupt, where the new key is brought in with practically no attempt to be smooth about it, such as the change from intro to verse in Derek and the Dominos’ “Layla” (Dm to C#m). But if you’re looking for a way to make the change in a smoother, less startling way, you’ll want to try a common chord modulation.
To create a common chord modulation, you want to look at the list of seven chords that exist naturally in the first key, and then find the chords that also exist in the list for the key you’re moving to. For example, check out the list of chords that exist naturally in C major and then in D major. Any chords that are in common between the two keys are shown in bold:
C major: C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim
D major: D, Em, F#m, G, A, Bm, C#dim
The Em and G chords are the ones that are in common. They can provide you with a smooth way to transition from one key to the other. You’ll still sense a “shifting of musical gears” as you make the change, but the common chord makes that change smoother and less startling.
In musical terminology, the G and Em chords are known as pivot chords, as they have the potential of giving the impression of swinging the tonality around in a new direction.
So assuming you have a song in C major and you want to move to D major, here are a few chord progressions that can achieve that. The first 3 use the G chord as the pivot, and the next 3 use Em:
- C F Dm G Am Dm G Asus4 A ||D
- C Am Bb F G A A7 ||D
- C Dm G E7 Am G A7 ||D
- C F Dm Em A ||D
- C G F G Am Em F#m A7 ||D
- C C/Bb F/A F G Em Em7 ||D
The pivot chords above are in bold type. Anything up to and including the pivot are in the old key of C major. Anything from the pivot onward is in the new key of D major.
In general, modulations tend to be upward ones, because an upward modulation usually generates more musical excitement than a downward one. But that’s not a rule, of course. As always, you should let your ears be your guide as to whether or not a modulation is working.
And keep in mind that key changes are not overly common in music. It’s much more likely, in the world of pop music songwriting anyway, that you’ll begin and end a song in the same key.
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Thanks for replying to my question Gary. Much appreciated.
Gary, Thanks for sharing your knowledge and please keep the blogs coming.
Thanks very much!
-Gary
Hey Gary, What about instances where you want to change keys but there are no shared chords? For example from C major to F# major?
What are some good ways to smooth out such a modulation and not make it too stratling?
Thanks!
Some key changes are going to be awkward, especially something like C major to F# major. But if you’re making that startling a key change (an augmented 4th), you’re probably going to be all right with a bit of a jolt. For those two keys, you could try something like: C F Dm Db7 ||F#.
In that example, the Db7 sounds like it wants to slide down to C. (Technically, it would be called an augmented 6th of IV, but that’s not important right now). In fact, if you play the above progression and end on C rather than F#, you’ll hear that it works to stay in C major, and also as a modulation to F# major.
When changing key, your choices are to provide a change that has a pivot chord (like the Db7), or to create an abrupt modulation. An abrupt modulation simply means that you move from one key to the new one with no real attempt to smooth the transition. It can be very interesting, but generally creates a rather strong surprise, and so it’s up to you and your ears as to whether it works for you or not. (The key change just before the final choruses of “Man in the Mirror” (Michael Jackson) is an example of an abrupt modulation.)
Hope that helps,
-Gary