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MUSIC MODULATIONS AND PIVOT CHORDS
As you’ll discover in Chapter 6, more often than not, music modulations implement something called a pivot chord. A pivot chord is a chord that has one role in the original key, but a different role in the new key.
The melody usually moves chromatically in conjunction with a chord change to the pivot chord. This enables the tune and its harmony to magically pivot like an NBA player out of the original key and into one of 23 other possible keys.
Sometimes a series of chord changes and melodic moves will pivot the tune quickly through a series of keys: a modulation chain. These are called transient modulations, and normally result in the tune finally setting up shop in a new tonal centre.