You Are Reading the First 6 FREE Chapters (470 pages)
Meaning of Modulation: Moving to Different Keys
-
Movement of keys. Modulation means moving to a different key—passing or transitioning from one key to another. Tonicization and modulation create variety on a larger scale by taking tonality itself into parallel universes—different keys altogether. Usually (not always), tonality returns to Dodge City, like Marshal McDillon after Ms Puma forgave him and let him have his old job back because she missed the big galoot, and because she didn’t want the responsibility of being the marshal and having to keep track of Deputy Fester’s whereabouts.
The music in harmony, like the music in melody, has a hard time getting noticed if it does not move around. Chords may move slower than the notes of a tune, but move chords must.
(Or ... not always. For instance, Bob Dylan’s scary, unforgettable “Ballad of Hollis Brown” uses one chord throughout, a minor triad. So does Areta Franklin's version of "Chain of Fools." And "Papa Was a Rolling Stone," by The Temptations." Look 'em up on the GSSL.)