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6.12.7 Pivot Chord Modulation: What It Is and How It Works
A pivot chord is a chord that’s common to both the prevailing key and the key to which tonality eventually moves. Pivot chord modulation works like this: Suppose the original tonality is the key of F major. The chord F major is common to both the key of F major (the tonic chord) and the key of C major (the IV chord). So F major can be used to “pivot” out of the key of C major and into the key of F major.
Figure 102 (below) shows another example, this time using a pivot chord to modulate to a remote key and back again (no particular song, just a generic example).
In this example, the original key is C major. The remote key is C♯ major / A♯ minor. The pivot chord is F in the original key and F7 in the remote key.
FIGURE 102: Chord Map Showing How a Pivot Chord is Used to Modulate to a Remote Key