Talk:Modulation (music)

Enharmonic Modulation
The enharmonic modulation section described some examples of combining diminished 7ths' and dominant 7ths'/augmented sixths' in a single paragraph that was hard to follow and understand what the author was attempting to illustrate. As explained in the edit history, I have deconstructed this and made sense of it, re-writing with the same examples and logic but with full necessary context to understand the points being made; I also feel I have provided much more depth to this and corrected some inaccuracies. Originally, some quasi-tonics were described in inversion (which would not establish tonality in the new key). I have spent a few days editing this and making sure all information is accurate however if anyone wants to proof read that would be welcome; I'm not a regular wiki user but any points or validity of chord spellings etc. could be discussed here before editing (if required) in order to double-check first. Manc24 (talk) 21:22, 6 April 2016 (UTC)

Gear change?
The term "gear change" is totally unfamiliar to hundreds of books and articles on harmony, and it is, at best, a gimmicky and misleading metaphor used by a few amateur music theory teachers who ought not to think they understand very much about music. Efraimkeller (talk) 16:02, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

Is there an alternative, more established name for this modulation? Rp (talk) 14:23, 5 October 2022 (UTC)


 * Wikipedia is not written for experts, who already know this material anyway, but for the general public, so Efraim's elitist attitude is totally unwarranted. I have reinstated the term "truck driver's gear change" (not gimmicky or a misleading metaphor but more likely a slightly mocking term) given that it is also a redirect to this article. --Florian Blaschke (talk) 16:42, 17 February 2024 (UTC)


 * JFTR, per TV Tropes: "The term Truck Driver's Gear Change was apparently coined by this site, which compares the technique to a tired, overworked truck driver performing an unartistic, mechanical function.", and the linked website says (clearly with tongue firmly in cheek): "Many writers and arrangers feel that when their song is in risk of getting a bit tired, it can be given a fresh lease of life by shifting the whole song up a key, usually in between choruses, towards the beginning of a "repeat-till-fade" section. You may have heard this technique informally referred to as "modulation", but the correct ethnomusicological term for the phenomenon is the truck driver's gear change. This reflects the utterly predictable and laboured nature of the transition, evoking a tired and over-worked trucker ramming the gearstick into the new position with his – or, to be fair, her – fist." FWIW, Wiktionary labels the term "slang" and "derogatory", and BTW, I've also seen it referred to as "(truck driver's) gear shift", which may technically be even more precise. --Florian Blaschke (talk) 19:11, 17 February 2024 (UTC)

Shift modulation
What happened to the link to the truck driver's gear change website? That's pretty relevant. --24.13.239.194 (talk) 22:31, 12 February 2013 (UTC)

Agree with above. Maybe the sources were really a bit non-neutral, but I am pretty sure that when an average music listener thinks about modulation the first thing he has in mind are the numerous examples of finales in pop songs. And this should definitely stay in this article ... 195.210.211.241 (talk) 20:22, 18 February 2013 (UTC)


 * You mean the part that was removed in this 2010 edit? I doubt that gearchange.org (which has now disappeared) was a reliable source, and TV Tropes is definitely not, since it is also a wiki generated by lay users.
 * That said, the gearchange.org website might be called useful nonetheless – it points out that musicologist Walter Everett is prone to using the term, which arguably ennobles the term to some extent – when some complain that the term isn't being used in academic musicology. --Florian Blaschke (talk) 17:45, 17 February 2024 (UTC)

Outline
My proposed outline:


 * 1) Intro: In music, modulation is the act or process of changing from one key (tonic, or tonal center) to another, also known as a key change. This may or may not be accompanied by a change in key signature.
 * 2) Types of modulations: prepared vs unprepared, smooth vs abrupt
 * 3) Smooth modulations: by fifth, to relative minor/major, circle of fifths
 * 4) Abrupt modulations: truck driver's gear change
 * 5) Function of modultion: divides first subject from second subject in sonata form, not used with full chromatic or twelve tone technique, modulatory space
 * 6) Other
 * 7) A sequence, which is the repetition of a short passage at different pitches, may involve modulation, but usually does not. In cases where the key is changed, the sequence is sometimes called a rosalia.
 * 8) Metric modulation is named after pitch modulation.
 * 9) Conclusion


 * I thought the article would benefit from listing and describing the various types of modulations... some rearrangement of the original outline and material made it flow better. Should probably come back and supply musical examples. Mindspillage

Great content, wonderful additions. Do you have sources? However, I would remove the link to "closely related key", and tonicization repeated under "Compare with". I also would disagree that the modulation under discussion is possible in twelve tone music. Hyacinth 07:37, 28 Jun 2004 (UTC)


 * Created an article (if stubby) on "closely related key" instead of leaving the link red; I thought it deserving of its own page. I've heard "modulation" referred to in twelve-tone, though not, clearly, changing key -- but I can't find my source; changing back until I find the accursed text again! One more list of modulations linked to that I used for reference. Mindspillage 18:59, 28 Jun 2004 (UTC)

The article could use some material on the purpose of modulation as well... providing interest in music. From one perspective, all music is about a journey through keys, building tension as it moves away from the tonic, and resolving that tension as it moves back towards the tonic - and modulation is vital in that process. It's something like a plot of a story/novel. Maycontainpeanuts 13:00, 12 Oct 2004 (UTC)

I don't think it's appropriate to discuss ring modulation at the end of the article. The articles purpose is to inform the reader in it's relation in music theory. Discusion ring modulation and the like detracts from the articles purpose. 142.179.15.181 18:20, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

FIXME -- someone edited the section about common modulations. The page cannot stay as it is now.

I'm the same guy of the FIXME note above. Thanks for fixing it, at least partially. (The comment above was anonymous because I didn't have an account. I just made it now). I have a few doubts about including the reference to Persichetti. His book does not deal with common-practice tonality and therefore does not have any treatment of modulation as it is described here (in the dominant/tonic sense). Wouldn't it be better to pick another primary reference such as Piston or some other more traditional harmony text? Persichetti could be left as additional reading. Rikypedia 02:24, 15 February 2007 (UTC)


 * I realize this is a rather extreme section-zombieing, but I note that the lede now says: "This may or may not be accompanied by a change in key signature."  Whereas the version above straightforwardly says "also known as a key change".  Given that key change is a redirect to this page, and hence might reasonably be expected to be a bolded alt-title, it's a little alarming the the phrase is never even used directly here.  Maybe later sections go into the weeds of the distinction being made here. I could attempt to discern this for myself, but generally the more I read the articles on musical theory, the more confused I get.  I think the opening section needs to at least roadmap this a little.  109.255.211.6 (talk) 06:35, 4 March 2021 (UTC)

Re: ring modulation
Having learned the signal-processing meaning of 'modulation' before the key-change meaning, I'm interested in the background of this dual usage. To me it's an ongoing source of confusion, though not nearly as bad as the way guitarists reverse 'vibrato' and 'tremolo'. Many musicians know about 'ring modulation' and 'frequency modulation', but then there's plain 'modulation' that doesn't seem to have anything to do with them. At least not in the sense of being a more general term.

There are some algorithms that use signal-processing modulation to achieve musical modulation, but I'd expect musical modulation to be a much earlier term. Any ideas?

TeknoHog 16:03, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Moravian modulation
Please, would somebody explain me what kind of modulation is the so called moravian modulation ? Thanks in advance. --PeterSarkoci 18:28, 26 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Moravian modulation is modulating a whole tone lower (subtonic), especially in minor keys . See also: Moravian scale. Hyacinth (talk) 05:53, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

Moravian modulation is a term introduced by Leos Janacek. The melody in this modulation is descending from the tonic towards the seventh. The explanation given by Janacek himself is found in: Stedron, Bohumir, ed. Leos Janáček: letters and reminiscences. Artia, 1955. Jurian81 6 june 2015

Chromatic Modulation
This example is ambiguous because the IV in C is also a common chord between C and Dm (it would be III in Dm), thus one could call this a common chord modulation. Can we agree to fix this? Also, I hate capitalism. Amber388 (talk) 04:44, 24 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Every chord in any key could be a chord in another key. Hyacinth (talk) 09:02, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

The seventh chord from the left in the Chopin Prélude example
Is that really a V13, and not simply V7 decorated with an appoggiatura or passing note? Double sharp (talk) 15:47, 17 April 2014 (UTC)

Technical Point
Changing the key without changing the key signature only reflects bad writing skills. It is not musically acceptable to change a key without changing the key signature, as a general rule. Where it happens this way, the music is still technically in the same key, but rather the mode has changed, as opposed to the key. Therefore, this point needs clarification. 108.201.29.108 (talk) 02:44, 28 August 2017 (UTC)
 * This is completely false, as a quick look through any score from Bach to Mahler will tell you. Double sharp (talk) 14:41, 25 January 2018 (UTC)

18th-century quote in the lede
I doubt the relevance of this quote, since in the eighteenth century modulation meant voice-leading. Both this meaning and the modern meaning make sense in this context, which makes it possible that the author has simply been misunderstood. Double sharp (talk) 03:01, 26 January 2018 (UTC)

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To add to article
To add to this article (or to create a new article): in musical literature, the term "metabole" refers to modulation of mode within a musical movement or piece, often by changing one pitch in the mode (for example, switching from the pentatonic mode Do-Re-Mi-Sol-La to another pentatonic mode, Do-Re-Fa-Sol-La). 173.88.246.138 (talk) 08:21, 27 April 2020 (UTC)

Not all key changes are modulations
This article seeems to conflate - incorrectly - the terms "modulation" and "key change". All modulations are key changes but not all key changes are modulations. Most of the article correctly focuses on what musicians understand to be modulation, for example when the tonic modulates to the dominant (eg using a "pivot chord"). But occasionally it refers to what in popular music is called a "key change", when the music simply shifts up a semitone (or very occasionally a tone). The latter is different from the former in a number of respects, eg there's no underlying change in the harmony (the whole thing simply shifts upwards in pitch) and the original key is never returned to. In addition, this type of key change is virtually unknown in classical music and jazz, and almost always takes place towards the end of a relatively short song (of around 3-4 minutes in length, the standard length for a pop song).

In short, they're two entirely different types of musical technique, and should be treated as such. Brooklyn Eagle (talk) 23:42, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

Audio file of example would be helpful
Not all readers can read music. RadioactiveBoulevardier (talk) 07:56, 18 July 2024 (UTC)