Modulation & Transposition
Changing key partway through a piece, and moving a whole melody to a different starting note while keeping its shape.
Explainer
Transposing means moving a whole melody up or down by the same interval, so it starts on a different note but keeps its exact shape. Every note moves by the same distance.
Modulation is different: it's the music itself changing key partway through a piece, not just being copied into a new key. The most common modulations are to closely related keys — the dominant, or the relative minor/major.
A pivot chord is the smoothest way to modulate: a chord shared by both the old and new key, used as a hinge to swing from one into the other.
Why use either? Transposition fits a melody to a singer's or instrument's range. Modulation adds harmonic variety and momentum across a longer piece.
Worked examples
Transposing up a 2nd
C-D-E becomes D-E-F♯ — same shape, one step higher.
Modulating to the dominant
C major moving to G major partway through a piece — one of the most common modulations of all.
A pivot chord
A chord that belongs to both the old and new key, used as the hinge between them.
This chapter doesn't have its own one-page sheet yet, but its content is already covered by two Printables documents: Changing Key and Transposition. It also absorbs Grade 2's former "Simple Transposition" chapter, now retired.
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