Are key changes making a comeback?

[@janekalbinsky]

We used to have this drinking game for the Eurovision Song Contest: one shot for every key change and one for every time the wind machine was used. I stayed depressingly sober the last few years...

[@iCraftDay]

😂

[@aleccino]

Fr we need to bring back the key change to Eurovision

[@alittlechese2567]

We only had one key change this year 😭 and none last year

[@FishMonger849]

When I first heard that song I shouted like a moron to my wife, “ Key Change!! Holy Fuck a key change!” and all her response was to say “that’s nice” and condescendingly patted my should

[@sparklyqueen12]

same

[@hgfhghfghgfhf7822]

My wife does the same thing for me too

[@cocokwispy0908]

Divorce :D

[@ecotonoirrelevante246]

why would you marry someone that doesn't resonate with you?

[@sasvkeee._]

@@ecotonoirrelevante246tbh, we dont know everything about their life from one comment but i get why youd say that

[@taeblends]

The key change is literally what MADE the song for me. I noticed it right away- it added something so unique and special to the song & I LOVED it

[@Greybell]

it makes the song even wittier tbh.

[@acv.critter4811]

Never mind the key change, what about the secondary dominant? Bring back the secondary dominant!

[@tylerhackner9731]

I hope so. It’s sorely missed. It gives drama, and energy to a song

[@Magst3r1]

Red Hot Chili Pepper songs often have key changes (often subtle), for example Dani California, Californication, the Zephyr song, Wet Sand. Under the Bridge has 3 different keys.

[@Bacopa68]

The minor third up while staying major was huge in the seventies and eighties. Minor third up from a minor scale to relative major was even bigger.

[@anexpertonthematter1468]

Cope bozo

[@catomajorcensor]

"Truck Driver key change" is an interesting term I've usually heard "Eurovision modulation", "Disney modulation", or "Schubert modulation"

[@Bacopa68]

Term started in the US at least in the 90's and may date to the seventies when "Trucker Country" was a thing. Truck drivers often use engine breaking by downshifting to save fuel and reduce wear on the brakes. You can do this in a manual transmission car too, but my little Nissan does not make nearly as dramatic a sound.

[@puffin88]

I have head it called a "producer's key change" because apparently, a record producer could do it even after a song was recorded. (I'm not sure how, though. Sure, they could speed up the playback and record that, but I don't see how they could do that and maintain the tempo)

[@rickalexanderguitar]

@@puffin88I think they call it a “producers key change” because a producer could direct the artist to repeat the final chorus up a semitone during the recording session. Not after recording though. Edit: so the key change wouldn’t necessarily have been brought in by the artist in their initial version of the song but instead could have been added by the producer during the session.

[@midwinter78]

Ah Eurovision. There are drinking games which are basically lists of Eurovision cliches, and key changes are on the list.

[@antonioskollias6584]

​@@midwinter78 Key changes are starting to fade out in Eurovision too, actually. Last year, there were no key changes in all 37 songs, and this year, only one song had it (Finland).

[@AmtrakProductions]

Never thought I’d see SICKO MODE on this channel

[@user-ue2lx6py9j]

why travis has so much genius in his music

[@The_T-Bone]

@@user-ue2lx6py9j You serious? did you hear those transitions, I'd be embarrassed to release something that bad

[@zimmejoc]

@@The_T-BoneNo, I didn’t hear any transition, which is one reason it was so bad.

[@satelliteimagerymusic]

@@zimmejocyall are both crazy. they’re three different songs in one, like bohemian rhapsody or paranoid android. And only the second change doesn’t transition

[@satelliteimagerymusic]

@@The_T-Bonethe transitions (mostly the first one) actually borrow from Jamaican Dub music, take it up with the country if you have a problem

[@adri_mirn]

I wish David would talk about Mitski. She's a real genius on composition and production. A lot of her songs use key changes, modulation and other techniques.

[@LeoDurman11]

🙏🙏🙏

[@viennanotarianni7169]

YES.

[@valennttinn]

YESSS PLEASEE

[@francisleaks]

YESSSSSAAAA YEYSYEYSYE6SYEYWYEYYEYEYDYSYWYEYSYEYWYEYWYEYWHRHWYHEYWYEYWYEYWYEYYWYEYEYE

[@carl6814]

YES

[@MakoMusicYT]

Some Kpop groups use lots of key changes. The last two Red Velvet songs, Chill Kill and Cosmic are really cool examples

[@mangoshakies]

One of my fave kpop key changes is Mr. Mr by Girls' Generation, they had like 2 key changes, but yeah, Kpop has a lot of examples for key changes

[@iloveamerica64]

that's what i was gonna say--kpop has a lot of them, especially Red Velvet!

[@gyeomibear]

doughnut by twice too

[@blackatblu]

@@mangoshakies girls generation are absolute titans

[@delulu4KD]

Was going to mention Red Velvet too. One of the last true musical gems left in kpop and they're so underrated

[@KillSilenceLoudly]

My wife and I listened to and had a discussion about “Please, Please, Please” while on a drive. I was CONVINCED the second verse of it was a Bridge because of the sparse difference was from the first verse. Never heard a song that does a key change like that on a verse in the middle of the song and reverts back. I have now conceded to her I was wrong. Thanks for the very informative video as always 😊

[@grurupoo]

The Show Must Go On by Queen is another song that jumps keys for 1 verse. That's the only other one I can think of off the top of my head

[@freyprevett8000]

I'll Stand By You by The Pretenders is in D major for the majority of the song but jumps down to C major for the second verse!

[@dijon-xx1tz]

And the bridge ended the song, which is also unusual.

[@joelwagg8314]

I Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You has a very similar second verse, I think moving from E major up to G major.

[@FillyNouch]

In hip-hop, it's usually called "beat switch" cause the whole instrumentations change, like you where noting in the video. It was used quite a lot from 2018-2022, it's not used as frequently nowadays. Thanks for the great content as always! Hip-hop song with an actual key change that his quite recent : Little Simz - Two Worlds Apart (very subtle, only one bar).

[@shocksystem8675]

Facts

[@HardikAgarwal10]

Family matters, euphoria, pushups

[@oishikaray2767]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@stitchgroover]

Key changes have become increasingly rare at Eurovision as well. They used to be so common they even formed part of a drinking game - have a shot everytime there's a keychange.

[@carlosgravy7966]

Interesting. However, I'm surprised you didn't show us how Please Please Please would sound had it stayed in A major.

[@pinkajou656]

It might have been too long of a section for copyright?

[@Bacopa68]

@@pinkajou656 And also because the song would suck without this.

[@tubthungusbychumbungus]

YES!! It really bugs me going into that second chorus feels like a really abrupt downshift and I've always wondered how it would sound if it stayed in the new key

[@pinkajou656]

@@Bacopa68 well that would prove the point he’s trying to make, right

[@AeptaX]

One I find interesting is in Billie Eilish's song "THE GREATEST" (at around 3:06), where for the drop the song switches from G major to either G mixolydian or C major. Also, Olivia Rodrigo's song "obsessed" is normally in the key of F dorian, whereas in the bridge it transitions to F minor for some measures and then goes back to F dorian (starts at around 2:06)

[@themodernshoe2466]

I love that part in THE GREATEST. I'd say it's most likely switching to G instead of C based on the melody, where it walks up and back down from G->C->G (I->IV->I, lyrics are "just wanted passion from you"), which is pretty idiomatic for G major.

[@tararose9097]

can you please explain what F dorian is? i tried googling it but it didn't help :(

[@AeptaX]

@@tararose9097 I‘m gonna simplify this a lot, but dorian is a musical „mode“. It originated all the way back from church chorals. Dorian is a mode that starts on the fourth of a minor key. In C minor that would be F dorian. You essentially treat another chord as the „home“chord. By doing so however, you also change how the harmony functions. In F minor the progression obsessed uses would go like this: Fm - Ab - Bbm however it goes like this: Fm - Ab - Bb The four chord turned to major, which gives the song its distinct dorian feel. (The minor triad for the first chord and the raised 6th for the four chord).

[@schaerfentiefe1967]

@@tararose9097 The dorian mode is similar to the minor mode ("aeolian") but with the second half-tone step raised from 5-6 to 6-7.

[@althealligator1467]

I mean I'd argue that modes aren't keys. A song can't be "in a mode" - I mean it can, if all of the notes it uses belong only to that mode, but that has next to nothing to do with the perceived tonality of the music. Take for example the classic James Bond chord progression, in Ab major/F minor: Fm-Db-Bb The first two chords belong entirely to the F aolian mode, yet the third chord would belong to the F dorian mode rather than F aolian. Would you say the progression is in either F aolian or F dorian? No, that's absurd, you'd say the progression is in the key of F minor; the modes are just different flavours at different points in the progreasion. That said, I do think certain modes are stable while others tonicize other keys, but that's a much more complex discussion that isn't necessarily relevant here. But for example, without getting into _too much_ detail, while F aolian is stable and clearly F minor, F dorian tonicizes Eb major / C minor because those are the stable relative modes of F dorian, which is itself unstable: so even if you're still in Ab major / F minor, you're also in Eb major / C minor at the same time. Try it, take any progression you want that is clearly in F minor by sticking entirely to the F aolian mode, and then introduce any chord from F dorian which features a D natural note rather than Db. You'll see that Eb and Cm will sound resolved - which doesn't mean that Fm or Ab won't still sound resolved if you go back to them, but point is it will create ambiguity between keys by making different keys resolved at once. If you don't believe me, this is what happens every time you do a 2-5-1 to another key or use a secondary dominant, for example: Fm-Db-Bbm-C7-Fm-Bb7-Eb The first four chords _no one_ would argue aren't in the key of F minor, right? But the last three chords, most musicians will recognize as a ii-V-I in the key of Eb major. But if you pay attention, you'll notice that the only thing you really did was introducing the F dorian mode rather than F aolian mode from before by using a Bb chord rather than Bbm, or a D natural note rather than Db. That alone is enough to tonicize Eb major. Now again, this doesn't mean that Fm won't still sound resolved if you go straight back to it, you've just created tonal ambiguity.

[@titanofplasma1129]

J-pop and anime music feature key changes a lot, and it hasn't stopped doing it, especially that minor third up when transitioning from the verse to the chorus (and yes, that cheesy whole key for the end of the song too xD). YOASOBI, a superduo who became famous by being the first Japanese performers in many years reaching #1 in the international Billboard (excluding the US), change key in about 90% of their songs.

[@stickii_B]

I was about to comment that!! I thought key changes were quite common because that’s literally my whole music taste!

[@Marcador27]

Shut up koreaboo

[@mangoshakies]

Its not a Yoasobi song without a key change atp haha

[@oliverdelica2289]

Racing into the night for me at the edge of my seat

[@miiticguest686]

Eastern music in general hasnt stopped doing key changes, J-pop and K-pop have always done those kinds of changes

[@FMaple]

Things that need to come back in modern pop music: 1. Key changes 2. Instrumental solo

[@MrGnuifje]

Yes, bring it on, preferably with uncommon solo instruments like the recorder (ROCK in the USA, Fool on the hill), trombone (I scare myself) or marimba (Moonlight feels right)

[@mysterioussquid906]

Just on that final comment about Taylor Swift, Gold Rush from Evermore has a key change from A to D (or maybe G Lydian?) from verse to chorus. It gives the chorus a really nice lift that stands out from the other songs in her discography, kind of a shame it wasn’t more of a hit because I really love that song (and Evermore in general). She mostly does truck driver key changes so this is a pretty rare exception for her.

[@redcow8176]

it goes from a major/ionian to a mixolydian I believe but yeah I love that song too

[@lena8316]

⁠@@redcow8176so it goes to mixolydian in the same key? is it really a key change? or just changing the mode

[@redcow8176]

@@lena8316 a mixolydian is basically d major so it's just going down a step on the circle of 5ths, only difference is that gs are natural

[@MarcDoesNotKnow]

gold rush is my favorite taylor swift song and I agree it should be bigger!

[@cereal-connoisseur]

Come in With the Rain (from Fearless) also has a verse to chorus key change!

[@badgasaurus4211]

Livin’ on a Prayer has to be the best truck driver gear shift there is Edit: Variation on a truck driver gear shift

[@certainlynotthebestpianist5638]

Oh, yes, definitely. Especially as it is paired with a beat skip (1 bar of 3/4 among the sea of 4/4). It works absolutely brilliant!

[@andrewberthelsen2817]

No no no. It’s famously a minor third. Three semitones. Truck driver is two semitones.

[@hman2912]

But I've heard that song so many times in my life since it's release, that I've reached saturation point. I just cannot do it anymore

[@Bacopa68]

@@andrewberthelsen2817 Correct! Bon Jovi would never do a truck gear shift. They went the full minor third. To be fair, truckers can shift to a minor third too.

[@puffin88]

For me, it's that old song from the 70s called "Life Is A Rock (But The Radio Rolled Me)"

[@TheStickCollector]

I'm always a sucker for key changes/modulations. Maybe it's because it's a new take on the melody?

[@gb-929]

same!! a key change is always a nice touch in a song imo. sometimes it adds a feeling of "finality" to a song, but i think the reason we like them so much is just what you said: it's a new version of the melody, and we usually like new things. that's just my opinion though

[@RobyMBeki]

If you like key changes, there are some pretty ones in my music. 😊 No pressure, just wanted to let a key change lover like yourself know. Hehe. 🎶🎵

[@glennpagemusic]

@@TheStickCollector It adds a level of complexity and surprise that the brain appreciates, unless it's an obvious one or it's been overdone.

[@weaintfoundsht]

Yeah, I think that's basically it. When asked why we should modulate in music, my professor said "because otherwise it's boring".

[@glennpagemusic]

@@weaintfoundsht A good point, but it doesn't have to necessarily be boring without a modulation; you just need to employ a different set of elements and methods to keep things interesting if you're NOT going to use modulations.

[@marianmeletlidiscrap]

Since no one has mentioned Next Semester by TØP yet, I'm gonna mention it myself: the verses are in A major and during the chorus the song's key goes up a fifth to E major with the help of the B major chord, a secondary dominant. After the second chorus, the song's key stays at E major. It's not a super complicated key change (the keys are very closely related), but I think it works pretty well.

[@brandonkey181]

thats a great key change

[@Emma-tf9jg]

it’s so good!!

[@SheetFiber]

The first thing comes to mind was Sweeter Than Fiction, the first work from Antonoff and Swift. The intro and the verse are on B major but shifted 3 semi tones to Db major for the chorus and the bridge. It was released in 2014 as single.

[@l17___321]

billie eilish's new song l'amour de ma vie uses a key change, though it's not a single

[@shocksystem8675]

Sorry but those are beat changes un her album.

[@FairyCRat]

I remember Taylor Swift actually using a truck driver gear shift key change in her song Betty from the album Folklore. On a completely different note, one example of truck driver gear shift key change that really struck me is by the deathcore band Lorna Shore. It's really unusual for the style to have that, and yet in their song And I Return to Nothingness, they do it twice back to back, first 2 semitones up and then 3 semitones up. They actually did it again in Pain Remains pt. 2, although this time only changing by 3 semitones once. And it does work really well with their emotional style of melodic deathcore.

[@KozakuraRabbit]

Pain Remains II is the example I cited earlier, I love how it transitions from C sharp minor to E minor as a way of transitioning between Pain Remains I and III.

[@gayatriunni549]

i thought of betty as well, because although it’s a predictable cliche, i do love it because it does “pump some extra energy into it” as david said, but it wasn’t here because it wasn’t a single

[@paulhaynes8045]

I have no idea what "emotional style of melodic deathcore" means! And I think I prefer it that way...

[@KozakuraRabbit]

@@paulhaynes8045 deathcore is a genre of music, a combination of death metal and metalcore (which itself is a combo of heavy metal and hardcore)

[@joelwagg8314]

@@gayatriunni549 The key change works for Betty (and also Love Story and Mine) because there is a point to it. The final choruses in each song are different to previous versions, and the truck driver key change makes that clearer.

[@twistedmuffin23]

i freaked out when i saw sabrina on a thumbnail for david bennet piano, i knew there was a key change in it and i was waiting to see if david would make a video, OMG!! thanks so much

[@Algox]

I've NEVER noticed the prechorus key change in Leave the Door Open. That's genius!

[@mrwassef]

I unironically love that Sabrina Carpenter song. Parts of it are reminiscent of ABBA to me.

[@JF-sh2sm]

ABBA’s Angeleyes also has a key change in its second verse in the Mamma Mia 2 version! Also imo Money Money Money has one of the most dramatic key changes ever

[@EchoMountain47]

Why does everybody have to qualify their love of something with “unironically” now? You can just say you like something

[@robertmariano]

Yeah, with Sicko Mode seems more like a Song change. Sicko Mode was inspired by Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.

[@shocksystem8675]

Absolutely agreed

[@marianat1393]

he said that in the video

[@barneystinson4183]

Is Beyonce's Love on Top not one?? I mean she just goes up and up and up and up........ God I love that song.

[@jaapsch2]

It is more than 10 years old, so not in the last decade. (2011).

[@quailstudios]

Key changes are awesome especially when they are subtle using pivot chords.

[@tracer4b]

For Honkai Star Rail players here - I really liked the key change in “If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking” The song begins in B major, then goes down to Ab major (technically G#) for the chorus. The final chords of the chorus are E - F#, which for the first chorus is a IV - V back to B major for the second verse, but for the final chorus is a bVI - bVII to end the song in Ab major

[@misternewoutlook5437]

How did Rick Beato miss this?

[@FredWooo]

David sounds so excited in the beginning! I pray key changes keep finding their way into current music!

[@joakobm60]

this sounds like fps game competitive meta analisis, ARE KEY CHANGES COMING BACK IN THE NEW MUSIC INDUSTRY PATCH UPDATE???

[@yosemitestarlight]

Taylor Swift actually uses key changes somewhat often, although it's mainly limited to the "truck driver" key changes you describe. Examples include Love Story, Getaway Car, Betty, and I Can Do It With A Broken Heart off her new album.

[@jandy608]

And mr perfectly fine and paper rings

[@waulie_palnuts]

Right, exactly. Why's it always her that gets the hate? She's not less talented than the pop song writers David chooses to take seriously

[@elliotgreen987]

@@waulie_palnuts It baffles me, she is a modern pop mega star who writes her own songs, plays multiple instruments, uses key changes, and occasionally time signatures outside of 4/4! Surely this should be encouraged and celebrated

[@alecmcgrathofcanada9175]

​@elliotgreen987 Taylor Swift does not write her own songs. She has a panel of songwriters. She goes from one writer to the next to keep finding different sounds. Look at the writing credits on her albums.

[@elliotgreen987]

@@alecmcgrathofcanada9175 She has writing credits on every single song

[@davemeyer8483]

It wasn't a hit single, but the Taylor Swift song "Gold Rush" off of Evermore has a noticeable key change that goes from F#m in the verses to G in the choruses..

[@embersun.]

I went to a band camp for a few summers and during lunch they would play music. It was a tradition during lunch time to shout "key change!" whenever a song did one. It was very fun and very on theme with a band camp lol

[@wa11ie]

conan gray has done several truck driver gear shift key changes on his new record this year as well, it was very inspired by 70‘s and 80‘s music in general and is a great listen if you‘re into that era of pop music at all. as cheesey as they might be, i love a truck driver gear shift key change, they give me such a distinct feeling. they make me feel good. please please please was the first sabrina song where i got sabrina carpenter on a musical level. before that i thought she was cute and funny and charismatic but her music never landed. key changes really are the way to my heart and as much as i love the gear shift key change, i think please please please is doing them so unlike to how i‘m used to and that is exciting.

[@timo_543]

ok for Dynamite, it is quite a common trend in the k-pop genre. I think its just a k-pop thing

[@yepaxle1111]

In my country, we have a song competition called Melodifestivalen, that has been going on since 1958 (with a couple of expectations). I remember that in the 2000's to the early 2010's, key changes were a massive trend! If you search for compilation videos of Melodifestivalen entries or just listening to those songs between 2002 up to 2012 maybe, you'll discover a lot of songs with a "truck driver" key change.

[@TomRussle]

Nooo Leave The Door Open's actual key change is in the last chorus, going up to D flat and staying there till the end! I would say the pre-chorus isn't really a key change, just a borrowed chord from the parallel minor (c minor)

[@DavidBennettPiano]

I did forget to mention the other key change that Leave The Door Open has later in the song! Oops. Although I would still call the change to Eb a key change as well because it’s not just the chord Eb we get… we get Eb Ab Gm Fm… a clear Eb major chord progression.

[@TomRussle]

@@DavidBennettPiano as a Classical Piano bachelor graduate, It's still not a significant enough shift for me to call that a key change. Glad you acknowledged the keey change at the end though. Thanks for the answer :D

[@ricolibrando8716]

Can you do a video about the Music Theory of Mild High Club?

[@Gorilla7738]

Yess one of my favourite bands, such complex jazz chords with a psychedelic rock sound, it's unfortunate that a lot of their music is overshadowed by "Homage"

[@Hayk_Kotanjian]

can you please break down some the smile songs

[@illegal_space_alien]

LOL. No more Radiohead, it seems. Time for Radiohead 2.0!

[@satelliteimagerymusic]

YESSSSS

[@brindan5103]

Interestingly, there are a number of taylor swift songs that have key changes. the last chorus of Love Story is the most obvious one but Getaway Car and Gold Rush have unconventional key changes in the middle of their songs. Also adding to that, since Taylor is one of the biggest musicians at the moment it’s surprising how many of her songs feature a key change such as Betty, Paper Rings, I Think He Knows, Mr Perfectly Fine, and more. I haven’t really noticed any in her latest albums but hope we do get more because key changes are just incredible.

[@integerdivision]

THE GREATEST by Billie Eilish modulates to Mixolydian and then back via the II (borrowed from Lydian) and this is echoed in that motif at the end of SKINNY and BLUE. BITTERSUITE and BLUE also change keys but those are more of the Happiness Is a Warm Gun variety variety.

[@shocksystem8675]

I'd say it's a major scale change than an outright key change, the bridge is still in G major just like the rest of the song. Also, "Bittersuite" and "Blue" change beats.

[@MaggaraMarine]

Modal mixture is not a key change, though. Key change requires the change of a tonal center. "The Greatest" stays "in G" all the time.

[@goobab-from-the-osc]

I think that if we're not going to be too picky as to what counts as a key change, Good Luck Babe by Chappell Roan (#10 in the US, #4 in the UK) could count as a second hit to have a key change. It doesn't abruptly change keys, but the song slowly pitch shifts down in its final chorus from D major to B(?) major. I think this is a fairly unusual key change (assuming that it is one), not just because it's wide (3 semitones down), but also because it modulates downward. I definitely feel strongly that key changes making a semi-comeback this decade is very plausible, not just because there are at least two examples of fairly big hits with key changes, but also because these are from two relative newcomers in the pop scene. Sabrina has been making music for a while but hadn't hit it big until this year, when she got her first top 40 hit, first top 10 hit, and her first #1 hit, all within a span of months. This is even more true for Chappell Roan, who in the span of three months has went from having no hits on any national chart to having 5 concurrent songs in the top 100, including 2 in the top 40. I can't wait to see what other songs will have key changes in the future.

[@shocksystem8675]

"Good Luck Babe" simply has a slowed-down and pitched-down ending, so I wouldn't count it as the key change.

[@meroller1]

Well - in Barbershop arrangements, even the most modern ones based on pop songs, key changes have NEVER gone out fashion, and even though they tend to be of the "truck driver gear-shift"- type of half steps up, they are sometimes extremely hard to properly execute. More often than not, sadly, these key changes tend to let the song end at approximately the same key it stated in, instead of a semitone to 1.5 tones lower due to pitch sloppiness along the way 🥵 But the glee, when we DO end up a quarter note HIGHER than we actually should have, is exuberant 😆

[@Grombags]

I sing in a barbershop chorus and yes - the key change is very much alive and kicking, in fact, perhaps a little overused?! Pitch dropping is a perpetual struggle but then we do have to maintain pitch (and tempo) ourselves unlike with a band where the instruments and electronics do that for you.

[@glennpagemusic]

I'm going to have to assume we're not including modulations from the relative minor to relative major (and vice versa)? Could it really be true that hit songs after 2010 don't even do that? I'd be very surprised.

[@mrwassef]

Like no hit songs ever? The one the immediately comes to mind for me is “The Way” by Fastball. I wanna say a handful of ABBA songs do it. Mr Jones by the Counting Crows. ELO Beatles Crazy Train Stop in the Name of Love by the Supremes

[@glennpagemusic]

@@mrwassef Yes, thousands of songs modulate between the relative minor and major, including the ones you mention. In fact, I would estimate at least 20% or more of all songs do it, at least prior to the 2000s. That's why I was asking if he was including this most common of all key changes in his calculations of songs in the 21st century.

[@mrwassef]

@@glennpagemusic ahh I understand now, I think I misunderstood your comment.

[@glennpagemusic]

@@mrwassef 👍

[@Bacopa68]

Minor to relative major used to be commonplace. "Hotel California" and "September" are good examples. Some songs like "Borderline" and "Message in a Bottle" even went the other way around. But a mode shift isn't exactly a key shift, and I think relative minor/major shifts are rare these days too.

[@Jesus_Wept]

Burt Bacharach was the master of key changes.

[@astroandyborgloh]

... in pop music ... Remove "Burt" and "arach", and we have the real master of key changes.

[@zCqiFish]

I especially loved his work with Ms. Dionne Warwick. Two songs in particular stood out to me, "Say a Little Prayer" and "Promises, Promises". I love them both because they just genuinely sound so energetic, and they're also deceivingly hard af to sing. Especially the latter, the time signature sits at a place that's just relentless to your lungs.

[@TayWoode]

That rare key change of 3 semitones up was used in “I’m every woman” towards the end & Kylie Minogue “Got to be certain” at the bridge. Then both go back down again

[@b00ts4ndc4ts]

Michael Jackson, Man in the Mirror has a great key change and imo the best ever recorded choir.

[@hunniii2356]

7:46 she has quite a few, her last few songs to feature a key change as far as i remember was getaway car, in 2017, paper rings in 2019, and betty and exile in 2020 she has some songs in which the verses are in minor and then the chorus is a major but idk if that is considered an actual key change like that

[@shocksystem8675]

"Paper Rings" is my favourite example of the key change in the Taylor Swift song.

[@althealligator1467]

7:44 Taylor Swift is actually an avid user of truck driver key changes, she just hasn't a top 40 song of the year with one since 2013. But the whole tone key change in Love Story is one of the most iconic key changes ever. Getaway Car from 2017 also features a big one going into the bridge, but the song just wasn't big enough.

[@Chico50445]

One of my favorite key changes is from Muse's Survival off The 2nd Law(2012). If it is common I'd love to hear more examples of this kind of key change. But the song starts on Bb, and the solo that bridges the 1st and 2nd verse move the key down a whole step to Ab, where it stays for the rest of the song. It makes the second half of the song sound more aggressive in my opinion.

[@Arianatorqueen]

Greedy by Ariana Grande, That Should Be Me by Justin Bieber, Versace on the floor by Bruno Mars have key changes at the end. Love them.

[@joelwagg8314]

My immediate thought was This Hell by Rina Sayawama, which presumably just wasn't in the top 40 of that year because it's full of key changes. Green Light by Lorde has some modal interchange going on in the pre-chorus, but probably doesn't count as a key change.

[@LeoStubbing]

I really miss the fabulous key change. So many of my favourite songs from the 80s & 90s have a key change. A recent single from Australian singer Ricki-Lee had a key change on her single Point Of No Return around the 2.30 mark 👍🏻

[@kIQ21]

Key changes are actually quit common in K-pop! Some interesting examples are Pop? Pop!, Nu ABO and Savage (by aespa). There are also some "gear shift" key changes like in Love by f(x), Step and Jumping by Kara.

[@Lance-qv6rq]

Good luck, babe! By Chappell roan is really popular lately, and in the end of the track the song has a key change

[@hman2912]

My favourite key change is in Jigsaw song sky high. The key changes at the chorus and gives the song a real intensity. Same goes for fool on the hill by beatles.

[@electricrain_]

I'd also love to mention Escapism by Raye and 070 Shake. Almost the whole song is in E minor and in the end it changes to C minor adding that melancholic vibe to the song. That song charted only at #22 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it was quite popular in the UK and it also went viral on Tik Tok

[@_postershuhua]

oh cupid, the blueprint you are 😭😭😭, too bad the key change version is the one that didn't go viral

[@lessismore8533]

YES! I LOVE how Sabrina’s song goes back to the original A major, our brain tells us she would stay on C major

[@hendrikbabois7971]

Chew on my Heart by James Bay also has a key change for the chorus

[@arminrichard1836]

LOL just learned about you today through Lateral and now the algorithm brought me to you. Great vid

[@MrGnuifje]

This episode reminded me of the ever spiralling 2010s indie song - Time to give by White Lies, which jumps up by 3 semitones three times in its outro, which makes a full octave. Road rage by Catatonia was also all over the place (and the front page) in 1999. Can't think of any new songs that do this.

[@Htktny]

Key change never left

[@charlierogers5403]

Didn't "Escapism" by Raye have a key change right at the end of song? That was number one in the UK at least a few years ago.

[@AbiSaysThings]

The source is Billboard which ai guess makes things simpler but does skew the data quite significantly. I'm sure you can find more examples if you cast the net a bit wider. I doubt Silk Sonic would have made the UK year-end charts but maybe there were more examples that would take its place.

[@la516]

I love the phrase “truck driver key change”, my music teacher used to call it “the sound where Westlife stands up”

[@jrvr9559]

ABBA's 2021 single "Don't Shut Me Down" begins in B flat major, turns to C major in the first chorus and then climbs up to D major in the second chorus. The song somehow pushes you upwards, creating a jubilant atmosphere.

[@TheNextDoorNeighboor]

A lot of Inabakumori's jpop songs feature key changes

[@Kumquat_Lord]

If you listen to the right music, they never went away

[@fisherkhongmaly9893]

I never expected David Bennett himself to say, let alone cover sicko mode

[@v8superspecial]

I think it would be interesting to make a sort of classification of key changes "varieties" and their function in the song .. and especially the "key changes that really aren't" like for example in the last part of the meme song "Bad Apple" .. where it's basically a ..pitch shift of the whole song, with a very jarring effect (which actually serves the song quite well)

[@nstrug]

The Last Dinner Party have key changes (and time signature changes, and tempo changes) all over the place and they’re definitely pop. I think.

[@SlamJamMusic]

I think my favorite key change in modern music is from New Person, Same Old Mistakes by Tame Impala. The bridge of the song almost sounds entirely different but it's not so jarring that it doesn't work.

[@danstokesmusic]

Great video David! 👍

[@alexiswoodbury7326]

I said the exact same thing when a student showed me the song! A key change and no auto-tune effect.. refreshing!

[@enixcheen5192]

I'm surprised you didn't mention Fifty Fifty's Cupid, which have key changes too.

[@elvwood]

Key changes are still very much a thing in the music I listen to most - in fact they're almost a cliche for some bands (Sabaton, I'm looking at you), while for others (cough Nightwish) you need a scorecard to keep track of key and time signature changes...

[@SeventhSwell]

Seems like this has been the key change in popular music over the past few decades.

[@davitofarito]

I like a downward modulation for guitar solos. I find a semitone shift is very effective

[@Riqitch811]

One of my favourite key changes is the one in "You Win Again" by the Bee Gees. I envisage that key change as like the sun coming out after seeing cloudy skies for too long, it's so enchanting. Also, I think we need a "How the Bee Gees use music theory" video in a similar fashion to the video you did on Coldplay

[@spherbert8080]

Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys' "This Whole World" is perhaps the ultimate key change song. In the first fifty seconds it goes through four keys (C-A-Db-Bb) and 16 chords. The cycle then repeats for a total of seven modulations in under two minutes. And it sounds like just a completely natural catchy pop song. Sheer brilliance.

[@Reglar_Dawg]

Their "Don't Worry Baby" was one of my first key change exposures, modulating from the tonic D major to E major in the pre-chorus/chorus, then back.

[@stereohype1]

Stock Aitken Waterman famously used key changes in their songs all the time. Very few didn't have them.

[@zCqiFish]

I wouldn't consider Sicko Mode to be here as some sort of "key change" song, while yes they change keys but I don't think it was really the point of it. In fact in general Rap barely uses any music theory at all. The trick they used here though was a beat switch. It's pretty common in modern hip hop songs - see euphoria by Kendrick Lamar

[@tiaralcu]

dynamite is such a weird example to use. keychanges have never left kpop

[@EquinoXshowcases]

"imperfect for you" by ariana grande, in her new album "eternal sunshine" has some really cool key-changes. idk how to explain it cause I do not know all the technicalities, but its like it only changes key temporarily or something 😭

[@evansanders14753]

my favorite recent key change in in billie eilish' "The Greatest" where it goes from G major to F major in the bridge

[@MendozaMichelle100]

When I think of key changes, I imagine a row of a boyband group sitting on a row of stools, standing up on a key change, and we girls start screaming 😃

[@chukanjoku1107]

I think they call this love by Elliot James l. It just came out two days ago. It has this nice Elvis Presley vibe and also has a key change at the last chorus. It goes from E flat major to F major. You should check it out

[@miwonyy]

key changes are really common in kpop

[@miwonyy]

recent examples of this are - doughnut - stay this way - feel my rhythm - scenery - cupid - plastic candy - savage - stamp on it

[@justmartin0729]

I was super surprised when I listened to My Oh My from Ava Max, when I heard that key change in the last chorus. However, I was kinda expecting some “extra energy” should be released at the end, since the end of the bridge… like… to me it seemed like it’s gonna happen, but I was surprised that it actually includes one of those classic ones…

[@miiticguest686]

It really surprises me how western centralized music analysts are surprised when they see a K-pop song with key changes. They never left k-pop. Some clear examples are Cosmic by Red Velvet, Mr. Mr. by Girl's Generation, Cupid by Fifty Fifty, Heart Attack by Chuu, and Stamp on it by GOT the beat (this last one has multiple rhythm and key changes). But one I think it deserves our whole attention is Deja Vu by Dreamcatcher. It's a song that uses a guitar riff to have that key change. It also considered a masterpiece among the community due to the fact that it has a tension and release dynamic with 2/3 instruments (+ vocals), yet it still feels really a song filled with a lot of things. Dreamcatcher is really a group I recommend to music enthusiasts, since they aren't following the mainstream of neither of the industries, therefore freely adding some irregularities in their songs (Dissonance in DEMIAN, for example).

[@theepisofdiabolos-dj5xh]

nice video as always!!

[@FauxieDaoJia]

Melody in general needs to make a comeback. Music that goes somewhere. This is why I only love someone like Shiina Ringo more and more over time because she's an old-school kind of composer while being in some ways a legit mainstream pop star.

[@BrunoReisVideo]

i was waiting for someone to comment on this one!! such a good and unexpected key change

[@lcvolt1546]

Check out “the doorway” by Spock’s Beard. As far as I remember, the songs starts in A, goes to D, changes to A, goes to G, goes back to A, then the last chorus is on E, back to A and ends in D

[@lucy_eliza]

When I heard “Please Please Please” for the first time, I was with my best friend, and I just kept saying “whoa, a key change!” “Oh my god, another key change?!” I love it lmao

[@OMGolly101]

She was referencing the ‘so Dramatic’ song by Olivia Rodrigo 🤯

[@nuke97]

I thank Beato for spanking the industry a bit for the past 5 or so years.

[@treyrmason]

Interesting editing choice to use the image for C major that shows naturalized sharps for the Silk Sonic example that modulates to Eb major 2:40