How to Change Key with One Note - Music Theory

[@MusicMattersGB]

Learn Music Online - Check out our courses here! www.mmcourses.co.uk/courses

[@jayducharme]

That was like watching a magic trick. It's amazing how well it works, and it's so seamless.

[@MusicMattersGB]

It opens up all sorts of possibilities.

[@davidwhite2949]

Respelling the enharmonic. I like that. Opens up all kinds of modulation possibilities

[@MusicMattersGB]

Indeed

[@bigpicturehero]

Neat little trick. I like how it doesn't really minimize the disruptions of the key changes, just puts a pedal point under them. The tension is interesting and potentially powerful.

[@MusicMattersGB]

It certainly opens up more colourful options

[@CarlosMartinez-gr1rp]

I like that you are explaining the things at a more reasonable pace for advanced students :)

[@MusicMattersGB]

😀

[@martenw8341]

Awesome video! As a lover of Bruckners symphonies these modulations reminds me so much of his themes

[@MusicMattersGB]

Absolutely re Bruckner.

[@simongross3122]

Thanks, that is really interesting. I think the other reason it works, other than the pivot note, is the smooth voice leading in most of the other parts. I love the idea of going through unrelated keys very quickly but still smoothly.

[@MusicMattersGB]

It opens up lots of options

[@tomwawer5714]

I just asked a question and I got an answer here haha. Thanks a lot!

[@jayagopi1]

Absolutely marvelous video on pivot note and how to use it. Thanks for sharing 👍😊

[@MusicMattersGB]

A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk

[@superblondeDotOrg]

06:50 Fascinating technique. A good writing exercise to revisit. ..but I wonder what it would look like in figured bass notation. The graphics in this video look very good. Much better than white board and markers.

[@MusicMattersGB]

Glad you enjoyed it. It could be written in figured bass notation

[@bettyennin6335]

Thank you sir. Awesome teaching as usual. God bless you

[@MusicMattersGB]

You’re most kind. Bless you too.

[@sega62s]

Merci!

[@MusicMattersGB]

A pleasure! Thank you very much for your generosity and support for the channel!

[@jeffkelly8624]

It must be a coincidence, but it seems like every time I check in here, your videos follow my Berklee Music and Theory classes. This week, guess what were on? That's right modulation and pivot chords. Spot on mate, another great video.

[@MusicMattersGB]

Excellent. Pure coincidence! Glad it’s helpful.

[@glyncraig5796]

Pop music is full of pivot note modulations . A good example is Patsy Cline's "Crazy" .It modulates from 2 flats to 7 flats via Gb 7th with pivot note Bb

[@MusicMattersGB]

Absolutely

[@starbean2196]

I'm a retired person who is fulfilling a lifelong dream in starting to learn how to play the piano! Your videos are very inspiring, and you explain everything so clearly, and I'm learning so much from you. This may be too basic a question for you to answer, but could you possibly do a video on correct posture at the piano. I'm thinking of where your arms should be held, how far from the piano, how high/low you should be, and I'm sure many other things. Or maye you've already done one and could point me in the right direction. Many thanks.

[@MusicMattersGB]

Thanks, that’s very kind. We do talk a little bit about that in lesson one of our piano videos that can be found here. kzbin.info/aero/PL5j5H06QkhxEU67uectx3JqD2ElOe2IQY

[@starbean2196]

@@MusicMattersGB Thanks, I'll check it out.

[@MusicMattersGB]

😀

[@jondellar]

Fascinating as always. Thank you! 😊

[@MusicMattersGB]

A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk

[@caesargreco7115]

I want to learn exactly what you did from 1:47 - 3:04. That's so COOL. I just get confused when I ponder over why it's like that. I know cadences and stuff but when I examine romantic music (Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, etc.), it seems like they break free a lot of the time from the conventional harmony. Of course, they still use cadences and stuff, but I just feel like I'm always missing the theory that explains how they think of their musical ideas, with their own nuances tied into it all. I dont know how to explain it, but I just want to know how to use all of the complex chords and stuff :(((. I guess an example would be Op. 9 No. 2 by Chopin. Such a simple melody with beautiful chords that work so well together like jam and buttered scones. Helppp

[@MusicMattersGB]

It’s all about understanding chromatic chords and extension chords, and understanding how more dramatic modulation comes about.

[@5966ramesh]

Brilliant. Thank you 🙏sir. Something very new ...Very adventurous.

[@MusicMattersGB]

A pleasure. Glad it’s helpful.

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

This is above my pay grade, and I'm trying to get above just plunking the piano. This is motivating for me to keep learning. But it also shows me how much more I have to learn. Oh well, back to the basics.

[@MusicMattersGB]

That’s great. Keep going. Much more to help you at www.mmcourses.co.uk

[@PlayitonPan]

🔥🎶 Major thirds modulation sequence 😎 F, D♭, A 💫 (edit: counter-clockwise 🔄, ‘descending’ Major thirds, although ‘ascending’ minor sixths works 🙌🏾)

[@MusicMattersGB]

Which note are you repeating in that sequence?

[@monicaconsigliereLavieenfleur]

Fantastic music theory teacher. Thanks

[@norakat]

Thanks bud. Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃🍁

[@MusicMattersGB]

And you!

[@tomwawer5714]

Thank you for great content! A pedal note can be such a harmonization note so I can use all scales contains this note - am I right or it’s oversimplication?

[@MusicMattersGB]

A pedal note might fit the chord or not.

[@tomwawer5714]

Ah I see thank you!

[@tomwawer5714]

So I should change pedal note when I modulate using pivot chord or pivot note this is so interesting!!

[@MusicMattersGB]

That’s one option OR the same pedal point might work in the new key. All depends on the circumstances and on what sounds best

[@Raffael-Tausend]

I always really like the Modulation to the flat submediant!

[@MusicMattersGB]

It works really well

[@PijanitsaVode]

All tasty and surprising. One would thing that besides the pivot note condition, you'd normally have a rather continuous or 4th, 5th relation in the bass - not the case with the bold bass leap at the beginning of bar 3. Colours!

[@MusicMattersGB]

😀

[@stephenbashforth8257]

Hi Gareth, would use of 7th chords avoid parallel 5ths around the pivot note? the chord sequence then being: F C7 Dm7 Db7 Ab7 Bbmin A/E D Dmin A? meaning the alto voice has F(minim) E (crotchet) C (crotchet) Bnatural (minim) C (crotchet) Bb (crotchet) A (minim), A (minim) A (semibreve)? with the F# of the D maj chord being in the soprano voice?

[@MusicMattersGB]

That’s a possible solution.

[@BrianKlobyGuitar]

Interesting.. thank you :)

[@MusicMattersGB]

That’s most kind. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk

[@PijanitsaVode]

Both involve changing, from the top note, a m3d to a M3d. The top note having function 1 (or elsewhere, 5). Frequent in jazz reharmonization.

[@MusicMattersGB]

😀

[@stephenbashforth8257]

The Db maj chord - should there be an Ab in the chord? rather that a voicing of 2 Dbs and 2 Fs?

[@MusicMattersGB]

There could be an Ab but it would have resulted in blatant consecutive 5ths.

[@stephenbashforth8257]

A second question - it may be my reading of the handwritten score - but the last crotchet beat of bar 3: are the notes D F A and Bnatural? or should the B be a D natural? is the chord a Dmin chord or a Dmin6 chord?

[@MusicMattersGB]

The notes are DFAB. It’s a borrowed II7b from the parallel minor (A minor).

[@omeldoid]

What’s so great about it is that to me it feels both as Dmin6 (so a IV maj to iv min to I maj) and as a Bmin7b5 to I maj

[@MusicMattersGB]

Yes. It offers interesting musical options.

[@martinbennett2228]

Isn't the second bar more Bb minor than Db major? The descent of an augmented 4th in the bass to the 3rd bar looks a bit awkward. Could you use an A7 chord and thereby continuing the bass pattern? I really like the flattened fifth inverted II7 (or is it a minor IV6 chord?) to A major ending. Can that count as a cadence? Lots to think about - thank you.

[@MusicMattersGB]

The second bar is really Db because of the Ab in the Dominant chord. You could rewrite it with A natural in that chord to make it a diminished 7th in Bb minor if you prefer that for the key at that point. At the end it’s really a borrowed II7 first inversion from A minor.

[@martinbennett2228]

@@MusicMattersGB The ending really does feel like a cadence, but a bit like a plagal cadence going into a Picardy tierce. I really like it. I see your point about the Ab (not in the harmonic minor scale) , but it is followed by a Bb minor chord, allowing a chromatic shift into A. The way you present it makes it look as if the harmonisation is easy, though I know it is not.

[@MusicMattersGB]

Absolutely re the final cadence. It’s really a Plagal Cadence

[@alfonsomaribona]

Brilliant lesson as always. But, one question: the parallel octaves between bass and alto (fourth beat bar 1 to first beat bar two) wouldn’t be a problem here?

[@MusicMattersGB]

Well spotted!

[@pjny123]

Brilliant as always! My only question is what would the next to last chord be called? If we're now in the key of A major, would it be a chord 4 (a D chord with the F# flattened and a sixth added?). Or would it be somehow built on the 2nd degree and in 3rd inversion, again with a flattened f#? Clearly I need to go back and review your theory course! Thanks so much for these wonderful videos.

[@MusicMattersGB]

I would label it II7 in first inversion borrowed from the parallel minor key

[@MusicMattersGB]

I would label it II7 in first inversion borrowed from the parallel minor key

[@haroldpurvis9111]

@@MusicMattersGB why in first inversion please? Is it not ii7 in root position?

[@MusicMattersGB]

The chord is BDFA so that’s II7. With D in the bass it’s in first inversion.

[@gabrielfigueiredo4372]

But can II7-I be considered a cadence? Is it some sort of plagal cadence? And from the parallel minor? Very interesting sound! How does it work?

[@luiginomarchetto309]

I think my question would make for a great video!

[@MusicMattersGB]

What’s your question?

[@johnerskine8367]

Does it matter that the method of modulation results (or so it seems) in parallel octaves in the alto and bass of the third to fourth chords - or is the idea that in this more adventurously Romantic style parallels are nothing to worry about?

[@MusicMattersGB]

I’ve put that in to raise the very question you have. Of course the convention is to avoid parallels but the Romantics do sometimes use them in these contexts, especially when passages are orchestrated

[@josephinebrown6631]

Thank you kindly🤍

[@MusicMattersGB]

A pleasure

[@ericmirza9497]

Very informative

[@MusicMattersGB]

A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk

[@alvaromorenoacosta1518]

5:25

[@MusicMattersGB]

😀

[@luisfmoreno]

You make everything seems so easy 😅❤.

[@MusicMattersGB]

It’s just years of doing it.

[@isaacshaw1596]

Is that a minor 4 before the last chord in A major over the dominant?

[@MusicMattersGB]

It’s really a minor II7 first inversion

[@isaacshaw1596]

@@MusicMattersGB Wouldn't think you would write that way because it isn't a conventional cadence. I know a lot people write like that but you seemed to write a lot more conventional type music if that makes sense.

[@MusicMattersGB]

The II7 is of course very close to IV as II7 is effectively IV plus the note B. So it’s not as radical as it might appear

[@luiginomarchetto309]

I noticed that the D harmonic minor scale has a Bb and a C#. So my question is, why not Db, instead of C#?

[@MusicMattersGB]

Ah. This is your question. Each scale has one of each letter name so D minor starts with one of each letter:- DEFGABCD From there we add flats and sharps but we can’t have a scale that ends up with two different kinds of D while C is absent so we end up with C# and D natural

[@luiginomarchetto309]

@@MusicMattersGB Thank you.

[@MusicMattersGB]

A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk

[@llewelluynzepper6741]

I love it. Thanks.

[@MusicMattersGB]

A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk

[@alandraalexandria6526]

Hello, I wanna ask. Can I learn music theory just with this playlist? Are your videos in order to learn? Bcs I'm confused where to learn theory. I can't afford music course :((

[@MusicMattersGB]

All our KZbin videos are one-off videos. The structured A-Z courses are available at www.mmcourses.co.uk

[@Dave-nm8uk]

Interesting. However choirs and string instruments can sing or play with different temperaments, so for choral or string music is the clever trick of using enharmonic substitution appropriate there too? My guess is "yes", but some purists may not like the use of such enharmonic "equivalence".

[@MusicMattersGB]

That’s an issue certainly but in reality every key change presents that problem. A string player will be in a very slightly different position when playing Db from playing C# but they manage modulation and enharmonic change accordingly.

[@in.stereo]

Awesome 👏 ❤

[@MusicMattersGB]

😀

[@GuitSiva]

Thanks.. 👍🙏

[@MusicMattersGB]

A pleasure

[@byronmahoney6403]

Would love to hear what happens from d-flat to c-sharp when using (extended) meantone - i.e. not enharmonic but probably more interesting 😂

[@MusicMattersGB]

😀

[@davidwhite2949]

Even though these modulations are to remote keys, they sound good. Sort of jazzy

[@MusicMattersGB]

Absolutely. An invitation to be adventurous

[@cocique]

thanks!!

[@MusicMattersGB]

A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk

[@ekoi1995]

Ah it's like directly modulating starting from a minor chord to a major chord just a semi-tone below it.

[@MusicMattersGB]

😀

[@glyncraig5796]

The late Charlie Parker (aka Bird) reportedly said "There is no such thing as a discord , only context and resolution " .Probably true at least for bebop !

[@MusicMattersGB]

There’s a lot of truth in that.

[@RichardMooreMusic59]

Please end on a F# chord!😁

[@MusicMattersGB]

😀

[@PijanitsaVode]

Your jingle has a quirk. Can I describe it in a personal message?

[@MusicMattersGB]

😀

[@gregmasters55]

Oops! Consecutive octaves! 😉

[@MusicMattersGB]

Well spotted!