Magical Key Changes: How to modulate between keys in a song

[@DJKoollord]

What an amazing composition sir, respect.

[@crazyRyoga]

9:20 This type of modulation (4+3) is really interesting and I found out Chopin used it in the Ballade n1, during the beautiful progression from Bar 90 to 93. In that case he went from major to minor to major etc.., keeping 2 notes from the previous chord instead of 1. It goes like this: Bar 90 Eb, +4 semitones ---> Bar 91 Gm, +3 semitones ---> Bar 92 Bb, +4 semitones ---> Bar 93 Dm. If you look at the Circle of Fifths, starting from C and going clockwise by adding 4 semitones then 3 then 4 etc. and keeping the 3rd and 5th note of the cord you are in to form the next chord (you just need to adjust the new 5th note to a perfect fifth) you will see you are playing every key in the circle: C,Em,G,Bm,D, etc..going all the way back to C after 24 keys.

[@huss2600]

00:23 please release this piece as a seperate youtube piece. I would love to listen to this for inspiration, relaxation, and to have a lovely addition to the atmosphere when i'm playing games.

[@malcolm_mal2055]

9:27 oh my god that sounds beautiful! it just feels so natrual and gives you a shiver down your spine. i love it.

[@Compassiron1]

I came here for basic theory instruction and got my mind blown by a beautiful tune 😄 well played sir

[@victorumoren8960]

This video is underrated!

[@MangoldProject]

Is it? Then SMASH THAT LIKE BUTTON AND SUBSCRIBE!!! If we get to 1,000,000,000 likes I will eat a Steinway piano!

[@thepalabrasuelta]

You are an excellent teacher! Thank you for all these lessons!

[@redslayer50]

I just want to say that I’ve always had faith in you, @MangoldProject. As are many tutors across the Web, you are a significant part of my piano career. Thank you for your dedication and hard work in encouraging the spirit of music!

[@MangoldProject]

Thanks. Do my best ...

[@Ndo01]

Such a beautiful piece, and fantastic tutorial!

[@MangoldProject]

Thanks, Nando!

[@slugware]

This is very lovely piece! Sounds very 'story-telling'-ly , like a movie score! Especially the key change to Amaj..Love that! Your videos are awesome, thank you for your work and willing to share!

[@MangoldProject]

Thanks Ivanov!

[@didierlinsen3712]

Brilliant. Beautiful. For theorists, I was watching this video with a circle of fifths aside : 3 semitones gives a square on his tip, 4 semitones gives a triangle. Wow

[@MangoldProject]

Interesting, never thought about that.

[@josua_htp]

MangoldProject can you please elaborate more? eli5 perhaps?

[@PIANOSTYLE100]

Yes elaborate about that. Pythagoras was (the triangle guy,,) is the one that came up with the notes of the pentatonic scale..these were used in Greek plays. We take for granite the octave. It was done with strings and ratios. Hmmn. Dissect a square from corner to opposite corner ..you get a 2 triangles. That is just miscellanea. I think the univ of connection did a study on Pythagoras. It was the Physics I Dept. pianostyle100.

[@PIANOSTYLE100]

@@josua_htp yes I a elaboration.would be great.

[@richvienas3153]

Excellent breakdown of musical theory. Helping me immensely to ‘understand’ the theory behind the music.

[@martinsgarden1304]

Wow ... beautiful composition and very well explained.

[@GayGIJoefan1976]

Lots of beautiful in this piece! Definitely felt many different emotions and definitely have my own favorite parts..

[@julesgardet659]

What a beautiful piece you wrote. 3:17-24, I can listen to that transition non stop.

[@johndecicco]

0:24 The Ab Maj(b5) at the end is so poignant. Beautiful and beautifully done. The G7sus4 reminds me of Randy Newman and New Orleans.

[@MangoldProject]

Thanks. You probably meant 1:24.

[@johndecicco]

@@MangoldProject I did! :)

[@jojo-fj7lw]

@@MangoldProject you probably meant 1:22

[@TedBoyRomarino]

I learned this kind of modulation as "chromatic mediants", when you use major or minor thirds

[@unexpected8166]

you're right

[@philburpalooza8]

I know you were just making a broad generalization and basically I enjoyed the lesson. That said, you're the first I've heard that described modulating from D Minor to E Flat minor as in So What by Miles Davis (modal jazz) as corny.

[@MangoldProject]

Haha. It wasn't when Miles did it, but since then many of these ideas have been used and reused many, many times.

[@dboyd8628]

Good lesson as always. I second the sheet music request. You are a master of the machine. We lower level mortals must crawl before we can walk. I am sure sheet music of this lesson would help me grasp the concepts with repetition. I also would like to know what someone found not to like about this! Thank you!

[@MangoldProject]

Thanks Delen. I'm unfortunately too busy to prepare sheet music for my lessons - I hope the on-screen keyboard helps, though.

[@mattnbin]

Excellent demonstration and description!!!!

[@julesgardet659]

I have no clue how to play anything, but somehow I felt and understood everything he said.

[@maaksmann]

So beautiful.. .listened in multiple times.

[@GD-bm5by]

Beautiful composition. I have a lot to learn from your videos. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[@stripedhyenuh]

9:25 This sounds obscenely good for just doing a simple shift several times in succession

[@aniketdive339]

Idk what to say but you taught me piano in a complete different way......Thank you so much 💮

[@MangoldProject]

Happy to hear that!

[@0liverwarren]

I consider myself pretty well versed on improv but honestly I think you are just a genius. That said, I think you move quickly and your examples are also very complex. Sometimes the lesson you are teaching is almost obscured by the complexity of the example. If we distill the "learning points" from this video, I think it would be a better lesson if each learning point had a few examples attached to it, some simple and some complex. For example a learning point was 'repeat a motif in the new key' which is a great idea I will use :) It would have been cool to hear you do that a few times in a few different styles.

[@xasancle]

For me was enough!

[@jonnylpenman]

that composition is absolutely gorgeous. great video and very helpful too

[@debaser1042]

Oh man, I was scrolled down slightly so that the first chords I saw were the G and D major. I was so confused when you said it started of in C haha. I could hear the I-vi-IV so I thought the chart was screwed up.

[@ragurambarath9481]

Music genius, if this piece is in a written form I can play. You are a wonder.

[@southpark5555]

So beautiful. Very nice. Thanks so incredibly much for this and every other lesson.

[@vicmartinez4532]

You learn creativity with this guy

[@Wayne_Robinson]

Great little composition where the modulations flow very smoothly. I'd learned of that small upward modulation as "arranger's modulation" but truck driver gear change is a much more fun term.

[@MangoldProject]

There are entire websites devoted to it :). Just google and you shall be enlightened!

[@seleniticdawn]

I adore your videos. You present such interesting concepts in a very digestible manner and it really helps that you put together great pieces (which could stand on their own) to demonstrate. Thank you.

[@MangoldProject]

Thanks for the kind words, Sean!

[@cacauceluque]

Would be great to see a video of modulating between minor keys tones.

[@GayGIJoefan1976]

Thank you for this video I have yet to watch the whole thing but found it as I am trying to come up with a piece that will have 3 different keys..

[@None_NoneType]

Thank you so much for the beautiful piece and the lesson.

[@ciscamariani1633]

Great lesson. Though I still have some part I'm not really understand yet. Will try it and listening again so I can completely understand. Thank you 😎

[@PIANOSTYLE100]

Lot to take in here.

[@zerouseless]

wow mangold, that was such a pretty melody!!!! thx dude u always explaining amazing stuff, god bless you!!!!!!!

[@VictorAlvarez-vm6hc]

It’s a beautiful piece mate! WOW!

[@MrSonicAlchemy]

Great tips! Thank you for sharing!

[@arunkanikraj2058]

That is really amazing. I would like to play this piece, if u provide the music sheet it wll be much more helpful.

[@edgaracosta9976]

I find that elaborating the key change itself is not as difficult as finding a way to bring the key back to the original in a way that fits nicely and does not feel weird. It often feels like a puzzle. If you could make a video explaining how you choose the harmonic functions of the key change that will take you back to the original key, that would be amazing!!

[@musicalintentions]

You always give us such interesting things to consider. Thank you.

[@diegomonroy4790]

Thanks a lot for your lessons. Are pretty musical and well explained. Thanks again :)

[@MangoldProject]

You're welcome Diego.

[@iamtec87]

Keep it up, love your lessons.

[@sherlock5141]

Great lesson again! Thank you Sir!!

[@zahidsalwanisofficial4958]

You awesome sir , beautiful , God bless you, I'm following you in my many compostaion, Regards,

[@SamuelPeckman]

Thank you for this lesson. I will watch this more than once because there is a lot to take in. Many new ideas for me. I would like to ask you, when you modulate should the piece of music end in the same key that it began in.

[@tehedx]

Great piece, thank you for sharing your knowledge on this!!

[@MangoldProject]

Sure Edgar. I enjoy doing so and I'm glad it helps people out.

[@lukegregg5944]

What a great lesson, I have an assignment set by my music teacher to write a short composition so this is helpful. One thing I always seem to struggle with when starting my own piece is knowing whether to start with a melody or chord progression? Any tips as the way you usually start the process for one of your pieces? Thanks.

[@huss2600]

starting with a melody is better. when you start with a chord, the melody has to be relative to those chords otherwise it will sound too dissonant and unrelated. however if you with the melody you have much more chords to choose from. basically, starting with chords limits how you will create your melody on the other hand, beginning with a melody offers a much more expansive choice of chords.

[@mybook2510]

Amazing teacher! Thank you for your generosity. I discovered your channel recently and have been learning from you. It’s been two years since the day posted. Hope you can still see my comment.

[@MangoldProject]

I'm seeing it right now :)

[@mybook2510]

Stay safe ❤️

[@theconstantinepost3428]

Mind blowing! 4 thumbs up!

[@musicforever5104]

Like an open door and all you see is open universe..great stuff

[@craigkeller]

Great video lessons, much to think about. Thank you!

[@therealterrymilla]

thank you much my friend. great info as usual.

[@funmilolafalodun8579]

The piece is beautiful

[@MangoldProject]

thanks!

[@lunar1227]

Amazing! Such a nice piece!

[@IwanRRachmanHepiano]

Nice tutorial and great voicing 😘

[@logothescanandeffectmaker2122]

Sounds great 👍🏻

[@kenolp11]

Nicely done...love it...

[@jesseshepard2324]

Here is one of my favorite key changes i've written, which i'm still trying to figure out why exactly it works, so if anyone can explain, I'd appreciate it: Normal chord progression F# minor, D major, A major, E major Right hand plays descending octaves in quarter notes of A, A#, E, C#, back up to E (landing with D major), then when the left hand plays A major, the right hand plays A, A#, A, B, then half notes of A and A# when the left hand plays E major. My modulated chord progression however, is F# minor, F major, B minor, C# major. I know that was a lot but if someone could help with the theory, i'd appreciate it.

[@matthewwillson242]

Here's how I'd think about it: your normal chord progression is in A major, or you could also choose to think about it as being in the relative minor of A major, F# minor (natural). Your modulated chord progression is also in F#minor (harmonic). It's a pretty standard i iv V progression in F# harmonic minor, except for the F chord that you throw in, which you could perhaps think of as a colourful tritone substitution for the iv chord (B minor) of F#minor, which you then move on to. It doesn't take us out of the key for long enough to consider it a modulation though, more a bit of passing colour. One thing that's a bit odd though is the A# note played over F#minor, which clashes a bit, but I'm assuming you're playing it high up. I'd just think of that as some chromatic colour in the melody that doesn't change the harmonic analysis too much, maybe adds a bit of tension. Others might have some more sophisticated way of thinking about this though. YMMV though / all a bit subjective :)

[@dalimsameer8032]

I love your playing .Its overwhelming so much to learn from every tutorial. This soft music inspire me all the time. Do you have any course on offer ? Or are you on patreon so that i learn from you everything ??

[@ericsun1872]

so beautiful. like Joe Hisaishi’s music styles

[@irlmusic5690]

Beautiful! Thanks so much!!

[@pierre6940]

Beautiful!!! Merci beaucoup!

[@xasancle]

G-R-E-A-T You talk about "abrupt", is that there are "smooth" changes? Thank you! And it's a must to always ended where you started? I noticed that only a 3 st change = dim7 and only 4 st change = Aug. It's also very similar as Chromatic Mediants exercises used a lot in Film Scores.

[@MangoldProject]

Interesting distinction. "Abrupt" means there are no chords preceding the change, so there's nothing preparing the listener to the shift in tonal center. As for the special status of 3st and 4st, I wouldn't read too much into it. There's also no real rule saying you need to end up where you started, although it does make sense if you want to build some sort of repeating unit in your music (repeating things is important in musical songwriting - it plays the role of a musical motif, which can be melodic, harmonic, or even transpositional!)

[@xasancle]

@@MangoldProject thanks for answering, today I understood the abrupt by my own but your attention is great.

[@Stilwuf]

Holy damn I learned a lot. Thank you, good sir

[@jonascederlof7450]

Fantastic video! Thanks!

[@MangoldProject]

You're welcome. Jonas.

[@trromance]

Very Clinical ...and thanks a lot

[@matt.goodall]

really quality content man, keep it up!

[@handznet]

Love this so much. Great lesson. Can I ask you one thing? How it came that in a Cmajor you can use E maj chors. From my improvs I found that Emaj followed by A min chord sounds really cool. What is theory behind it? Thank you

[@MangoldProject]

You mean an E major triad. Higher tensions (Emaj7, Emaj9) don't sound too good. You can think of the E as the "secondary dominant" of the Am. If you want a more thorough answer than that, you'll have to watch my jazz piano series (I discuss this in lesson #5): kzbin.info/www/bejne/nHukequVhZyBgbs

[@handznet]

Thank you, I will watch it!

[@dwaynemusik]

Wow that is absolutely Beautiful how did you write that!!!?

[@MangoldProject]

well, I'm not sure how to answer that. How do you explain creativity?

[@isaacphilip7874]

That sounds sweet Sir useful❤✌

[@MangoldProject]

Thank you Isaac.

[@Elje18]

Beautiful,i would like to play that melody..anyway great video

[@francobonanni218]

Are these chord progression denote a modulation or are you boring chords from other related keys. Must a modulation have a certain chord progression to declare a new key. Modulation transition two words to expain. I am a bit mixed up. Thank you.

[@somethingporridge3106]

Key modulation is da BEST thank u for the tutorial xd

[@parlomur7515]

Vous êtes très fort, un enchanteur.

[@LProds]

Very interesting as always

[@Taichistretchingspace3479]

I can read music but your left and right hand meld together so quickly that I lose the drift immediately…any advice would be great…..cheers Arnold Kellerman NZ

[@thomas-hood-music]

very helpful, thank you!! The piece is wonderful too

[@MangoldProject]

Thank you, Thomas.

[@haideriqbal9316]

Amazing ♥️♥️♥️

[@StephaneDesire2]

You're the best 👌🏾

[@MangoldProject]

Thanks Setphane!

[@dirkjurgens8804]

I really want to know, what intrument / keyboard do you play. That sounds so great. Is that a VST? It will be great to offer that piece for download. It sounds so great!!!!

[@johnstainton]

Really nice - how about releasing/selling sheet music?

[@MangoldProject]

Thanks John. I don't really have any sheet music for this and unfortunately don't have the time to make it ... I'd rather make another video in the meantime. Doesn't the on-screen keyboard help you reverse engineer the piece? I was hoping it would serve that purpose ...

[@johnstainton]

Yes - keep making the videos :-) it was just a thought

[@okthxbb0]

Just a thought. You could record the midi from what you play and quantize it. Then it’s pretty easy to convert into sheet music (just google “midi to sheet music”). Whole process should take about 10 minutes maybe even less (assuming you already have a daw setup) Could be an easy way to generate extra revenue

[@okthxbb0]

MangoldProject and assuming you have a midi keyboard

[@silentlofderis7225]

What software do you use to show chords you're currently playing on your screen?

[@MangoldProject]

ChordieApp.

[@reginaldwang6713]

Mangold, when a key changes to a distant one it’s easy to tell that “the key changed”, however I’m very confused when it’s change between closely related keys. Say, F major and B flat. The ABBA song Andante Andante, they say it’s B flat, but the verse is to totally in F (there’s E natural note, not E flat). Then the chorus jump to B flat. So is it F or B flat?

[@MangoldProject]

I'd probably go with the scale in which the song starts or ends. EIther way, that's part of the charm: this harmonic ambiguity is what adds "sophistication" to the song's sound.

[@clubandbardjs]

Good stuff

[@thomas4090]

Great teacher. Thx

[@enochpeter]

Do you give private lessons, or maybe just one or two? I'm transcribing this piece and I've finished an earlier one. I know parts are wrong and other parts could be expressed better. and I'm just making wild guesses about the dynamics on this piece. Thanks either way. I really enjoy your lessons and I've learned so much.

[@MangoldProject]

No private lessons I'm afraid ... I just don't have the time.

[@enochpeter]

@@MangoldProject thanks for responding. The KZbin lessons are amazing.

[@zoeyzoella9941]

Your example is so beautiful, how do you do it?

[@MangoldProject]

Thanks! I thought that was what I explained in the video ... Or do you mean how I came up with it? I just wrote it for the lesson. Not sure how to explain my creative process. If you do it often enough you'll get the hang of it, like any art form.

[@zoeyzoella9941]

Thanks! I’m an amateur composer and I’m really enjoying your videos. Thanks!

[@zoeyzoella9941]

Yeah, I really think that your creative juices are a waterfall, and I really learned a lot about modulation in this video. Thanks!

[@reinaldo_morales]

Beautiful!

[@esterkarume9764]

Amazing

[@joshuablank3634]

what kind of software do you use for the chords and the keys to be shown like that ?

[@jojo-fj7lw]

Up!

[@shubhamvats8471]

Really Amazing...

[@alonkalonk5813]

מדהים פשוט. תודה רבה!

[@MangoldProject]

You're welcome.

[@bobspigot8180]

That’s Coltrane changes with the major triads.

[@MangoldProject]

Really? Coltrane changes use major thirds. I mostly use minor thirds in this video.

[@bobspigot8180]

MangoldProject I should have said 4 semitones.

[@esterig.9955]

Would you be able to provide a lead sheet for your melody?

[@MangoldProject]

Unfortunately I don't have time to create lead sheets for different videos. Sorry.

[@ericsproductions6626]

Can you pls turn this into a sheet music i would like to play this

[@Shivamusic100]

sir can i have notes for this piece

[@arundey1988]

Awesome.❤❤❤❤ad