Why Top Composers Use Chromatic Mediant Modulations

[@leoxbass]

Even I considarating my self a musician in a intermediary level, your way to teach is helping me a lot to study composition by myself and improve my harmony knowledge. Your channel is a kind of public utility content. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

[@arlandehavilland1355]

This lesson could also be called "Emotion in Music" As a young child these changes did something to my brain. Beautiful and mysterious.

[@Jubireba]

Beautiful

[@Alejandrakoxxx]

You are very articulate for being a young child, congratulations

[@ComposerRocks]

@@Alejandrakoxxx Haha. In his defense, he did use past-tense "did" there. :)

[@remyvegamedia]

This is all over Lord Of The Rings music too. It's everywhere. I can't believe I've never learned the name for this concept until today. 8 years into diving into piano and I keep finding gems and ways to keep ideas fresh from this channel haha.

[@genaroguerrero9228]

Honestly Rick : thank you. Thanky you for sharing all this knowledge. its both incredibly generous and admirable, mainly because imparting this quantity of your knowledge for free is almost unexistent today, and music is a discipline that has become really competitive, mainly because of the mercantilization of it. Thanks

[@jamespeterson4275]

Genaro Guerrero Hey thats fuckin Steffy boi rite dere in ur pic

[@jamespeterson4275]

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF WELTSEELE AND PERPETUAL INFINITY AND TEN SEPIROTH? ;3; *_*

[@genaroguerrero9228]

Yeah, thats him. Honestly, i liked the Akroasis album mainly because of Fountainhead. In the songwriting subject, i prefer Omnivium. That applies to those songs. the intro to Ten Sepiroth

[@spectriaofficial]

AGREED 100% MY DUDE -James

[@jolson88]

Man, I'm so absolutely excited right now. I've been a casual listener to film scores for many many years but didn't have the music theory knowledge to know why it all worked. I feel like a whole new world has opened up to me on progressions and chord relationships I would have _never_ thought of before in my own works. I'm absolutely subscribed for life :D. Thanks a bunch Rick! Incredibly killer video! (I've been on a binge this whole evening watching a bunch of your videos; will need to let my brain digest and come back and study in more detail :P).

[@jackjack3320]

Mozart uses chromatic mediant modulation in Fantasie in C Minor K475. The D major section right after the intro

[@AgustinCaniglia1992]

I don't know if I told you before, but I have the same exact midi keyboard and it is so great.

[@41-Haiku]

I can't believe how easy this was to understand once I watched it a second time! Thank you so much!!

[@schubertuk]

Although you can find examples of chromatic mediant modulations throughout western music history (pre Bach & Handel) - for me, the absolute (& obsessive) master was Franz Schubert (on the cusp between the "classical" and "romantic" periods in the 1820s) - who used chromatic mediant modulations heavily in his 600+ songs, his piano sonatas, piano trios, string quartets & symphonies. The first movement of his final String Quintet is literally an ode to the chromatic mediant modulation. It is hauntingly beautiful - and he influenced composers (directly and indirectly) such as Liszt, Chopin, Brahms, Wagner, Dvorak, Debussy, Sullivan, Britten, Holst, Copland, Korngold and (of course) 20th & 21st century movie composers.

[@DejanToracki]

I've had a massive light bulb moment from this video! I made a chart of chords I can modulate to and from in my writing. They all work! Thank you!

[@jonathanparham]

Thanks for using real score recordings and then demonstrating them on keyboard

[@EvanEvansMusic]

"Pivot Tone Modulations" are exactly how I use them in Film Scoring and Orchestration and Voicing.

[@roku401]

This explains so much of my compositional technique. I never had the name for those modulations I use so often.

[@Milehighshred]

Holy crap... this is one of the COOLEST music lessons I've ever seen. I have to try this stuff out!

[@musicappreciate]

I picture a strong connection between these changes and 50s and 60s drama scores, toward a sad or mysterious ending. Like Bernard Herrmann.

[@grantmoon689]

In case it's of any use, I come back to this one a lot. It's really handy 👍

[@vtrandal]

Man, don’t you wish you knew all this stuff at age 8 like Mozart and Beethoven seemed to know. Anyway, you’ve taught music at a deeply fundamental level for decades. By now you’ve known a lot of theory as long as the great composers knew it. Maybe there’s a connection between perfect pitch and being a great composer: one must learn and do these things early in life. I’m 60 and still studying piano a little bit. I can do small things which help me appreciate the seemingly boundless talent of others. Singing helps. Singing while playing piano helps even more. I respect and admire your ability to analyze music and play by ear. You played the chords to Adele’s new song like you wrote it. Your channel offers much much value. Thank you

[@basslobster]

Well put together. It's all clear and I appreciate it.

[@SamBellGuitar]

In the last week of diving into your videos properly I have discovered so many cool new (to me!) composing tools, I now have so many things to get lost within! I feel inspired and excited about the workings of music once again, its been a while! Thanks so much Rick for what you do and opening my mind again.

[@radiozelaza]

I must've missed that video, fortunately came across some different channel explaining this topic and found my way back to Rick. One should never lose his way to Rick.

[@BoredomEnsues]

12:55 Rick! You disappeared, neat trick.

[@RickBeato]

Boredom Ensues I thought it was funny :)

[@xRaddicKx]

lol nice moves

[@hostnik777]

I actually LOLed (and if you knew me, that's not easy), so I would have to agree.

[@jeff7775]

Boredom Ensues parallel disappearance. Common tones: everything in studio, but the dude.

[@bradford_shaun_murray]

Rick Beato musical magician disappearing act?

[@cammillar4068]

Excellent video (once again!). Without getting into any arguments about 'jazz' vs. 'classical' vs. 'it's been done before', etc. etc. the great thing about common tones creating movement and having them lead to 'different' chord progressions (compared to traditional jazz or classical theory) is that it's all about opening up room for new discoveries. It's like giving permission to ourselves to be like wide-eyed children again... which is great, because after all, music has the power to shed light on emotions, show new 'colors', and tell a story through sound. (....if it's been done before, there are plenty of good reasons for this.) All of which goes to show the power of the simple triad!

[@yahyamhirsi]

You do hear them in the Classical era! Check Haydn's Sonata in E flat Major Hob 52 for example!

[@brucegilsenan]

An easy way of thinking of this is. If a chord shares one or more notes with another. You can mix them up.

[@jamespeterson4275]

Bruce Gilsenan THIS

[@chazmichael7967]

@@jamespeterson4275 Isn't is even for sharps though? I see he modulates C with a C#?

[@friebertbalazs6324]

@@chazmichael7967 Good question, I have a guess, it's a bit complicated, but let me know what you think about it! I think it has to do something with the harmonic series (each and every note you play, a lot of other (phisically relative) notes "will also appear", in a certain order (some of them has stronger presence, while the others has weaker) Basically the harmonics that has the strongest presence, are the octaves, the perfect fifths and the major thirds (like a major chord, even thogh you play only one note. So when you play a "C", then at the same time "E" and "G" will also appear, And if you play an Eb note, the G and Bb (A#) will also appear, even though we play D# (Eb) - F# (Gb) - A# (Bb). There we have the "G", and this way I can understand, why Ebmin and Cmaj are related.

[@jimsaintamour2]

@Bruce Gilsenan, you are correct, but I think it also needs to be a M/minor 3rd away from each other

[@VasilBelezhkov]

... and the most confusing is that here in Bulgaria we use the word "паралелни" ('paralelni') for keys like C major&A minor, while we use the word "едноименни"('ednoimenni', or 'same-name') for C major&C minor ;)

[@mucknog]

Same here in Germany. a-Minor is the parallel key to C-Major (Mollparallele) and the other way around for example G-Major is the parallel key to e-minor (Durparallele). In English those are called relative keys, e.g. major and minor scales that have the same key signature. In Geman c-minor is called a "Variante" of C-Major (Mollvariante)

[@PPband]

Vasil Belezhkov yes, I guess the Slavic countries follow the German nomenclature.

[@AlexTen10]

Right, I can tell the same about all post- Soviet area.

[@RolandHutchinson]

Yes, that German-style terminology is due to Hugo Riemann, an extremely influential 19th-early 20th century music theorist.

[@АнтонКузнецов-и8ю]

Same in Russia, and, I guess, everywhere where german-style theory is used

[@danielsmith4042]

All of these relationships have become such staples of contemporary harmonic vocabulary in jazz and film scoring. Thanks to Schubert, Wolff, Brahms and others for reaching into these key areas and finding ways to link more distantly related key areas in a seamless and inspired way. Unfortunately, the film-score examples you cite aren't really modulations but examples of modal interchange (mode mixture/borrowed chord harmony are other terms for this) within a key area. They are great sounds indeed. Some nod to functionality (Riemann) might be of value and assistance here.

[@BoredomEnsues]

I have heard these common tone modulations in many scores. I believe Jerry Goldsmith also uses it prominently in the Basic Instinct theme.

[@kennatco7916]

I wish I could comprehend everything as quickly as you explain it Rick, but just hearing you speak expands my brain. Your videos are like a gold mine with so many nuggets lying about I don't know what to pick up first! Thank you! Where do you get the energy to make so many fantastic videos? You are amazing!

[@eggory]

These are all of my favourite chord changes. Thanks for explaining some of the logic behind them and how there's similar ideas behind all of them.

[@JimsMusicJourney]

I've come across your videos just recently. Since Ive started watching them I keep getting those "Ah ha"and "Ohhh" moments. Great stuff.

[@FrettingProductions]

I've used this stuff for years but thought about it a bit differently, I use common tones a lot C, A7, D7sus4, to G for example all with a common G note but this is an interesting way to rethink things

[@michaelg1061]

Everytime i sit down to watch your theory videos i end up learning the proper termonology for things ive been doing by ear for years and something just clicks in my brain finally after years of fumbling around in the dark having such difficulties with how things like modes worked and now i have somewhat of a grasp on how they relate to each other.

[@Keith_Horn]

Hi Rick. Love these videos - well done. The two chords at 9:15 seem a little different than you label them here. There is a G in the first chord - the violins are outlining a C major triad. So it's just a C/Db. The second chord continues the C major triad in the violins and outlines an A major triad in the low strings - making it C/A or A7#9. The mediant relationship is still there from Db to A. Very cool progression and voiced brilliantly. Keep the vids coming!

[@coolguitarchannel]

Howard Shore does a lot of this in his LOTR score.

[@jaygbardo8781]

Parsifal (Wagner 1882) in the Klinsor's Garden (Act II): The opening overture Bm (common tone D) to Gm (c.t. D) - then Gm (c.t. Bb) to Ebm (c.t. B)...The minor chords are built on the Augmented triad B-G-Eb....Another interesting study is the Dominant 7th chords... there are 4 related to the diminished 7th C-Eb7-F#7-A7.... chromatic alteration of two notes in the 7th chord, produces 1 of these 4 variations. Isn't harmony great...a lifetime of study...infinite, yet bounded...

[@Raddland]

This is one of those videos that completely opens my brain up. If only Rick knew how many times I have paused the video and referenced all of his combination chords. This is an impressive video for sure, because I don't really know a ton of music theory, but this is one of those vids that lets you hear it to understand it first. All this time I have been hearing these sounds and not knowing what they are. Goonies soundtrack is my reference point. It's our time down here, and BOOM Chromatic Mediant swells in the background. Long enough, Mikey. Long Enough. BOOM!

[@ThePi314Man]

They have a very augmented type of sound and feel to them, giving them this oddly bright yet eerie happy tone to them. It's like a harp.

[@canturgan]

If you can hear a whooshing sound, it's the sound of all of this information going over my head.

[@BluesLicks101]

I hear you, the dots have not connected on this one in my head either.

[@WDXash]

Mine too. I’m seriously going to try to get my head around this... not sure how, but I’ll give it a good go.

[@jimsaintamour2]

Hey everyone, it was confusing to me too when I was learning about Chromatic mediants, but the main thing to do is make sure the chord you move two has the following characteristics: 1) It has only one common tone from the starting chord, and 2) it is a 3rd away from the starting chord. You can put this in to action by using a “home” chord to start and come back to. I use this in my own composing with chromatic mediants, and it works really well. Start off by using the “home” chord, then move a 3rd from this “home” starting chord, and eventually circle back around to the home chord. * For example, start on an F# minor chord. Then, simply move to any chord a 3rd away, as long as it’s not a diatonic chord. So, you can move to A minor. Then, go BACK to F# minor. Now you are back “home” in this process. Now, move to D minor, which follows the rule of moving a 3rd away from F# minor. (D minor is chromatic to F# minor, so you are still good to go.) Now, move to Bb Major. This is a 3rd away from D minor (and chromatic to D minor). From here, you can cheat a bit and go right back home to F# minor, or go back through D minor to F# minor. Once you put it to practice, it’s actually pretty easy, and a lot of fun to use. It can really open up your creativity, and can get you out of the boxed-in thinking of having to stay in one key for too long. Also, since the Chromatic mediants share a common tone, and are a 3rd away from each other (which is a strong note-note relationship) the chord movements sound really modern and good!

[@coreyscott9590]

Three years have passed since this comment. Have you made any progress in understanding? At what point are you confused? Do you know major and minor chords? Can you look at any triad and identify root, third and fifth? If not, review those basics, and it will all make sense.

[@mayamikotutu7514]

It gets better with time

[@rainerlanglotz3134]

In Germany we call the "relative" relationship "parallel". Likewise wie call the note "b" h and b-diminished "b". Tough job for the brain!

[@Raddland]

Immensely useful video. I loved hearing all the permutation examples of it in action. I may not understand it on paper fully, but my ears immediately light up with ideas just hearing two chords. I have definitely been hearing these all my life. It's very cool to start to hammer home what they actually are... The joys of being self taught :(

[@krudler406]

thanks Rick! I was hitting a wall on where to go with this song I was writing and this inspired me to go in a whole new direction - you're The Man!!!

[@thomasshredster4627]

the king kong one is one of the most beautiful progression

[@ericgamliel8500]

This video changed my life.

[@PerezMaese]

What a great video again, Rick. Everything presented in a clear way, and finally demonstrated with real examples. Really high quality intruction vids here!

[@keithagnew5934]

Thank you rick. My playing has improved because of your teaching. 🙂

[@musicappreciate]

A minor to C minor is actually in the Dorian sharp four mode (of harmonic minor). See Jake Lizzio for more.

[@TimothyZhou0]

thank you for including examples from real music, they make the lessons feel so much more alive

[@Hidden_Frames]

In case anyone is wondering about the two chord changes that appear to move by 4th/5th (and not by third)...it is just a matter of chord spelling. When Rick writes, "E-minor to Ab minor" (at 11:09), the Ab is really a G# chord, thus a mediant to E. When he writes "Bb-sus2 -F# Lyd" (at 11:27), the F# is a "really" a Gb chord, and thus a submediant to Bb. Depending on context, a musician will often re-spell the same chord with different note names.

[@jeanvcharro]

I think that "Time Has Told Me" by Nick Drake is a good (and very interesting) non-orchestral example of chromatic mediant modulation. In this case it is used to go from the A section to the B section and back again to A. One of the things that make it interesting is that neither of these changes involves the tonic chord. The song is in C major and at the end of the A section it goes from G to E (E7 maybe), which then goes to Eb, Ab, and then D (D7 maybe), which goes to F, the first chord of the A section. So, the contrast of the A section with the B section consists of the B section being made of chords borrowed from the parallel minor (Eb and Ab) and connected through chromatic mediants (G to E, D to F). The E also functions as a tritone substitution (E to Eb) and there's also something like a tritone substitution from Ab to D. Please correct me if I got something wrong or if these can't be considered chromatic mediant modulations. I think they are because those two chords (D and E) could be secondary dominants but don't function like that in this case. BTW, big "thank you" to Rick for sharing his knowledge.

[@crnisuton]

I used to do this as a kid, didn't know it was a thing. Cool!

[@blackfeather7686]

Fantastic video Rick, lots to take in here. The examples at the end were brilliant. Will be trying these out on my own compositions. thanks

[@ojdoubleyou]

Fantastic lesson. So many unexpected options held together with common tones. Keep up the exceptional content. With gratitude from London.

[@jamespeterson4275]

Owen Wilson To think this one simple but masterful debut album by the band Obsidian Gate is what got me fascinated with all this stuff.... haha

[@Aquatarkus96]

Please do a video on the composition techniques of early Genesis. There's so much going on and I'd love to have someone educated explain to me just why their stuff sounds so smooth and beautiful

[@Min2konto]

When the string patch first sounded, and the first progression was played - my immediate thought was: Oh, chromatic mediant modulation is what you use for those suspense moments in movies. I didn't hear that right away in 12tones examples using a regular piano or piano vst.

[@PureAmbientDrone]

I hated music class as a kid but this makes it fun!

[@marktyler3381]

Just discovered your channel, this is great! Loads of new videos to watch. These are often known as "borrow" chords, certainly the ones which relate to the parallel minor or major. Describing chords as lydian rather than #11 is interesting, I guess it works just as well.

[@Doty6String]

Great simple analysis thank you!

[@MikeFloutier]

Thank you for championing the beauty and majesty of music Rick!

[@faustobrusamolino6345]

this is gold, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge Rick! I just spent a full hour (and counting) playing on these chords!

[@ericprincen3345]

Such a big mood change. Gorgeous.

[@nadiazayman779]

It would have been better, I think, if he used musical examples from Holst's "The Planets," since this is where Williams got absolutely all of his Star Wars material.

[@Mooseman327]

Well, Williams says he got most of it from Korngold as many of these other film composers have. Korngold, of course, used Wagner, Holst, Mahler, Puccini, Richard Strauss and everything else of any value.

[@ivansoto9723]

Something I've noticed is that chromatic mediants can sound cheesy sometimes when played all at once and depending on how vanilla they are. The "cinema" sound is way overdone. But as soon as you break them up or arp them they can sound pretty beautiful. Honestly Im realizing that most extended harmony sounds great when broken up. Just look at Halo 3 ODST: "Rain" and its beautiful m11 chord omg. You can even use a little parallel tonal harmony and just move the chords up or down like blocks too without the smooth voice leading to add excitement in some cases when they are broken like this. Azali-Nostalgia does this towards the end. Theres a bar that runs a diatonic progression and then the second time it plays it, it substitutes the second and fourth chords with chords a half step down. Need it be said that every chord also omits the fifth? It just so happens that those chords are chromatic mediants.

[@pratikpanchal2492]

I love you Rick :) Thank you very much for everything :) I am working on a film score right now and these lessons took me to another level as a composer...Writing something that I couldn't even think about before...Thank you very very much :)

[@bills48321]

If I have this right, an example of chromatic mediant modulations is in Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" on the words "before God" when he goes from an A major to F major, and again on the words "all mankind" going from G major to E minor and then E major. I'm not 100% sure about this, but it seems to be what Rick is describing. They are also two places that provide an emotional climax to the symphony, so if that what those changes are, it is an effective and powerful device.

[@barrywalshe2]

brilliant video rick

[@brucermorgan]

Amazing ! I have run into these Modulations but to give them graph and reference placement makes them reliable tools instead of "happy accidents .Thanks Rick !

[@MetaphysicalMusician]

I took class on this...So Dope

[@evertvandenberghe]

What a great content! So useful for my improvisations. Thank you so much for sharing, explaining and showcasing those chromatic modulations in an easy to understand format/scheme. Really wonderful! Tnx

[@thecamilosanchezproject]

Great video as usual!

[@fromelmstreetgames]

I was working on a piece and was loving how C major to E major sounded but wanted to know theoretically what was going on. Thanks, Rick! Can't say I've understood what is so interesting about the chromatic mediants to me just yet but I am going to make this a part of my repertoire.

[@ribbyT408]

Loving this scoring playlist Rick.

[@timefilm]

That was good fun and is exactly how I start with my compositions. I want to hear your secret compositions, Rick!

[@roanmccormick2297]

Awesome Rick !

[@oh_my_god6731]

I have learned a lot ... great video !

[@Geotubest]

This was great. Makes you think how you can incorporate new chords that seem "out" into one's playing.

[@harrybrewster9888]

Great stuff rick, really intuitive the way you put that together.

[@eoinconway8187]

9:00 - sing along! "I heard there was a secret chord, that David played and it pleased the lord..."

[@modernman4269]

great video rick thanks

[@AlfateS]

Hi! I've just found your videos, and as an amateur film composer I really appreciate these videos! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! Cheers

[@colucas5619]

Thank you for the examples! Will take time but will be fun to practice!

[@DcTurner]

I knew the feeling - didn't know the term :) Thanks Rick Thomas Newman's scores for Shawshank and American Beauty really drip with these kind of modulations. If I remember correctly, there's even a licensed track in American Beauty with the same feel - Annie Lennox's cover of Neil Young's "Don't Let It Bring You Down" - it has that same beautiful movement as Newman's "Mr Smarty Man"

[@bmsmusician]

Interesting, I don't recall my teachers making the distinction between diatonic and chromatic mediants. A mediant chord would always be the chromatic version with the same type of third (major or minor)

[@Dudek3D]

I guess that here 11:06 you ment Fb minor and not E minor. I was confused because It would not be a Third movement anymore. These 2 chords have the same sound but the E minor and Ab minor are a diminished 4th away from each other. (It's 4 semitones either way, I'm just pointing out the naming convention as I know it) Ps.: E minor and G# minor it's good too

[@petrus7977]

Just THANKS! and keep the amazing work. Cheers Rick!

[@GintokiPianist]

this is some top quality stuff!! i recognise alot of the changes cmaj to emaj always reminds me of that bond song goldfinger, but knowing how to catagorise it in theory will help me assimilate it into my playing! gonna try to slip some of these into my next reharm! suscriber earnt!

[@AnthonyRailwayBVideos]

Nice one! I’ve used the chromatic mediant trick in one of my songs but didn’t know what it was called. Went from F major to Ab major my one :)

[@jacobburr7835]

Awesome video man, very interesting stuff!

[@vze2gsgr]

So are the chord movements in "Giant Steps," where the tonal center moves between G major, B major and Eb Major (all separated by intervals of a major third), considered examples of chromatic mediant modulation?

[@AlexGuzmanGTR]

Really helpful video. Thanks, RIck!

[@FabioLovaglio]

Very cool stuff!

[@agemans_stuff]

Just a little correction: At 5:12 You play C major - Eb minor, but the text says C major - Eb major.

[@thebowdjangos2662]

rofl...anything done with that synth keyboard sound is going to sound epic...

[@thomassafont]

That was a great lesson! I've just discovered your channel and you produce great content. Thanks a lot Rick!

[@jamespeterson4275]

Thomas Safont lol the moment I saw your profile pic I was immediately like "this dude probably plays metal" and voila Just liked your band on Facebook, m80 :)

[@thomassafont]

:-). Cool, thanks James !

[@petersmart894]

Top-class instruction again Rick.Thanks.

[@paulwelding]

Outstanding!

[@rapunzelz5520]

This vid is pure torture and delight.😮

[@MusicFed]

I think this was used a lot in the Basic Instinct score

[@Prof.ArnonPalty]

It's also farly related to Geographic chords relationship eg Ger6 Fr6

[@zorrosg]

great stuff Rick Beato!!

[@mikebinkowski4615]

This also sounds like it's used by video game composers like Nobuo Uematsu from the Final Fantasy series as well. I'm defiantly hearing some of these style of modulations from that series especially VII.

[@sabbastian]

Setzerous Just what I was thinking!

[@TheZenytram]

and chrono trigger, look for the GUIM channel he has some video explaining it.