ah, it's true that there's a bit too much style-specific beethoven
discussion in these books.
peronally i just don't think in terms of keys. i mean, i can step back and
analyze what i've done and realize where the key changes are, and in fact
one often ends up with long ambiguous regions which are like a pivot chord
in that they coudl be interpreted as being in more than one key, except that
they are many chords long, but i don't think 'i'm going to change keys
now'--i just pick and choose from among all possible chords. the result is
that sometimes i modulate constantly, although sometimes i just pick more
conservative sounding chords.
the quickest way to get going is just to think in terms of possible chord
progressions:
1. how many possible chord types and inversions are there?
2. how many possible root motions/bass motions are there?
for instance, if you're following a first inversion major triad by a root
position half-diminished 7th, there's 12 ways to do that, one for each
interval between the bass notes, or between the chord roots, depending on
how you look at it, and it's same for any other combination of chord types.
if the chord types are the same (i.e. both root position major triads) half
of the progressions will be the retrograde of the other half. if one of the
chords is invariant on some transposition (i.e. an augmented triad is the
same if you transpose it up a major third) some of the 12 progressions will
be identical.
now, whether a *chord progression* sounds 'smooth' depends on how recently
you've heard the notes in the new chord, and also on the voice leading
(being stepwise or using common tones). using chords in the same key
guarantees you've heard the notes reasonably recently, but it's not the only
way.
On 21/11/2007, Christopher Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>
> On Nov 21, 2007, at 8:23 AM, Lawrence David Eden wrote:
>
> > Greetings Listers,
> >
> > I need an (elementary) book that explains how to make smooth key
> > changes in compositions.
> > I hope that some of you can recommend a title or two.
>
> Hmm, I find the books always go on in great detail about how
> Beethoven did it, and little else. They also seem to have a great
> liking for the pivot chord method, which is very smooth, but it is
> not the only game in town. Maybe they talk about it so much because
> they have a lot to say about it...
>
> Anyway here are my three ways:
>
> 1.) Direct. Just leap into the new key with no preparation. Having a
> common melody note or bass note can take some of the jarring out of
> it. ("Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" by Jerome Kern, going into the bridge)
> Gets more and more common in modern music (well, modern music that is
> tonal, that is!) Issues relating to key relationships can be dealt
> with according to the style and era. Basically, anything goes these
> days.
>
> 2.) Tonicisation. Precede the new key with its V or some other
> equivalent chord(s) in the bar(s) before that indicate a resolution
> into the new key. This is so easy that there is almost literally
> nothing more to say about it. Cocktail musicians use this almost
> exclusively when faking a sequence of tunes that have to sound like a
> medley. Barry Manilow (over)uses the previous tonic to become the new
> leading tone when he modulates up a semitone, which is widely
> considered to be tasteless these days. Sometimes composers/arrangers
> try to lead nicely from the previous key into the dominant, which
> brings us to:
>
> 3.) Pivot chord(s). At some point before you get into the new key,
> there is a chord or two or three that can be construed as being in
> the old key, or in the new key. This ambiguity is exploited to lead
> the chord to the new place, rather than back to the old place. Lots
> of ink spilled on this one. Allen Forte's book "Tonal Harmony in
> Concept and Practice" is as good a book as any. I suppose this is
> what you wanted. It might be more intermediate than advanced, but if
> somebody is writing modulations, they aren't really at an elementary
> stage any more, I would say.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Christopher
>
>
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