CHROMATIC MODULATION

This page is a supplement to The Complete Musician: Chapter 22 - Expansion of Modal Mixture Harmonies

In previous weeks, we looked at how tonicization of diatonic chords could launch full modulation into new tonal centers. This week, we will look at how borrowed chords can serve the same purpose through a similar concept called CHROMATIC MODULATION.

CHROMATIC PIVOT-CHORD MODULATION

Modulating to any key with the tonic chord serving as a diatonic chord of the original key does not necessitate a chromatic modulation. For instance, if C Major were to move to Bb Major, the PIVOT CHORD (chord shared by both keys) could be an F chord which is a IV in C and a V in Bb. In this way, C Major and Bb Major are diatonically related.

However, what if we wanted to modulate from C Major to Ab major? These two keys share no common chords (like the example above) so they must be modulated to chromatically. To do so, the pivot chord must be a borrowed chord in the original key, meaning that it must be a chord from one of the original (parent) key’s modes; like its parallel minor.

Since the parallel minor of C Major is C Minor and C Minor has an Ab chord in it (the major VI), using a ♭VI as a pivot chord between C Major and Ab Major works because the ♭VI in C is a CHROMATIC PIVOT CHORD.

HOW TO USE CHROMATIC PIVOT CHORDS

• Generally, add the new key signature after the pivot chord to avoid excessive accidentals.

• Pivot chord must be a borrowed chord (modal mixture) before the key change. A great pivot chord is the minor i of the original key which could become the predominant vi or iii in the new key.

• Once in the new key, expand the predominant to acclimate the listener’s ear to the tonality.

UNPREPARED & COMMON-TONE
CHROMATIC MODULATIONS

UNPREPARED MODULATIONS (also called DIRECT MODULATIONS) are chromatic modulations that occur suddenly without the transitional aid of a pivot chord. These are the most common type of modulation used in popular music and jazz and possibly the most exciting type of modulation because they take the listener by surprise. Almost all direct modulations in pop music involve a shift up one half step or whole step, energizing the music toward the end of the song and forcing the singer to sing impressively higher.

COMMON-TONE MODULATION is a fun trick in which the composer modulates to a new key that has at least one note in common with the previous key. To do so, the composers will simply hold out only one common tone (possibly as a solo or maybe in unison/octaves with multiple instruments or voices), then once the harmony resumes, the piece is suddenly in the new key signature. This is found more in Western Classical music practices and less in pop music. As an example, here are two very unrelated keys: Bb Minor and D Major. When we write out the scales, we can see only these notes in common:

• Bb Minor: Bb - C - Db - Eb - F - Gb - A - Bb

• D Major: D - E - F# - G - A - B - C# - D

Technically, the Db/C# and Gb/F# would work as common-tones because they are enharmonics of each other. Depending on what chord you wanted to have as the last chord of the first key and the first chord of the new key, you could use the following chords and common tones:

• A Common Tone: chordal 3rd of V in Bb Minor to chordal 5th of I in D Major

• Gb/F# Common Tone: chordal 3rd of iv in Bb Minor to chordal 3rd of I in D Major

• Db/C# Common Tone: chordal 3rd of i in Bb Minor to chordal 5th of iii in D Major

This example shows the first option of using A as the common tone between two unrelated keys:

Let’s examine, once again, SAMUEL COLERIDGE TAYLOR’s Violin Sonata in D Minor (1898) as we did a few weeks back. In the first movement, the common-tone modulation from D Minor to F major occurs in m. 54 where the violin holds a solo A which is the 5 of the previous key and the 3 of the new key. While technically, these are closely-related keys (relative major/minor), the modulation style here is still serving in the common tone mode.

CHROMATIC MODULATIONS IN GERMAN LIEDER

A Lied (pronounced “leed”) in German is simply a “song.” In the 19th century, German composers became obsessed with writing Lieder (pronounced “leeder,” plural of Lied) because it was a great format for:

• Setting the words of very moody poems in a style known as TEXT PAINTING (where the music mimics or is informed by the lyrics). Romantic Era composers were basically the biggest emo kids ever.

• Composing something short and dramatic (most Lieder are under 5 minutes long each - although they also composed collections of Lieder with similar themes or that told short episodes of longer stories known as Song Cycles).

• Middle and upper class amateur musicians to buy these songs to sing and play at home (or in concert) since the invention of the rotary printing press in 1843 made printed sheet music infinitely more affordable and available.

AN DEN SCHLAF ANALYSIS

While the textbook was full of Schubert (bae) and R. Schumann (boo) examples of German Lieder, I have always felt that Hugo Wolf’s song catalog is infinitely more interesting. Below is a sparse analysis of Wolf’s An den Schlaf (“Song to Sleep”) including key moments of enharmonic pivot chord modulation and common tone modulation that brings a piece beginning in A♭ Major to its tritone, E Major - no small feat unless you are Bon Jovi …

TEXT PAINTING ANALYSIS: Notice how the biggest tonal shift (Db Major to E Major) occurs under the word “ohne” (“without”) and that word is sung as a common-tone modulation without chords underneath. Notice also how the melodic line ascends as the words speak of dreaming and not dying (“so weit vom Sterben, ach,”), and descend when speaking to how easy it is to die (“wie stirbt es sich so leicht!”). OH SNAP, I JUST REALIZED THIS ENDS ON THE HOLLYWOOD CADENCE (with a iv rather than a IV).