alright, first off, off the bat i like a lot of dissonant and creepy experimental music, so maybe that'll affect how useful your advice is or how "good" what i'm trying to achieve is. There have been times I would do key changes in music on purpose or on accident, like in the obvious way that they use in pop music where the chorus repeats a couple times then the whole song everything the singer, the guitar soloist, all accompaniment all goes up 4 intervals or something or down 4, and it makes the chorus sound more epic from just a big transpose part. But there's another way I've done it on accident before and notice it kind of opens this other door in musicality. I'm sure there's lots of songs out there that have multiple keys throughout the whole song, I've found them a lot while learning to play a bass part or something where something seems a bit more than an accidental, as if the verse is in one key, the chorus in another, outro in another bridge in another, etc. but they all sound good based on how they transition, the last note of one part leading into the first note of another part well to blend the two keys for that one moment where there's a switch.
I guess the simplest question i can ask after saying all this is: Is there a way to kind of feel out which key signatures or key signature switch types that are known for going well with each other?
There's this one song I wrote a long time ago that basically dances between two key signatures and it's super creepy, still makes me feel weird to hear it, and i kinda wanna do that more often, but with some research behind it. I feel like maybe using one key signature the whole song can kinda be boring. And maybe the introduction of a more theorized version of this adventure would be as fun as doing time changes all over the place in a song in a way that works.
multiple key changes in a song
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 47 posts since 12 Sep, 2007 from Los Angeles, CA
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- KVRAF
- 1793 posts since 9 Apr, 2011
There are multiple ways to change keys in a smooth way. It's possible to change from almost any key to almost any other key, though, so it's more about how you do it than exactly what goes where, depending on what effect you want.
The smoothest way is called "common chord" key changes. You do this by finding a chord that exists in both the starting key and the one you want to change to, and you use it to pivot from one chord progression to another. Example, say I'm playing in C and want to go to E minor. The chord A minor, for instance, is in both keys. So if I'm in C major, at some point I can go to an A minor chord, and from there act like I'm in E minor. So a progression like C - Am - B - Em could make it so now I'm in E minor.
Another pretty smooth way is one that you hit on in your post, using a common note. If the bass or melody line (or both) repeats the same note, with a different chord under it, you can change keys that way. To continue the C to E minor example from earlier, you could have a repeating E note in the melody with a C chord under it. The E in the melody keeps repeating, eventually the chord goes to E minor, now you're in E minor. It's a little less elegant but it's effective if you want a smooth key change that is allowed to draw a little attention to itself.
The smoothest way is called "common chord" key changes. You do this by finding a chord that exists in both the starting key and the one you want to change to, and you use it to pivot from one chord progression to another. Example, say I'm playing in C and want to go to E minor. The chord A minor, for instance, is in both keys. So if I'm in C major, at some point I can go to an A minor chord, and from there act like I'm in E minor. So a progression like C - Am - B - Em could make it so now I'm in E minor.
Another pretty smooth way is one that you hit on in your post, using a common note. If the bass or melody line (or both) repeats the same note, with a different chord under it, you can change keys that way. To continue the C to E minor example from earlier, you could have a repeating E note in the melody with a C chord under it. The E in the melody keeps repeating, eventually the chord goes to E minor, now you're in E minor. It's a little less elegant but it's effective if you want a smooth key change that is allowed to draw a little attention to itself.
"musician."
http://soundcloud.com/nine-of-kings
http://soundcloud.com/nine-of-kings
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- KVRAF
- 1580 posts since 22 Oct, 2004 from Schmocation
Move around the circle of fifths step by step, and you end up wherever you want to end up in a smooth-sounding progression. Also, google pivotal chord. Actually, this link looks very interesting: https://www.artofcomposing.com/the-art- ... ion-part-1
In that kind of modulation you're talking about, where the whole progression and melody are simply shifted up, the point is to make the key change obvious, resolving to the "wrong" note. Note that the effect isn't purely a matter of key change. A gradual tempo change immediately before, an extended note, or some other device that builds up tension and signals that something dramatic is about to happen also help produce the effect.
In that kind of modulation you're talking about, where the whole progression and melody are simply shifted up, the point is to make the key change obvious, resolving to the "wrong" note. Note that the effect isn't purely a matter of key change. A gradual tempo change immediately before, an extended note, or some other device that builds up tension and signals that something dramatic is about to happen also help produce the effect.
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- KVRian
- 792 posts since 10 Sep, 2015 from You haven't unlocked this character yet
This is why music is an artform. Indeed, the circle of fifths is riddled with patterns and geometric permutations that create the songs we have grown to love. There are triangular steps around the circle of fifths that you can take and depending on the melody, you can ease into another key. It doesn't work for every type of song but certain melodies can be completed by a key shift that sounds as if the melody always existed and you just found it. Those are the 1-hit-wonders. The hope is to find all of them. No need to worry...there are an infinite amount of them.
Finding melodies takes time but can be faster for someone with some music theory. You'd be surprised at how everything you want to do or imagine, has already been figured out. Take for instance beatmatching. In beatmatching, as a DJ, you want to transition from one song to the next so it sounds seamless or at least sounds "satisfying." With that said, follow this link:
http://www.mixedinkey.com/Book/How-to-U ... c-Mixing-2
Also look up Circle of Fifths Patterns. You'll find a world of information worth researching.
Good luck to you.
Finding melodies takes time but can be faster for someone with some music theory. You'd be surprised at how everything you want to do or imagine, has already been figured out. Take for instance beatmatching. In beatmatching, as a DJ, you want to transition from one song to the next so it sounds seamless or at least sounds "satisfying." With that said, follow this link:
http://www.mixedinkey.com/Book/How-to-U ... c-Mixing-2
Also look up Circle of Fifths Patterns. You'll find a world of information worth researching.
Good luck to you.
...and the electron responded, "what wall?"
