How is this technique called? (higher pitch in the chorus...)

[ermi]

(It's the first song I could find. )

Listen from 2:50 to 3:10... At 3:00 the melody switches by a few (4-5?) notes up. I hear this often in popular music. Does it have a name?

[Musicologo]

This is just a transposition.

In may popular tunes the refrain goes up a tone, sometimes half-a-tone, sometimes tone-and-a-half. It helps to increase tension and brightness.

Sometimes this even happens twice in the same song to reinforce it even more.
You have a transposition in the middle, and another one near the end.


You can also call it a modulation to a higher key, however as I don't see this resource as a flowing one but as a mere copy of what has happened before just a little bit higher I prefere to think that this is a rupture and call it just a transposition of what has been already happening...

In any notation program or DAW all you have to do is just copy past the chorus and then select "transpose +2" for instance to create this effect.

[JumpingJackFlash]

I hear this often in popular music. Does it have a name?

Key Change.

[ermi]

Would you agree that it's mostly (in pop music) a transposition by a specific amount of notes? (Or to a certain key - in relation to the first one used?)

[A.M. Gold]

Would you agree that it's mostly (in pop music) a transposition by a specific amount of notes? (Or to a certain key - in relation to the first one used?)

Yes, it is usually done by degrees of the circle of fifths, or the circle of fourths (depending on which way you go). That would be + or - 5 semitones for one degree of transposition, + or - 2 semitones for two degrees, etc.





But that's a general rule and it depends on the taste of the songwriter as to how they want to change key (modulate). It doesn't always happen as a strict transposition of the main melody that is just repeated in a different key, though. Groups like the Beatles tended to change key more often than that, sometimes in the middle of a melody.

[kelldammit]

a guy once told me that if a keychange was obvious, you probably did it wrong. he also strongly suggested i play with them, as they can be used to great effect, as others have pointed out.

the same guy also was also of the opinion that modulating the ending (usually repeating) choruses up a step typically means that the writer has either run out of ideas, or is just plain lazy. in pop music specifically, this has become so prevalent that many seem to consider it a vital part of standard pop song structure..."how it's done", rather than "uninspired, cliched copout".
try to be more creative than that

k

[A.M. Gold]

the same guy also was also of the opinion that modulating the ending (usually repeating) choruses up a step typically means that the writer has either run out of ideas, or is just plain lazy.

Actually, I should take it back that this thing of just changing the key and repeating the melody near the end is done by the circle of fifths. I think you are right and it is probably done more often by just going up a step. There may be a number of ways because it is often not done very artfully. Modulations that are actually worked into the structure of the song more tend to be done by the circle of fifths.

[kbaccki]

a guy once told me that if a keychange was obvious, you probably did it wrong. he also strongly suggested i play with them, as they can be used to great effect, as others have pointed out.

the same guy also was also of the opinion that modulating the ending (usually repeating) choruses up a step typically means that the writer has either run out of ideas, or is just plain lazy. in pop music specifically, this has become so prevalent that many seem to consider it a vital part of standard pop song structure..."how it's done", rather than "uninspired, cliched copout".
try to be more creative than that

k

You know, it seems to me that the cliched modulation at the end of a song was a much more common thing back in the 60's, 70's, 80's... but more recent pop songs are structurally much simpler, in a sense. Maybe I'm just imagining, but it seems that way.

I agree that just throwing in a modulation to "spice up" the end of a song sounds kinda cheap. You can always tell those tunes... your brain screams "key change!". You can usually feel the key change is just around the corner too...

There are definately some examples of using modulation to great effect... like EWF's After The Love Is Gone:

The song modulates going into the chorus (1:48 in the video)... cool! Really sorta lifts the chorus section "up" from the verse.

Then of course it modulates again (up another 4th, I think) at the end... this frames the sax solo which ends the song (the original version fades on the sax solo)...

[A.M. Gold]

That's an awesome track!

[kbaccki]

Yeah, it's a great version. One of my all time favorite tunes... and that version might be the best, IMO.

[Aleatoriac]

a guy once told me that if a keychange was obvious, you probably did it wrong... ...in pop music specifically, this has become so prevalent that many seem to consider it a vital part of standard pop song structure..."how it's done", rather than "uninspired, cliched copout".
try to be more creative than that
k

OK I'll transpose a half step and sing in a key a flat fifth above the minor third of the newly transposed key. And it will be brilliant

[b4serenity]

[/quote] Groups like the Beatles tended to change key more often than that, sometimes in the middle of a melody.[/quote]

Do you have any examples of that. It would make more sense to me if I heard it in action. Thanks for the help!

[A.M. Gold]

There are plenty but I'll try to think up some examples from some of their better known stuff.

[tapper mike]

No, The beatles operated on harmonic justification. They sang the melody and made the chords fit. Although they did do some direct key modulation for the bridge.