Identifying Modulations

IDENTIFYING MODULATIONS

A modulation occurs when a piece of music moves away from its home key or tonic, to another key which is usually related in some way to the home key.  The most common modulations are:

• To the dominant [you may remember that the "dominant" note is the fifth note of a scale - the "dominant key", then, is the key which begins on that note]
• Major to relative minor
• Minor to relative major

Modulations can be shown by:

• Changing the key signature, or
• The use of accidentals to add or delete sharps or flats from the key signature.

Which is the most common method? [The use of accidentals - these are used whenever the modulation is brief, either passing quickly on to another key or back to the original.  Pretty much ANY piece of music does this.  A new key signature is used for a larger section in a piece of music which will then remain in that new key for an extended period.]

The worksheet [see the link at the bottom] will take you through the following modulations ...

MODULATING TO THE DOMINANT [in major keys]
Name the original key.  Work out the dominant key and key signature.  Identify the accidental needed to make that change.

MODULATING TO THE RELATIVE MINOR
Now the relative minor: remember, ANY minor key has an accidental on the [seventh] note of the scale.  So, the new accidental will be on that note.

MODULATING TO THE RELATIVE MAJOR
What change would you expect, then, if we move in the opposite direction - from minor to relative major?  [We would see the raised seventh of the original minor key become a natural - it would "disappear".  This can make it hard to spot - how do you identify something that isn't there!?]

MODULATING TO THE DOMINANT [in minor keys]
BEWARE!  Modulating to the Dominant key in the minor will require more accidentals than you expect.  Firstly you will change the keysignature - that will add an accidental.  Secondly you will loose one raised seventh and gain another - potentially two more accidentals, making a TOTAL of THREE!  This would explain why its much less common to do this.

OTHER MODULATIONS will require different (and possibly more) accidentals:

• Modulating to the Subdominant [in major keys]
• Modulating to the Subdominant [in minor keys]
• Modulating to the PARALLEL major or minor [the other mode beginning on the same tonic, e.g. C major to C minor and vice versa]
• Modulating to the Supertonic minor [this is actually quite a common modulation]

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9JdpU-tw7FuVkJZczFySGZ6Rkk