16b Lesson - Defining modulation

Class discussion

Defining Modulation

What is a modulation?

• a key change, BUT…

Most of the time when a key modulates, there isn’t a change in key signature. If you go from C major to C minor is that a modulation?

• no, that’s called mode mixture

So what defines a modulation? When the tonic changes. That’s why C major to C minor is mode mixture, not a modulation.

Closely related keys vs. distantly related keys

Closely related keys:

• keys that are within one acciental of the original key
• ex: D major
  • majors: A, G
  • minors: e, b, f#
    • remember that these keys relate to only D major, they do not relate to each other
• ex: A minor
  • major: C, G, F
  • minor: d, e
    • one thing to note is that in the mode, (minor in this case) the dominant and subdominant chords are the two keys in minor, and the major keys are the relative major keys to the minor keys.

Mode mixture is C major to C minor. Modulation is C major to A minor.

Ex 1: The first phrase is in E major, and after the fermata it modulates to the relative minor, C# minor.

• some people like to only hear the first doh when there are clearly two dohs, E, and C#

Ex 2: The first quarter is in E major, the second in C# minor, and the last half back in E major.

• the part of music surrounded in E major disguises the modulation by the time the example ends, but there was a modulation in the middle of the example because of a cadence in the minor key

You as the listener, have to hear a new note as the tonic. That’s where we start. If the example is using a string of secondary dominants but never arriving on a tonic, it’s tonicization, not a modulation. You need to hear a solid arriving point of a new tonic.

Distantly related keys:

• any key that isn’t a closely related key
  • there are ways to get to distant keys, but they are different modulations that are more abrupt

Modulation vs. Tonicization

How do we know if we’ve modulated? How is that different from a set of chords creating a tonicization? This relies heavily on how you determine what a phrase is.

A phrase is a:

• thought or expression
• how long you can play before you have to take a breath (historically)

BUT Musically and structurally what defines a phrase?

• cadences
• the period (cadence) on the end of a sentance (phrase)

As we go through the listening examples, try to identify the cadences. By looking for cadences, we can identify where a modulation occurs, no matter how little time the music sits in the new key.

Ex: Beethoven

The first phrase ends in a half cadence in C. The rest of the piece continues in C with a phrase of tonicization to F, but it never modulates.

• this partially being because Beethoven will beat the tonic into your ear.

Ex: Tchaikovsky

The first phrase ends with and imperfect authentic cadence in D major. The last phrase modulates to F# minor out of context. In the real piece, it goes back into D major after this section so the F# minor moment functions as a tonicization.

Ex: Chopin

We are in G minor. This piece has a V/iii that heavily tonicizes Bb, but it’s not a strong enough cadence point.

• if the soprano line landed on a Bb then it would feel like a modulation, but it doesn’t

Ex: Mendelssohn

In G minor at the beginning, it modulates later in the example. It’s all based on the cadences throughout the example.