key transposition

A modulation occurs when a piece is trundling along in a particular key (e.g. D minor), and the composer takes the piece to a different key (e.g. G minor).

The composer can use a variety of devices to move the piece into the new key (cadence, sequence, etc.) and the point at which the piece changes is where it modulates. This may be the bar in which the cadence occurs, or the phrase that contains the sequence.

It's a nice trick to string out the modulation as long as possible, so that the tonal base of the previous section is all but lost, in order to move to a remote key smoothly - but it can be very dramatic to perform a sudden modulation into a remote key.

Moving a piece from one key into another is not modulation - it's transposition, and transposing the key of a piece will change the whole character of a song, with one exception; If you are playing a piece on the piano (or other instrument with fixed pitch ratios) and decide not to play it in Eb, but in D# instead, then it will not take on a new character - it cannot, as the notes are the same.

However, on a violin (or other instrument with variable pitch ratios), as has been pointed out, the sound (and hence) character will be subtly different.

 

Only because it's such a tiny difference, I should think. And perhaps (subconciously) the violinist would make the difference even smaller when a pianist was playing.

Even on an instrument where you can't differentiate between C# and Db (like a piano, obviously), I would think someone reading the music would get a different "feel" from seeing flats than sharps?

Certif1ed wrote: It was in fact Nigel Tufnell, not Derek Smalls who made the same observation in his piece, inspired by Mozart and Bach - a kind of "Mach" piece, with sad, intertwining lines, that D minor is the saddest of all keys - everyone cries when you play a D minor -> Bb Major -> A major progression... He called the piece "Lick My Love Pump".

I always confuse those two...just like Lennon and McCartney.

D minor is typical for Requiem masses, as it is associated with death. Mozart used it masterfully in the sections of his requiem that he actually completed.

It was in fact Nigel Tufnell, not Derek Smalls who made the same observation in his piece, inspired by Mozart and Bach - a kind of "Mach" piece, with sad, intertwining lines, that D minor is the saddest of all keys - everyone cries when you play a D minor -> Bb Major -> A major progression... He called the piece "Lick My Love Pump".

Likewise, other keys have deep historical associations - Eb Major, the most pastoral of all keys is what Beethoven used for his "Pastoral" symphony.

When you drop a piano down a mine shaft, you get Ab minor - you really need to watch out for falling pianos, because if you don't C#, you will Bb...

Well... it is Saturday night

nacho wrote: Try to get the song "Ashes" by Pain of Salvation, in the "Perfect Element I" and the "12:5" albums, and compare both versions. This alone might answer your question...

That's not the same at all - it's changed from a minor to a major key (i.e. the intervals between each note are changed, rather than the whole thing being transposed).

ahhh i see what yu meant now, sorry for taking it wrong, and thank you for taking the time to think about the question and answer it thoughtfully

Edited by hopelevre

james the keys are a very natural phenomena, based on very real frequency ratios, this is all done scientifically and has nothing to do with human construction......there used to be aan excellent resource on this at completechords.com....i have it printed out and am reading it now, but the site has been cahnged and i cant find it there any longer....also lets think of this question in terms of piano only, to avoid the variables associated with including other instruments, such as the differetn fingerings, etc.....none of this is a problem in a piece transposed to a new key on the piano

Edited by hopelevre

interesting subtopic: the different instruments and which keys are able to display their intrinsic qualities best

Edited by hopelevre

interesting answers, but none of them(except maybe 1) answer the question .....a modulation is NOT a transposition.....please try to understand (by thoroughly reading)this question before trying to answer it........beau:there is absolutely no difference between e flat and d sharp if played in the same octave....what are yu talking about?....they are the same note(same key on a board), and tempered to the same frequency, the only difference is what you call it dependign on how you are analyzing the piece it is in....how can the same key on a keyboard be two different notes?...if yu just mean to say they were different slightly before the scale was tempered, then i understand....however i think you are misunderstanding/ignoring the fact that without the equally tempered scales the keys no longer exist, for it is precisely this temperament which allows them to function the way they do and gave birth to the major-minor tonal system ...before the advent of this we had no harmony, it was all church modes and counterpoint, before that gregorian chant(which gave birth to the modes)......and just because the exact intervals have been tempered, doesnt mean the keys all sound the same.....these tempered frequencies still very much share the characteristics of the more exact frequencies they were changed from, and the keys still very much maintain their moods...i do agree that winds may be more expressive of this characteristic tho(although i would think the instrument manufacturers would be compensating for the equal temperament by now, otherwise our symphonies would never be in tune with each other, the pianist would be playing tempered while the winds non and it would be horrible) .....not strings however, for unless the one playing (and tuning) has perfect pitch he will use a tuner which is set to the tempered scale to tune his instruments...btw, the piano is a stringed instrument as well as it is a percussive one

Edited by hopelevre