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Hi, I'm using BIAB 2009 for Windows to create a backing track, but this is not a BIAB question - it's a music issue. I'm trying to recreate the Iceland Eurovision entry, and I've managed fine, until I reach the last chorus where the key is raised for dramatic effect. I know how to transpose, and I know what the chorus is in different keys, but what's the mechanism of a key change like this? I've set the song in F#minor simply to match my voice. It begins in C#m and the chorus ends in B. But what chord to I use to naturally create the transition to a higher key? And how much do you normally move up for this additional drama - is it a halftone, a full tone or more? If anybody could point me to the specific key changes for this situation and also explain how I work the same thing out for other keys it would help immensely. If you want to listen to the original track to see what I mean, you should find it at www.bbc.co.uk/eurovision then using the 'Contestants' selector at the right hand side, select Iceland. Thanks in advance for any help.
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Quote:
It begins in C#m and the chorus ends in B.
Go to the five chord of B first.
That would be an F#.
F#7 is often harmonically superior to the plain jane F# Major.
Sometimes a modulation can happen a bit smoother by doing a "two-ve" transition instead of just the jump to the five chord of the target key.
The two is minor and the five is Major, so that would be C#minor followed by the F#7 -- often done in one bar, two beats for each of the two chords.
--Mac
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Thanks again Mac,
You seem to be the only one to respond to my posts at the moment!
But I'm afraid you are talking above my level of knowledge. I bought band in a Box because I'm *not* a musician, rather than because I *am* one!
I've tried dropping in what you've suggested, but it doesn't seem to work. I'm not even sure I've set the chorus which is in the higher key correctly. Here's what I have:
Main key chorus:
C#m - C#m - A - A
E - E - B - B
C#m - C#m - A - A
E - E - B - B
B - C#m|F#7
Raised key chorus:
D#m - D#m - B - B
F# - F# - C#- C#
D#m - D#m - B - B
F# - F# - C# - C#
C# - C# - D#m - D#m
D#m - D#m [Auto ending]
Can you or anyone please tell me what I'm doing wrong - it doesn't sound right at all, in fact the C#m|F#7 transition makes it feel like going down a key although F#7 does seem like the right chord to link to D#m.
Excuse my ignorance but I'm learning while doing!
Thanks.
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What you are calling the "Main Key Chorus" is in the key of E Major.
Your "Raised Key Chorus" goes up one step, to the key of F# Major --BUT it is really Eb minor, which is the same key signature, the scale just starts on different notes.
The five chord of F# Major is Db. Okay to call it C# if you like, same note.
Or use the Five minor of the Eb minor key, which is Bbm.
In other words, where you have the F#7, play either a C# or a Bbm instead and go on to the next part.
The last chorus ends on the Eb (which you are calling D#, same thing) so that chorus is in Eb minor.
--Mac
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Thanks Mac both for your explanation and suggestion.
C#m C# or Bbm Bb if you prefer, works fine. But rather than making it a sudden transition in one bar, including a bar of each matches the tempo of the song better.
I think I need to read up on a bit of music theory!
Thanks again for your help.
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I'd like to chip in here as I take a special interest in key shifts and have been known to throw them into my own songs quite a bit.
While the most common move is 2 semi-tones higher, this is by no means the only option. I play a French number with my band (an Eddie Mitchell song, La Route du Memphis) which slides up half a tone from E to F about half way through. And it does so on the '5' chord, as is often the case, which creates a slight and temporary dissonance (as we hit the '5' chord of C, rather than the expected B) until the listener realises what's happening.
Abba's Money Money Money also famously moves up a half a tone.
An interesting one is Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer which climbs an unlikely 3 semi tones (I think - don't have an instrument here at the office so I could be wrong). Again it is the transition which makes this shift so fantastic.
Of course the daddy of them all is Stevie's Golden Lady. I won't even begin to explain but invite you all to take a listen.
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Anyone interested in learning all there is to know about the ways of modulation to different keys should find a copy of Bach's Well Tempered Klavier and study same.
--Mac
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Nothing new under the sun, eh Mac?
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