I am in the middle of arranging
my next CD at the moment and am
very busy, so this is going to
be short and sweet today.
I am going to give you the
simplest modulation possible,
and believe it or not, I use it
all the time. You can sum
up the rule in three words:
Just Do It...
Don't worry about a formula
or chord progression or getting
to the V7 in the new key.
Just play a phrase in the old
key and play it again in the new
key. In many cases (not
always), it sounds great.
I tend to use it most when I am
going up a half step or whole
step.
Here is an example of this
modulation from "My Jesus I Love
Thee" on my most recent CD.
Look at the pattern I am
using in measures 21-22 and then
notice I repeat it in measures
24-25 in the new key of D.
If you used a theme or
pattern in your introduction,
return to it and use it like
this during a modulation.
That makes things simple and
helps tie your arrangement
together.
Practice strategy:
Take a simple song like "Just As I Am" and work on using this modulation.
Come up with a simple pattern for the introduction and then use it for the
modulation (play it once in the old key and then again in a new key a step or so
higher).
