A direct modulation occurs when a chord in the previous key is followed directly by a chord in the new key. In other words, there is no smooth transition or overlap between keys, just a direct ...

Mention ‘modulation’ to a computer musician and their hand will most likely reach for the nearest soft synth or keyboard mod wheel. On the theoretical side of music, though, the term refers not to the ...

The "Neapolitan 6th" chord (N6) is another sonority whose definition is based on the triad that it makes, which is a vertical perspective that glosses over its actual horizontal function. It is ...

Key changes - or ‘modulations’, to give them their proper, music theory-professor name - may have become a bit of a pop cliché (picture Westlife stepping off their stools), but knowing how to craft a ...