[Smt-talk] Popular Songs with 3 or more modulations?

Tue Jun 17 11:20:51 PDT 2014

Greetings list,

Brian's email makes me realized that I lacked clarification. Indeed, I was
looking for examples of "pump-up" modulations. As Brian mentioned,
sectional modulations are a different issue to tackle. Without doing any
corpus study myself, I'd venture to guess that finding multiple modulations
is far more common with sectional modulations than of the pump-up variety.

Some people have shared some interesting examples both on the list and off.
I'd be even more intrigued if anyone finds examples since 2000.

I also appreciate the connections of Beyonce's example with gospel music.
Certainly, many R&B songs are heavily influenced by the gospel genre, but
in some respects "Love On Top" seems a bit more exceptional.

Best,

*Devin Chaloux*
Indiana University
Ph.D. in Music Theory (enrolled)
University of Cincinnati - College-Conservatory of Music
M.M. in Music Theory '12
University of Connecticut
B.M. in Music Theory '10

On Tue, Jun 17, 2014 at 12:21 PM, hoffmaba . <hoffmaba at gmail.com> wrote:

> After reading some responses to Devin's question, I think it's important
> to distinguish between the type of so-called "pump-up" modulations Devin
> was presumably talking about and the sectional modulations that Chris Doll
> has written about in MTO and on which Trevor DeClerq has recently given
> papers.
>
> I believe that Devin is referring to the practice in which a song repeats
> formal material (typically the chorus) in a new key and stays there for the
> remainder of the song, except to repeat the process by modulating in the
> same way to yet another key.  Many of the responses have brought up
> sectional modulations (Chris Doll calls this a "Breakout Chorus" when
> appropriate). In these modulations, the verse and chorus (or other formal
> section) are in different keys, but those keys remain static throughout the
> song. Some well-known examples include The Beatles' "Penny Lane" which
> alternates between verses in B and choruses in A (until the final chorus in
> B) and Wild CHerry's  "Play That Funky Music," whose verses are in E and
> choruses are in G (with a brief move to  B-flat at the end).
>
> Best,
> Brian Hoffman
>
>
> On Tue, Jun 17, 2014 at 11:18 AM, <olivier.julien at free.fr> wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>> So do many tracks by Madness, a typical example being 'Our House' (1982).
>> => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwIe_sjKeAY
>> I began making a list of the many modulations in the song, but then
>> remembered Allan Moore already made it in *Song Means: Analysing and
>> Interpreting Recorded Popular Song*. (I think he also wrote something
>> quite interesting about Madness's unusual approach to harmony in *Rock:
>> The Primary Text*, but I can't check right now as I don't have the book
>> with me.) Devin, while digging into the eighties, you might also want to
>> have a look at Stock, Aitken & Waterman's productions from the end of the
>> decade -- most of the songs they produced for such mainstream artists as
>> Kylie Minogue (e.g., 'Better the Devil You Know', 'I Should Be So Lucky'),
>> Samantha Fox (e.g., 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now') or even Cliff Richard
>> (e.g., 'I Just Don't Have the Heart') featured modulations to remote keys
>> between verses and choruses.
>> Hope this helps.
>> Best...
>> Olivier
>>   ----
>> http://omf.paris-sorbonne.fr/Olivier-Julien
>> http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9780754667087
>> e-mail: olivier.julien at paris-sorbonne.fr <ofjulien at gmail.com>
>>
>>
>> Le 16 juin 2014 à 23:23, Nick Braae <braae.nick at gmail.com> a écrit :
>>
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Queen's songs often featured multiple modulations, although a number
>> blurred the line between a modulation proper, and an extended tonicization.
>> Nonetheless, 'Bicycle Race' has episodes in Ab (I want to ride my bicycle),
>> Bb minor (you say black, I say white…), F (Bicycle races are coming your
>> way…), as well as the refrain which never confirms any key, and is
>> presented differently with each occurrence (opens with on Eb/Bb, then
>> starts on D, then on F later on…).
>>
>> Also 'Millionaire Waltz' (the follow-up to 'Bohemian Rhapsody') has a
>> broad structural progression from C-F-Fm-Ab-Eb-Ab-Eb-C; a number of the
>> song's episodes are harmonically closed through a V-I cadence, which
>> fosters the impression of rapid, but complete modulations.
>>
>> Hope that helps - very interesting thread!
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Nick Braae
>>
>> PhD Student
>> University of Waikato
>> New Zealand
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jun 17, 2014 at 6:22 AM, John Cuciurean <jcuciure at uwo.ca> wrote:
>> Devin (and list)
>>
>> Interesting thread. Admittedly, none of these are pop songs from the past
>> 10 years or so, but have you considered:
>>
>> "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by the Beatles which moves from A for
>> verses to Bb~>G for pre-chorus, then to D (mixo) for chorus.
>>
>> "Layla" by Derek & the Dominoes has Intro & choruses in Dm, verses in E,
>> instrumental postlude in C.
>>
>> "Touch Me" by the Doors. I'm not sure I'd call the harmonic shifts during
>> the verses actual modulations but the verses move from G -> Bb - > Db where
>> the tonic remains for the chorus.
>>
>> "Lazy" by Deep Purple which is based on a 12-bars blues form
>> that modulates from F to G to A with successive verses.
>>
>> "Diamonds, Diamonds" by Max Webster. Another 12-bar blues form
>> that starts in B then moves each successive verse up, first to C,
>> then D, then E, followed by an unusual outro (at least for popular
>> music) that incorporates a harmonic progression (if you can call it
>> that) that traverses a WT scale outlining B-A-G-F-D#-C#-B (all major triads
>> with a 5-6 embellishment) where it then outlines a cadential formula in B
>> and closes in the same key in which it began.
>>
>> Lastly, there are numerous large scale songs from the prog rock era that
>> move through multiple keys. "Yours is No Disgrace" by Yes, for instance,
>> moves from A -> Bb -> Bm -> A -> Bb. But I suspect this is too far afield
>> from the repertoire you're considering.
>>
>> All the best,
>> John Cuciurean
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 6/16/2014 9:52 AM, hoffmaba . wrote:
>>
>> Devin and list,
>>
>> The song you are thinking of is Hall & Oates's "She's Gone," which
>> modulates by semitone from E major to G major within an instrumental
>> interlude that connects two choruses.   According to the research I've
>> done, stepwise modulations became more and more dramatic over time,
>> focusing the drama on one grand moment (think Dolly Parton/Whitney
>> Houston's "I Will Always Love You"). Thus, modulating  several times (more
>> than twice) like "Love on Top" is not common in the last twenty years or
>> so. The best example I can think of is Michael Jackson's "I Will Be There,"
>> which does this and is stylistically similar  to "Love on Top."
>>
>> The practice of including several modulations in a single song was most
>> popular in the 1950s and 1960s, particularly with novelty and story songs
>> such as The Playmates' "Beep Beep," Little Anthony and the Imperials'
>> "Shimmy Shimmy Ko-Ko Bop," Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife," and Sheb
>> Wooley's "Giant Purple People Eater."
>>
>> I'll also mention that songs with three different keys (two modulations)
>> are relatively common throughout pop music. So, I just want to make sure
>> that when you say "three modulations," you're referring to songs that pass
>> through four or more keys.
>>
>> I imagine everyone has his or her favorite, so I won't rob anyone of his
>> or her fun by including any more examples. However, I will take this
>> opportunity to plug my article on stepwise pop-rock modulations, which
>> addresses their role in pop-rock form and style.  It is "in the pipes" and
>> will hopefully get picked up and published before we're giving our Spring
>> 2015 final exams.
>>
>> Best,
>> Brian Hoffman
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Jun 15, 2014 at 11:53 PM, Devin Chaloux <devin.chaloux at gmail.com
>> > wrote:
>> Greetings list,
>>
>> Listening to Beyonce's 2011 single "Love on Top" from the album "4" has
>> prompted an inquiry to those on this list. For those familiar with the
>> song, the end features four successive modulations of the chorus up by a
>> half step (thus moving from the initial key of C major to the final key of
>> E major). It's a particularly striking example of modulation in pop music,
>> especially recent Top 40 hits. I'd venture to say that even finding
>> two modulations in one pop song is a fairly rare occurrence in the last 10
>> or so years of Top 40 radio...let alone three or four.
>>
>> I seem to recall Brian Hoffmann presented at least one example at the
>> recent MTMW meeting, but the name of the song is escaping me at the moment.
>> Are there any others that you can think of?
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Devin Chaloux
>> Indiana University
>> Ph.D. in Music Theory (enrolled)
>> University of Cincinnati - College-Conservatory of Music
>> M.M. in Music Theory '12
>> University of Connecticut
>> B.M. in Music Theory '10
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Dr. Brian D. Hoffman
>> Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Theory
>> Butler University
>>
>>
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>
>
> --
> Dr. Brian D. Hoffman
> Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Theory
> Butler University
>
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