Modulation
Moving the tonal centre to another key — and making the arrival felt
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Modulation moves the music's centre from one key to another and makes the arrival felt. It is not a passing chord but a new tonic establishing gravity: the new dominant resolves to the new tonic, and a cadence confirms the move.
Modulation often turns on a pivot chord shared by the old and new keys. The usual mistake is to hear one accidental as a modulation — it may only be a secondary dominant or a tonicization, with the centre never really moving. To hear a modulation, listen for the new tonic to stand.
Read deeper → Modulation
Sources
- 转调的定义、共同和弦与调性到达，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Modulation"；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.