Lesson: Modulation

 

 

Alright, aku baru posted video pasal modulation. Sebelum ni video lesson aku pasal satu key jek. Meaning that chord progression tu dalam satu key jek. Dalam lesson ni aku introduce concept Modulation. Pegi tengok video ni dulu, pastu sambung baca.

First off, effect macam Chorus or Flanger dikategorikan sebagai modulation jugak. But that’s audio modulation, some sort of sound effect. That’s a different animal. This is about music theory.

Sebelum ni mase aku release TAB lagu Belaian Jiwa, aku tak explain lagi theory muzik lagu ni. I just thought at the time I should wait until I release the program to explain it easier. That way the graphical nature of my program can help you see it better.

So dalam contoh lagu ni, First bar dia in G Major key. Second bar plak modulate to A minor key. Third bar plak in between, sebab pivot chord Am7 tu belong to both G Major and A minor key. Pivot chord ni digunakan untuk make the transition from one key to the other smoother. Last bar dalam progression ni pulak G Major key, walaupon chord D7sus4 is found in both keys. My reason for concluding that the last bar is in G Major is the vocal. Vocal dia ade nyanyi note F#, which is a G Major note.

So, kalau rasa nak goreng, try pakai G Major dalam first bar. Pastu switch to A minor scale bila chord dia Dm tu. Pastu bila chord dia tukar jadi E pulak, try A melodic minor scale. And then bile masuk third bar plak, goreng jek dalam G Major atau A minor, but try to avoid note F# (that will make both scales identical). Bile last bar plak try G Major scale balik.

Technically, mase memula switch from G Major to A minor key tu, kat second bar tu dipanggil Direct Modulation. Modulation dia serta-merta, abrupt. But bile tukar balik ke G Major key, it’s more gradual, because we have the pivot chord in the third bar (or measure) to make the transition smoother.

Kalo dalam progression yg dalam satu key jek, certain chords are not very stable. Certain chord create some sort of tension, that needs resolution. Dalam lagu ni pon lebih kurang jugak. Dalam lagu ni, kita keluar dari key tu untuk create a tension. But at the end of the progression, we resolve back to the original key.

 

Kalo tengok Circle of 5th utk key lagu ni and key lagu Luhur, korang akan nampak key dia switch to key yg bersebelahan. I think this is what we call Common Chord Modulation. Sebabnya key-key yang bersebelahan ade share a few chords.

There are many kinds of modulation out there of course. Like I said, you can switch from a major key to its parallel key. Contohnya, start start dalam key C Major, but then modulate to C minor key. That’s called Modal Interchange. Sebabnya tonal center sama, note C. But mode dia tukar dari Ionian (Major) to Aeolian (minor) mode.

You can probably do some sort of relative modulation. Contohnya start in C Major, and switch to A minor (the relative minor of C Major). The notes remain the same, the key signature remains the same, but the Tonal Center moves from C to A.

And some modulation requires Pitch Axis to understand. I think Joe Satriani likes to use it.

Baca article ni untuk jenis-jenis modulation yg lain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modulation_%28music%29

 

So, next time kalo korang nak try faham certain progression, kalo tak semua chord dia masuk dalam satu key, think about modulation. And kalo nak tulis lagu sendiri pon, this is something to think about. You can definitely write many good songs dalam satu key jek, but try modulating to create interest. Tapi jangan la main belasah jek chord dari macam-macam key. You have to try and see what sounds good what doesn’t. As opposed to writing something in just one key, modulating opens a lot more possibilities.

This is something that I wish I understood many years ago but I didn’t. Hopefully by reading this you’ll get some new insight. I’m still learning this, and I find this very interesting thing to learn. You know, I’m always looking for ways to explain how things work.

 

Oh lagi satu sebelum lupa. You know that people say Major is a happy key, minor is a dark, sad key. Well, lagu Belaian Jiwa ni is in a G Major key (although it does modulate to a minor key). Tak wajib lagu sedih dalam minor key, just so you know. Lagi satu, lagu ni aku consider as G Major, bukan E minor. Sebabnye bukan sekadar dia start with G Major chord, but kalo tengok last bar pon, dia resolve to G Major. You can feel that the last bar sounds like the song comes to a rest. So that’s “home”.

And one last thing (I promise), kalo tengok tab lagu Belaian Jiwa dalam versi GP5, aku tulis chord dia dua tingkat. For example, dalam first bar, kat atas aku tulis G, bawah dia F. G Major is the key that you think you’re playing. In reality, you’re actually playing in F Major, because you tune down your guitar one whole step. I just don’t do it on GP6 version because it looks messy.