#16
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The half-step modulation seemed to be most popular in the Tin Pan Alley heyday. It's not at all common in classical music, so I think it is a more modern thing.
I've always seen it as a 'lazy' way to inject a change. While I love key changes, I have so far avoided ever writing a half-step modulation. To my ears, most of the time it sounds awkward. Jazz that is based on standards will have a lot of these. I've always found that using partial chords and barres works best, and those are the kinds of chord forms that work well in jazz anyway.
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#17
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Since the title of the the thread is "mid-song key changes," not just modulations, I can think of two songs where the choruses and the verses are in different keys: "Good Day Sunshine" by the Beatles and "Your Precious Love" by Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell. Anything else belong on that list?
And there are probably lots where there's a key change for the bridge. "Here there and Everywhere" and "Dream a Little Dream of Me" are two that come to mind. With the latter, I've heard versions where, relative to the verse, the bridge drops a minor third and others where it drops a major third. They both sound fine if the arrangement elegantly works its way back to the verse. |
#18
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Check what David Wilcox does at about the 1:52 mark.
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Jim 2023 Iris ND-200 maple/adi 2017 Circle Strings 00 bastogne walnut/sinker redwood 2015 Circle Strings Parlor shedua/western red cedar 2009 Bamburg JSB Signature Baritone macassar ebony/carpathian spruce 2004 Taylor XXX-RS indian rosewood/sitka spruce 1988 Martin D-16 mahogany/sitka spruce along with some electrics, zouks, dulcimers, and banjos. YouTube |
#19
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Wow. I don't think my right arm's long enough to do that.
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#20
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James Taylor has been doing the "Capo-Slide" on his song "Your Smiling Face" since 1977.
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#21
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He's got a whole band behind him, so he can lay out for a bar or two. Still cool, though.
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#22
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Yep. Ol' Barry was King of the Truck Drivers. Not the first to do it, but got up there in the head of the convoy...
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#23
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Sure. But some guitarists (present company excepted of course ) still think of the fretboard direction towards the bridge as "down", and towards the nut as "up". Proper musicians (like us) think in pitch, not in physical direction or position.
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"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen. |
#24
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You can’t avoid barre chords altogether with a half-step modulation, but you can minimize them by placing a capo so as to put each half of the song in a key where you’ll be playing a mix of barre and open chords — for instance, say the song starts in D and modulates up to Eb, place the capo on the third fret so it starts in B and modulates up to C. (The best exact approach will depend on the harmonic content of the song, of course—the strategy I just mentioned won’t be much help if the song never goes to the IV chord!)
Brent, about songs with verse and chorus in different keys — my favorite example is “Pleasant Valley Sunday”, which has a verse in A, and then shifts to C for the chorus — and then halfway through the chorus modulates a second time to E, to set up a V-I resolution back to the verse. Just to put the cherry on the sundae, the last time through the chorus, the shift is from C to F. That King kid had some tricks up her sleeve. And then of course, there’s the ultimate multi-modulation song, “Good Vibrations”.
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#25
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Quote:
I've seen both James Taylor and David Wilcox move a capo mid song for modulating when playing solo (no band to cover for them). The response in the room when David Wilcox did this was an audible 'ooo' on the part of the audience (and a smattering of applause). I attended one of his workshops and it came up as a question (how do to do this smoothly). |
#26
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Yep, that's a good 'un.
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#27
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I just use a “glider capo.” Didn’t know they even existed until a couple of years ago. Just reach up with the thumb of your fretting hand and roll it forward or back. And while they don’t work as well coming off the nut (going from uncapo’d to capo at the first fret) anywhere else they work okay. Not great but okay, especially if there’s only one change to deal with.
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#28
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Quote:
Somewhere on youtube is a Tommy Emmanuel workshop video showing him throwing his capo. And he basically says, yeah it's 100% an entertaining gimmick, I'm an entertainer. As far as key changes go, there's a long list of songs that wouldn't be the same without them. Kermit the Frog (Rainbow Connection) and Bon Jovi (you know the one) approve this message. Personally I use a combination of barre chords and partial chord shapes vs moving a capo, but maybe I'll rethink, could be fun. |
#29
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David Wilcox thoughts…
Quote:
He's often funnier live because when he's being recorded he sef-censors a bit more. I've never heard him become obnoxious, or insulting…but he can really be funny during a 2½ hour seminar. |
#30
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Very interesting topic indeed as a fingerstylist !
I am working on a piece that brings in an unsual, kind of ackward, fingering to keep the feeling of the main melody while changing key ! I also once was faced with a female singer that asked for a key change to match her voicing range : that was easy : I capoed so that the fingering of both hands remained ! But what happens with a singer getting to a lower range as he ages ? I was absolutely blowned away by how Leonard Cohen voice got bassier as he aged ! It makes me remember of a lesson where Fred Sokolow explains how some pieces are built on the circle of fifth : Follow the melody, guys !!! So I am amazed about the tricks you found as used by other players on live play : It makes me find myself a better player I used to think I am !!!
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