Great Key Changes

[Casey H]

Yes! Subtle key changes are the best! I mentioned earlier about "Needles and Pins". I had no idea, until I was playing around with the chords to learn it along with the CD that the bridge jumps into another key, putting the last verse 2 whole steps (i.e. F# to A#) above the earlier ones.I am proud of the one I have in "Frankly Scarlet" (on www.broadjam.com/hurowitz ) ... But, is it subtle? I don't know... If I didn't tell you the last verse was in a different key, would you have noticed it? In "What a World", I have my verses in D minor and the chorus in D. I got lucky there I think... I'm not that smart!! In Bruce Springsteen's "Rendezvous", he doesn't change keys. But he does something else that is fun. Out of the bridge he goes back to the verse in the same key as before but sings the melody at a different part of the scale. It comes out even better in Greg Khin's version of the song. Bruce starts on an F chord, singing the melody starting on the note "C". After the bridge, he comes back to the F chord but sings the melody slightly differently, starting on the note "A". Casey

[horacejesse]

Casey, I would not have noticed that key change at a casual listen, if you hadn't made it public. Good song.I know what it is to have strange goals as a songwriter, and how pleasing it is to scratch one off.From a certain harmonic standpoint one could always argue that you changed keys twice. Your E minor is aeolian, but the B major to A major section cannot be generated from a G major scale. That takes an E major scale. From that perspective you were in E major before you got to F# minor.

[Casey H]

Quote:Casey, I would not have noticed that key change at a casual listen, if you hadn't made it public. Good song.I know what it is to have strange goals as a songwriter, and how pleasing it is to scratch one off.From a certain harmonic standpoint one could always argue that you changed keys twice. Your E minor is aeolian, but the B major to A major section cannot be generated from a G major scale. That takes an E major scale. From that perspective you were in E major before you got to F# minor.Thanks for the listen, Horace.... Wow, I'm even smarter than I thought.... If I knew what the heck I was doing when I did it, it probably wouldn't have been any fun!! BTW, I often use the songwriting technique whereby I take scraps of unfinished pieces and change their keys to see if I can make a song section such as a bridge for a new song I am working on. Sometimes (not always!!) it works well... e.g the change to the bridge feels seamless. The bridge in "Physical World" worked well for me that way.Does the bridge in the Beatles' We Can Work It Out appear as seamless? I don't think so at all. However, who really cares? It's a great song. But would TAXI have forwarded it? LOL Casey