How do you transpose a chorus?

[sgs4u]

Jul 24, 2008, 12:05pm, diogenes wrote:This has all helped immensely. Thanks everyone.I once transposed a chorus down to "E" when the verse was in "G." Worked fine for me. It just depends where you want the chorus to sit. the OutsiderHardly anyone noticed, except Matto.

[mojobone]

I Walk The Line has some outlandish modulations in it as well.

[geo]

Jul 22, 2008, 11:18pm, kelysian wrote:I ran across this site several years ago, and it still cracks me up:http://www.gearchange.org/"Who or what is a truck driver's gear change?Many writers and arrangers feel that when their song is in risk of getting a bit tired, it can be given a fresh lease of life by shifting the whole song up a key, usually in between choruses, towards the beginning of a "repeat-till-fade" section. You may have heard this technique informally referred to as "modulation", but the correct ethnomusicological term for the phenomenon is the truck driver's gear change. This reflects the utterly predictable and laboured nature of the transition, evoking a tired and over-worked trucker ramming the gearstick into the new position with his – or, to be fair, her – fist. Contrary to what many people seem to think, the truck driver's gear change is in no way inventive, interesting or acceptable: it is in fact an utterly appalling and unimaginative admission that you've run out of inspiration and the song should have ended one minute ago; but you're under pressure to make something which can be stretched out to the length of a single. The concept of the truck driver's gear change seems to transcend all musical styles, from Perry Como to The Misfits, although my investigations reveal that it's most prevalent in mainstream pop, and, let's face it, it's unlikely to feature in hip-hop. But who's to say."On a serious note, there's a formula for finding the chord progression that will get you to that next key. If you're ending on the I major chord, the 5th of that chord is the same note as the 7th of the dominant chord in the next key, 1 step up. For example, if you're in C major, hold your G and build an A7 chord around it, then resolve to D major. KathleenToo funny!!!!

[elser]

Jul 24, 2008, 12:15pm, sgs4u wrote:Jul 24, 2008, 12:05pm, diogenes wrote:This has all helped immensely. Thanks everyone.I once transposed a chorus down to "E" when the verse was in "G." Worked fine for me. It just depends where you want the chorus to sit. the OutsiderHardly anyone noticed, except Matto. Ah, I suspected as much; despite all the strutting, your really just a big hearted softy. Cool tune, amazing harmonic movement, could be a theory lesson all by itself.

[gongchime]

The modulation that occurs at the last chorus of a tune is called an Arranger's Modulation because sometimes it's called for by the producer when the actual composer of the tune hadn't put it in. Modulations that are integral to the song and are in the middle of a chorus or verse are called a Composer's Modulation. It's also my feeling that the reason keys change so often in classical music is because the melody is boring and doesn't bear repetition. And the reason there are sooooooooo many different kinds and constant use of embellishments in Classical music of India is because there are no chords.Lesson? Perhaps adding embellishments to a repeated chorus is another way of bringing it to life without having to modulate. Or BOTH!

[Casey H]

Jul 25, 2008, 6:03am, gongchime wrote:The modulation that occurs at the last chorus of a tune is called an Arranger's Modulation because sometimes it's called for by the producer when the actual composer of the tune hadn't put it in. Modulations that are integral to the song and are in the middle of a chorus or verse are called a Composer's Modulation. It's also my feeling that the reason keys change so often in classical music is because the melody is boring and doesn't bear repetition. And the reason there are sooooooooo many different kinds and constant use of embellishments in Classical music of India is because there are no chords.Lesson? Perhaps adding embellishments to a repeated chorus is another way of bringing it to life without having to modulate. Or BOTH!One of my favorite old records of the 60's is "A Lover's Concerto" by The Toys. It's based on a Bach piece and modulates a semi-tone each verse. That falls into that category of modulating to offset the possible boredom of the repetitive melody. It is a very catchy one... http://www.e-chords.com/guitartab.asp?i ... &keyb=true Casey

[elser]

Jul 25, 2008, 6:03am, gongchime wrote:The modulation that occurs at the last chorus of a tune is called an Arranger's Modulation because sometimes it's called for by the producer when the actual composer of the tune hadn't put it in. Modulations that are integral to the song and are in the middle of a chorus or verse are called a Composer's Modulation. Cool, hadn't heard that before.

[mojobone]

George Benson's "On Broadway", anyone?

[ncc1701]

"Mack the Knife." I can do a decent job of this at karaoke because it modulates up enough to where I can really belt at the end. I sang it with a live band (they do a show called "Karaoke From Hell") and THEY DIDN'T MODULATE AT ALL! I was crushed.Kathleen

[elser]

Jul 25, 2008, 6:28pm, kelysian wrote:"Mack the Knife." I can do a decent job of this at karaoke because it modulates up enough to where I can really belt at the end. I sang it with a live band (they do a show called "Karaoke From Hell") and THEY DIDN'T MODULATE AT ALL! I was crushed.Kathleen