I have started a piece in D minor and I am ready to change key what would be an appropriate key to change into and how would i go about doing it?

You've plenty of possibilities! Do you want to go to a major or minor? Most common modulations are to the Tonic/Subdominant/Dominant plus relative keys, but you can pretty much go into any key, it just takes a bit longer to get there Depends what kind of effect you want the key change to bring really.

The easiest way to modulate is to use a 'pivot chord' that belongs to the old and new key, then have a perfect cadence in the new key to really establish it. Or you can bounce around the circle of fifths, or move up/down a semitone. What style is the piece in? Some methods suit different styles better than others.

And, welcome to the forums!

Rosemary 7391 - You have given far too much away here. Now you are going to get asked about everyone's composition problems (starting with mine)

How do I write a melody that sounds like one of Mozart's ?

I would go to B flat major. Otherwise I would go to G major. I don't like minor keys.

I just like harmony ! And get very carried away when I talk about it *hides*

Thats what i was going to say

*unless its d or a minor*

*and even then only harmonic*

I might consider going to F major (the relative major).

Sorry if I'm missing something, but how exactly do you modulate to the tonic? Or do you mean the tonic major in this case?


Why and why?? If you're going to move to a major, the obvious ones are F major (the relative major) or A major (the dominant). Otherwise G minor is quite closely related and D major is a possibility as (obviously) it shares a tonic. G major is miles away and I'm assuming musicaltheatre is a novice at composition or he/she wouldn't be asking the question.


Finally a sensible answer!


It depends whether you are doing it very theoretically (by analysing his works) or whether you have his tonal language sufficiently internalised that you can compose freely something in that style. When you say 'melody', do you literally just mean melody, or are you trying to write a pastiche piano sonata for example?

There are certain things he uses a lot (all of which I'm sure you're aware of) such as accented appoggiaturas, chromatic movement, scalic passages, interrupted candences, strong arpeggio movement, Alberti bass, turns and trills diminished 7ths, repeated notes...

I had to write a Mozart sonata exposition as part of my BMus which I could forward to you if you think it might help. Is this just for general interest?

I cannot give a theoretical answer, I just like the change. Imagine d minor in root position with d on top, then for g major root position, the d forms the fifth of the chord. A nice change. Similarly for b flat major, the d forms the third of the chord. I can't describe these modulations technically, but just played on the piano, they sound beautiful to me.

Imagine d minor in root position with d on top, then for g major root position, the d forms the fifth of the chord

Wonderful. I love the tension between the minor d-f and the major g-b.

However, as you describe it, it's not actually a modulation, simply two juxtaposed chords. A modulation has to be a definite progression between two key centres.

It is a task that turns out to be far more difficult than it has any right to be. When you encounter a Mozart melody it can seem a bit "twee', corny even ... but when you try to crete something comparable ... it is just impossible ... yet his music is full of phrase after beautiful phrase.

Why? I have set myself the very foolish task of writing the first movement of a Clarinet concerto in the style of Mozart (for the silly reason that Mozart foolishly wrote only one Clarinet concerto!)


Yes I play all the piano sonatas - only a handful from memory and to performance standard - but the rest from the scores for my own education and enjoyment. I would have thought I'd internalized enough of his style to at least compose a few simple melodies ... but it seems not.


It probably would help. It is a kind offfer, but let me keep it as an option, for if I am still as stuck as this in 6 months time

Cheers
Tom


p.s. K.284 - Wow!

Yes I did, probably didn't phrase it very well though! It made sense last night, or I wouldn't have typed it.

Modulating to the Tonic major would make sense.

I'm just wondering with this sort of question if it needs to be asked then maybe there are some missing stages in theoretical knowledge that might be better filled before attempting to write something with modulations?

I don't know about gaps; certainly at grade 5 theory I had no idea about modulations! It's something that comes with attempting to write/analyse larger scale works than fragments considered in G5.

It's all about the effect you're after and the style you're writing in. A funk piece would probably end up in the relative major and then jump up a minor third (what a kick!) but a pop piece would use the good old fashioned stand-up-for-the-keychange semi-tone.

Find some pieces in the same style and see what they do and/or decide what kind of effect you'd like to create and work out which key suits the mood.

That's an easy peasy modulation ... sharpen the third of the tonic chord, so your D minor becomes D major, and lo and behold, you've got chord V in G major for your perfect cadence.