# Why do singers change the key in the middle of a song? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 18, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852 "2014-08-18T20:45:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/81 "2014-08-20T21:39:38Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > There’s a brief modulation I’m always happy to run into, for some probably odd reason. It’s the one where you’re playing a song in the key of G and in one line you switch to a E major to A major and then you’re back at the D, which is the V chord in the key of G. > > Or Alice’s Restaurant does this in C. C - A - D7 - G - C. Okay, I’ve omitted some 6ths and stuff, but there it is. I’m not sure this qualifies as a key modulation; it’s a very common set of chord changes, often referred to as 1-6-2-5 (I VI II V). Each chord after the I is preceded by its own V, making for a naturally resolving progression and a pleasing sound - a string of authentic cadences, if you will. Our western ears are trained to desire that resolution, especially if the dominant chord is a 7th. Often majors and minors come into play, typically alternating (I VI ii V, I III vi II V, etc.) > [@scabpicker](#): > > Well, as I said. When you get to the blues, “key” is a pretty loose idea, and I made the mistake of not being specific. > > The scale moves with the chord change a lot of the time (e.g. [Long Grey Mare](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSvU8OXqmzM)). Dazed and Confused does this, as well. Either those songs are chromatic, or the guitar/bass patterns are following the key of the root note. > > But I get that it’s not the same thing or serving the same function as key modulation does in diatonic music. Going back to the I is still satisfying. > > I’ve long felt that roman numeral analysis was a poor tool for describing a lot of blues songs. I-IV-V does a good job of describing where you’re going, not what you’re going to do when you get there. I’m not sure why I thought it was a good idea to put it in here. I blame the beer, the whiskey was just a bystander. I’m with pulykamell on this one…I IV V describes just about every blues song. The roman numeral notation is for the chords only, at least since jazz came along. What you do when you get there is up to you, improvisationally speaking. I don’t think “key” is a loose idea, there’s just different rules. You have chords and the notes therein that are played as accompaniment to the melody, which is either sung, played, or improvised. The melody itself is almost always rooted in the blues scale for that key. If the melody note clashes (dissonant/half-step away from) with the accompaniment note, it’s ok as long as it’s in the blues scale, or a quickly passing tone. The “defined” blues scale that pukykamell indicates is designed to work over all three chords. Other notes can be added, as mentioned - i.e. major 3rd of the I, but in this case that specific note becomes THE avoid note once the progression moves to the IV; similarly the major 3rd of the V chord is the avoid note in most cases once the progression moves back to the I (the exception being a Imaj7, but that’s not really the blues anymore). Each note of the “defined” scale works on all three chords at any time. In the “Long Grey Mare” example, the guitar/bass patterns are not following the key of the root note; they’re following (for the most part) the notes of the chords - root, major 3rd, 4th, and 5th for each. It’s almost like an arpeggio. Also, since the pattern moves quickly, any dissonance should resolve before it becomes irritating. If the maj 3rd of the V chord were held for any length of time instead of moving to the 4th, and the lead soloist or singer were holding on the bVII (in the blues scale) of the I, we’d have a problem. Still this is not half as bad as the melody holding a note outside of the blues scale (e.g. #5th or b2nd). ---
**Author:** ![gladtobeblazed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@gladtobeblazed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gladtobeblazed)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/82 "2014-08-21T04:50:19Z")
Every time I noticed this pitch change I just assumed it was because it was recorded on some old crappy analog gear. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/83 "2014-08-21T10:22:10Z")
I just thought of a song whose modulation resembles that of “And I Love Her”: **“China Cat Sunflower,”** by the Grateful Dead. I’m familiar with the live version on _Europe '72_; not sure if the studio version is the same). Most of China Cat is in in G, with a certain pattern of chord changes through verses (with singing) and refrains (no singing). Then, for the third verse/chorus sequence – this time, just like in “And I Love Her,” with the verse melody played on a guitar rather than sung – the whole thing is done modulated up a tone, so the tonic is A. Then, with no pivot or anything, it comes back down to G, for the final verse/chorus. (The final chorus gets stuck in the V – that is, D – for an extended vamp where this chord winds up being the tonic of the next song – Woody Guthrie’s “I Know You Rider” – but I digress.) ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/84 "2014-08-21T11:20:00Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > And more bizarrely, a song that modulates _down_ a half-step twice at the end: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7FspsAHqfQ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7FspsAHqfQ) Ah, thanks. I was wondering whether there were examples of this and I couldn’t think of any. I can’t listen to it right now but I’m curious… ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/85 "2014-08-21T12:09:41Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Woody Guthrie’s “I Know You Rider” Woody Guthrie? ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/86 "2014-08-21T12:39:39Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I just thought of a song whose modulation resembles that of “And I Love Her”: **“China Cat Sunflower,”** by the Grateful Dead. I’m familiar with the live version on _Europe '72_; not sure if the studio version is the same). > > Most of China Cat is in in G, with a certain pattern of chord changes through verses (with singing) and refrains (no singing). > > Then, for the third verse/chorus sequence – this time, just like in “And I Love Her,” with the verse melody played on a guitar rather than sung – the whole thing is done modulated up a tone, so the tonic is A. > > Then, with no pivot or anything, it comes back down to G, for the final verse/chorus. > > (The final chorus gets stuck in the V – that is, D – for an extended vamp where this chord winds up being the tonic of the next song – Woody Guthrie’s “I Know You Rider” – but I digress.) “Eyes Of The World” changes keys from E in the verses to G in the chorus…kind of unique, actually. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/87 "2014-08-21T12:42:46Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’ve noticed a lot of female singers like the capo on the first fret. That half step seems to fit their voices better. I think a lot of them like it because it makes fingering open chords quite a bit easier and less fatiguing as well. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/88 "2014-08-21T16:24:03Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Woody Guthrie? Sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking – it’s a [“traditional women’s blues song”.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Know_You_Rider)Thanks for the heads-up. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/89 "2014-08-21T16:24:17Z")
[Harry Belafonte out-modulates us all](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFOvKnZbo3o) ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/90 "2014-08-21T16:55:09Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > But, anyhow, you’re right. Western harmonic theory leaves a bit to be desired when talking blues, but there still is a sense of key, even if major/minor tonality can be a bit ambiguous. Yeah, I think we’re on the same page. I just used bad examples, and am probably too ignorant to explain myself well. But in my defense, I didn’t say a lack of key, I said the key was “loose”. 😉 > [@Mixolydian](#): > > I’m with pulykamell on this one…I IV V describes just about every blues song. The roman numeral notation is for the chords only, at least since jazz came along. What you do when you get there is up to you, improvisationally speaking. That was basically what I was getting at in my original thoughts/post. And I jumped from the ambiguity of being in major/minor/whatever feels good with no definite key, to the tonality change a when you change a definite key in traditional western music. In a more sober mood, I realized that you’d be moving the base chords up or down somewhere to have the same effect in a I-IV-V blues that you get with key modulation in diatonic music. Now, I bet I can find a (probably Rolling Stones) song that moves the tonal center to the IV and moves the I to the V in a pinch (I know I could write a quick example), but that wasn’t what I was thinking of. But yes, long and short, my original assertion was wrong-dong-dilddly-ong-wrong, for a dizzying array of reasons. IME, music theory is more important than reading staff notation, and I would not want to mislead anyone with a half-hearted retraction. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/91 "2014-08-21T17:15:00Z")
I am pretty sure Bobby Darin’s version of Mack The Knife changes keys for each verse. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/92 "2014-08-21T18:55:07Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m actually not entirely clear what you’re picking up on there. Can you describe it a bit more? The vocals sound fine to me. Maybe a bit wobbly on the pitch on that first example, but nothing that really bugs me (for this type of music). I didn’t hear it at 1:52, but the other two places have a very brief modulation, I think switching to the major just for a bit. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/93 "2014-08-21T19:54:56Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I didn’t hear it at 1:52, but the other two places have a very brief modulation, I think switching to the major just for a bit. Hmm…I don’t hear it. I hear an A chord in the back and A-B-C#-D-B when the chord transitions from A to Em. Maybe it’s that C# hanging when the chord switches to Em? Nothing really weird about that. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/94 "2014-08-21T20:02:57Z")
ETA: Oh, actually, I do see what you’re saying, as it resolves in Em instead of Dm, which is the bulk of the progression before. The A section is Dm-C-A, but the B section changes to Em-G-B, so it does, in fact, modulate. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/95 "2014-08-21T20:08:42Z")
That said, the poster is asking about a “vocal sin,” so I’m assuming it’s something he’s singing, and not the songwriting itself, but I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Shooby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f475e1/32.png) [@Shooby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shooby)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/96 "2014-08-22T03:31:01Z")
I can’t believe no one has posted [My Heart Will Go On](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNyKDI9pn0Q) yet. For me, that’s one of the most classic of truck driver key changes (about 3:20), in the poppiest and most ubiquitous of pop ballads. Celine at her Celinest. ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/97 "2014-08-22T09:24:37Z")
> [@Mixolydian](#): > > I’m not sure this qualifies as a key modulation; it’s a very common set of chord changes, often referred to as 1-6-2-5 (I VI II V). Each chord after the I is preceded by its own V, making for a naturally resolving progression and a pleasing sound - a string of authentic cadences, if you will. Our western ears are trained to desire that resolution, especially if the dominant chord is a 7th. Often majors and minors come into play, typically alternating (I VI ii V, I III vi II V, etc.) In classical theory, the term would be [tonicization](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonicization). [Summer Nights](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW0DfsCzfq4) from Grease is a good double gear shift song that returns to the original key for the last verse to great effect I think. And incidentally, if you’ve ever watched American Idol you’ve heard this gear shift modulation idea in just about every other song. ---
**Author:** ![QuarkChild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c5a1d2/32.png) [@QuarkChild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuarkChild)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/98 "2014-08-24T00:11:48Z")
Personally, I like the key change in White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane). [Youtube link.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WANNqr-vcx0) ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/99 "2014-08-24T13:10:29Z")
Fats Waller’s [The Joint Is Jumpin’](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKe6yH3ZwGo). Key center moves back and forth from Bb to D, in the verses and the chorus. Easy to jump keys, but not always so easy to work your way back and make it sound good. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/100 "2014-08-24T16:10:47Z")
Perhaps this is cited up thread, but there’s a song by Mel Brooks in The Producers, with I think perfectly appropriate lyrics, when the lyrics change to “key change!” at the typical unmodulated slide up a half-tone to pad out the musical trope of “exciting continuation of song” without particularly earning it–Brooks here certainly aware of that. Anyone know off-hand which song that is? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852.md?page=6)