From the course: Music Theory for Songwriters: Harmony

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Exploring modulation and pedal point in a song

Exploring modulation and pedal point in a song

From the course: Music Theory for Songwriters: Harmony

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Exploring modulation and pedal point in a song

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- So no I'm going to show you how we integrate some of these concepts into a song. And I'm going to demonstrate with one of my own compositions, "Automatic". First, let me show you some of the techniques that I use, and then I'm going to play the song in its entirety. The song is in D-flat, and it works off of a dominant pedal, and it builds suspense almost the entire song that way, until we finally resolve at the end. The chords that happen on the dominant pedal of A-flat, are G-flat major 7, and F minor 7, and we just go back and forth between inversions. And you'll notice during the second verse I modulate, which actually gives the second verse a different kind of a feel, and keeps it fresh. So, let's check out "Automatic". ♫ I'm washing my hands ♫ You're wondering why ♫ You don't understand ♫ How they're gonna get dry ♫ It's automatic ♫ It's automatized ♫ It's automatic with my hands ♫ They automatically dry ♫ There's never a plan ♫ When somebody dies ♫ There's never a plan ♫ It…

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