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z
Hot Stuff
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ozziestone
Key changing is sometimes described as a way to make a boring song less boring. Some would say Hot Stuff falls into that category
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Palace Revolution 2000
Thnks GasLight - I was going to mention that too. I mostly hate, loathe modulation in pop music, because 99% of the time it sounds very clunky, and forced. There is some misguided credo that this adds excitement, or adds dynamic and drama. Maybe in a songwriters 101 class. You hear it in Amrican Idol type songs.
So when it is done in a very elegant way I really appreciate it. E.g. "My Girl" has a beautiful modulation, that makes sense. Or "My Sweet Lord".
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andrewm
Good choice, James. I used to have this debate with a fellow songwriter when we were playing/recording in a band together. To him, modulation was anathema, a cheap cliche, too obvious, to be avoided at all cost. To me, it was, when used judiciously/sparingly, a great way of ramping up the drama or carrying the tune home. On a song on my current band's new album we modulate twice, going up a step each time, on the refrain at the end. "Too much?" we asked ourselves. "Absolutely not", we decided unanimously.
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ozziestone
Agreed andrewm. Modulation can work well. But also can be a lazy way of pepping up an otherwise ordinary song. Come On is a good example of the later.
My band struggles with key changes I must say-we tend to ignore them (eg Lodi)
I recall Chuck Berry trying to change key in the middle of Roll of Beethoven on Hail Hail with Keith firmly stopping him
I'm not sure if Keith would be up to a key change (in concert anyway) these days???