Mod of the Day

Michael Buble | I Believe in You

Here’s Michael Buble’s 2017 hit “I Believe In You.” The album which is home to the track, Nobody But Me, hit #2 on the Billboard album chart and was also a hit across Europe and much of Asia. The modulation is at 2:49.

Jennifer Hudson | Where You At

Here’s some JHud with “Where You At,” the lead single from her 2011 album I Remember Me. Key change at 2:48.

The Fifth Dimension | One Less Bell to Answer

Among the top hits for legendary songwriting team Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David, 1970’s “One Less Bell to Answer” helped to cement the career of The Fifth Dimension.

Starting with Bacharach’s trademark torch song melancholy in the first verse, a more hopeful tone is reflected in the long bridge, which starts with a modulation at 1:07. An instrumental verse, beginning at 1:43, returns to the original key.

Chicago | Hard Habit to Break

“Hard Habit to Break,” a 1984 power ballad, was one of Chicago’s biggest hits and part of the band’s era of increasingly pop-friendly tunes. David Foster, well-known for producing lush songwriting, was one of the song’s co-writers and arrangers at this time, layering the band’s trademark horns with towering strings and synth saturation like there was no tomorrow.

The modulations are everywhere: 0:35, 1:00, 1:32, 1:56, 2:19, several quick pivots during the bridge around 3:12, and 3:18.

Steely Dan | Any Major Dude Will Tell You

A classic Steely Dan track from 1974, “Any Major Dude Will Tell You” is among the shortest and most harmonically straightforward tunes in the band’s catalog. But 1:51 brings us to a modulation, then a quick return to the original key at the instrumental verse (2:03.)

DJ and the Yams | Start Again

This R&B ballad, written by the track’s lead vocalist, Desmond Scaife, Jr, was recorded live on stage at Boston’s Berklee College of Music in 2016.

The track features a quick modulation at 2:25, returning to the original key at 2:30.

The Stylistics | Stop, Look, Listen

Another harmonically lush track by the Philly Soul gurus The Stylistics. “Stop, Look, Listen” (1971) packs so much into a hit song of less than three minutes’ length — including a few time signature shifts, plenty of orchestral instrumentation, and an uncharacteristically simple direct modulation at 2:21.

Jonathan Read Gealt (feat. Natalie Weiss) | Quiet

Here is Jonathan Reid Gealt‘s “Quiet” (2011), sung by the incomparable Natalie Weiss. Key change from E to G at 1:24, and then back to E at 2:00.

Jason Mraz | The Remedy

“The Remedy,” Jason Mraz’s 2002 breakthrough hit, reached #15 in the US. It features a bridge which initially continues in the tune’s overall key of Bb major (2:33). Mraz then jumps to Bb minor for the second segment of the bridge (2:53) before returning to the feel-good chorus in Bb major.

Duncan Sheik | Barely Breathing

Duncan Sheik‘s tunes are full of quirks — harmonic and otherwise — but fewer full modulations. His best-known hit, 1996’s “Barely Breathing,” sticks to fairly straightforward territory through the first two verses and choruses. But then the bridge (2:40) presents several short but compelling key-of-the-moment segments (I major / V minor pairs) that don’t closely relate to the rest of the tune — but then, that’s often true of a good bridge. By 3:09, we’re ready to dive back into the familiarity (and relative simplicity) of the chorus as it reverts to the original key.