Matthew Wilder’s “Break My Stride,” released in 1983, featured a unique pop/reggae mix that made it a hit on the dance floor. It reached #5 in the US and #4 in the UK. The bridge, starting at 1:45, modulates at 2:03 as it returns to the last chorus.
Category: Elise
The Doobie Brothers | Minute By Minute
The Doobie Brothers‘ longstanding rock/folk/Americana sound expanded suddenly when the soul-infused songwriter Michael McDonald joined their lineup. 1978’s “Minute by Minute” features crazy amounts of syncopation, long instrumental-only breaks, and a modulation up two full steps as the bridge arrives at 2:28. The tune hit #14 on the pop charts, helping the album it appeared on to reach #1.
The Apex Project | Home
The Apex Project, featuring vocalist Cheeyang Ng, covered “Home,” a tune made popular through Singapore Day. The event travels to cities worldwide with large numbers of overseas Singaporean nationals with the goal of helping them remain connected to their home country. This beautiful 2016 a capella rendition of the tune, which was also arranged by Cheeyang, modulates at 1:59 and 2:56.
Player | Baby Come Back
“Yacht Rock” royalty, Player’s polished southern California sound was all over the charts in the late 70s. Multiple lead vocalists, complex chords, and tight vocal harmonies were some of the band’s hallmarks.
For “Baby Come Back,” the band’s smash 1977 hit, the modulation lasts for the duration of the bridge (2:23 – 2:48) before reverting to its original key.
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.
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.
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