: Help with tonicization, modulation and modal interchange I'm currently writing a short piece of music for a university assessment, and there are a number of conditions in place as far as what it must contain. About half of

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Although I agree with JJM you should be comfortable with this if you are writing assignments on it. I will like to add some thoughts on point two.

Modulation by direct, pivot chord, dominant chord or transitional

This simply puts mean they want you to modulate to the dominant and the modulation has to be clear. You say you are in d minor so a modulation to the dominant would entail you going to a minor key.

The pivot chord is a chord that may belong to both the keys. I think a good pivot chord would in this case D/F/A It is the Tonic chord in the root key and the Sub dominant chord in the key you are modulating to.

So you can have a modulation to the Dominant by having lets say an interrupted cadence at the end of a phrase( V-vi) then in the first bar of the new phrase you can go to the pivot chord and then you can make your modulation clear by go to the dominant chord of the new key and making the modulation clear by using the leading tone of the key (G#).

You should also consider using the melodic minor form as this makes the modulation crystal clear.

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These concepts are concepts that you should have learned in class. It's an assignment, so no one expects it to be genius stuff. Here's my advice:

1.) Talk to your professor - ask to meet and get some 1-on-1 clarification.

2.) If they are too busy, try to schedule a time with your TA/GA. Chances are likely that they are masters candidates in composition and shouldn't have any problems helping you.

3.) If they are both busy, talk to your classmates - your colleagues who are either very confident in theory or the composition majors, who will also obviously be confident in music theory.

4.) Study your textbook - it will have definitions for all of these things and will provide examples for how they are used. For the part where you need to use these things, just copy the gesture out of the textbook (of course transposing) and then fill in the rest of your "piece" with original material.

5.) I will clarify one thing for you, something which theory books are not always clear about. With tonicization, the tonal shift is very temporary (1-2 beats). With modulation, the tonal shift is more permanent, such as a new movement, a new section in the music, an "answer" in a fugue, or extended phrases / periods.