22.5: How to Recognize a Key After a Modulation
- Page ID
- 117516
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Look for the following cues when examining music containing modulations:
- Look for recurring accidentals, then add them to the key signature to determine the new key
- Lowered notes (like flats) usually create 4^ (as do the flats in key signatures)
- Raised notes (like sharps) often create 7^ , the leading tone
- If there are multiple raised notes, look for the “sharpest of sharps” (in key signature order) to determine which sharp is acting as 7^
- If accidentals are canceled out, they indicate tonicizations or chromatic non-chord tones
