Modulation

Modulation, in Music. When in the course of a melody the keynote is changed, and the original scale altered by the introduction of a new sharp or flat, such change is called modulation. Much of the pleasure of music is derived from a judicious use of modulation. The art of good modulation from one key to another consists in the proper choice of intermediate chords. Sudden transitions, without intermediate chords, should be employed but sparingly, and in peculiar circumstances.