How Thomas Bergersen (Two Steps from Hell) changes key, for extra musical excitement
Thomas Bergerson, one half of the now recently disbanded Two Steps From Hell, has written his fair share of exhilarating, moving and dramatic cinematic music.
After analysing countless pieces of his, I've discovered that changing keys is a common technique that he uses in order to increase excitement (along with adding variation) for the listener.
Analysing existing composers works can be a great way to develop your own composing skills, as well as providing some inspiration when needed!
So in today's newsletter, I thought I would go through a couple of examples of my favourite pieces of his, detailing how he changes keys, in order to increase the overall intensity of a track.
Heart of Courage
Perhaps one of the most famous pieces from Two Steps From Hell, Heart Of Courage spends the first 1 minute and 10 seconds anchored to the key of Bb minor.
|
|
To raise the intensity and help propel the music forward, the 2nd A Section starting at 1:11 then moves, or transposes up, to the key of Eb minor, a perfect 4th higher. This helps to give the music a feeling of rising intensity or excitement.
The change of key is immediate and relatively smooth due to the final Eb minor chord, chord iv in the original key of Bb minor, now becoming chord i in the new key of Eb minor.
|
|
Following on from the musical climax at 1:39 (and after a one bar break), the Outro then returns back down to the original key of Bb minor, helping to give the music a feeling of 'coming full circle' and ending in the similar fashion to how it began.
Flight of the Silverbird
'Flight Of The Silverbird', is a piece that changes key 4 times in just over 3 minutes.
Comprising of A and B Sections, the piece starts off in the key of E minor, for the Introduction and 1st A Section. The 2nd A Section then moves to the key of G minor (starting at 0:31).
Bergersen uses a device called a Secondary Dominant or pivot chord, to help make the transition of moving between keys smoother.
The chord of D major, functions as the Dominant chord in the key of G minor - resulting in a strong 'urge' to resolve to the new tonic (G minor).
The F# in the bass (D major in 1st Inversion) also helps to further smooth out the transition between keys.
After the first B Section that begins at 0:59, Bergersen then moves from the key of G minor to A minor for the 3rd A Section (starting at 1:16).
Again he uses a secondary dominant - the chord of E7, which then resolves to the new tonic of A minor.
|
|
Bergersen continues the same technique moving between the 3rd and 4th time through the A Sections, this time transitioning from the key of A minor to C minor (starting at 1:43), by using the chord of G major (the Dominant of C minor):
|
|
Finally the last key change occurs during the final A section, starting at 2:29. Transitioning from the key of C minor to E minor, he uses the chord of B7, the dominant to E minor, to help bridge the gap between the two keys:
So overall, Flight of the Silverbird features an A section, which essentially repeats 5 times. In order to sustain the listener's interest, Bergersen makes use of frequent key changes, which flow between one another smoothly, due to his use of the secondary dominants.
