ABSTRACT
So far, all of the modulations we have explored have used elements that are diatonic in both the original and the destination key. When the pivot note or chord is chromatic in one of those two keys, a chromatic modulation occurs. This chromaticism may take the form of any of the chromatic structures you have studied, including secondary function or modal mixture. For example, the third measure of the melody below uses a secondary dominant, which is recharacterized as a diatonic subdominant (IV) chord in the destination key:
In the example below, the borrowed minor subdominant (iv) chord in measure 2 becomes the supertonic (ii) chord in the destination key:
Finally, in the example below, the diatonic dominant (V) chord below becomes a secondary dominant in the destination key:
Chromatic modulations often require the respelling of a note into its enharmonic equivalent. When this occurs, it is called an enharmonic modulation. Note that chromatic and enharmonic modulation rely on the same technique as most modulation: the recharacterization of an element that is common to both keys.
