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Music vocabulary · Music Theory and Harmony

Modal interchange

Meaning in music, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In music, modal interchange means: The use of a chord from another mode with the same tonic, adding a new colour without necessarily establishing a new key.

In Turkish: modal değişim, modlar arası akor ödünç alma

How it is used

Used in songwriting and analysis; also called modal mixture. A minor subdominant chord in a major-key song is a common example.

Example sentences

  1. The F minor chord in this C major song is an example of modal interchange.

    The chord comes from C minor while C remains the song's tonal centre.

  2. Try modal interchange in the bridge before deciding to change the key completely.

    The writer explores borrowed harmony as a source of contrast within the current key.

Common collocations

  • use modal interchange
  • modal interchange chord
  • modal interchange in songwriting
  • keyThe group of notes and chords that a piece is mainly built on, centred on one home note. A song in the key of G major keeps returning to G as its point of rest.
  • minorDescribing a scale, key, chord or interval built with a minor third. Music in a minor key is often described as dark, serious or sad.
  • chord progressionA series of chords played one after another that forms the harmonic backbone of a song, often written with Roman numerals such as I–IV–V.

More terms: Music Theory and Harmony

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