loyd.net

I've long hated those dorky, up-a-half-step, shotgun modulations.  Some time ago I figured out why.  This started out as a bit more of a rant when I e-mailed it to a friend ten or so years ago:

During the era of tonal music, composers were able to write whole movements, yea, even multi-movement works, that were centered around a single key.  Thus we can speak of a Symphony in G or Bach's B-minor Mass.  Of course, any piece that never modulates is static and boring; larger scale works go more afield from the tonic than short pieces, and multi-movement works have entire movements in different keys.  However, when these pieces modulate, they go to related keys, and eventually return to the original tonic.  Such modulations create a large scale tension that is not resolved until the end of the work.  Simultaneously, the network of key relationships helps to solidify the tonic. 

This is quite different from those quickie modulations up a half step employed in popular arrangements.  A half step up from the (original) tonic is not a related key!  Such modulations obliterate the tonic, which can be seen when those pieces end in a different key from the one in which they started.  Any large scale tonal tension is lost, and the effect of the modulation is momentary—it's a cheap thrill.  This is especially evident in those arrangements that employ more than one shotgun modulation to end even further away from the original key.  Post-tonality is now old hat, nobody is being forced to write tonal music if they don't want to.  If you do want to write tonal music, at least let it actually have a tonal center!