I like the sound of the change from a minor chord to a major chord one semitone lower and just wanted to ask if there was a particular name for this type of chord movement? For example, I have the chord Am and then move to an Ab major.
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In key C, vi>#V? – Tim Aug 04 '21 at 11:26
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See also https://music.stackexchange.com/q/78141/9426. If it's good enough for Pink Floyd… – Brian THOMAS Aug 04 '21 at 11:45
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1Reminds me of _Also sprach Zarathustra_ but kind of in reverse... so Artsuhjaraz? – Andy Bonner Aug 04 '21 at 12:49
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The way I'd been approaching it in my example was as a modulation from A natural minor into Ab Lydian, but I think the link from @BrianTHOMAS covers everything I needed. – GCJ Aug 04 '21 at 13:00
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@Tim in `C` it's `vi` to `♭VI`, or `Am` to `A♭` – Michael Curtis Aug 04 '21 at 13:08
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@MichaelCurtis - in 12tet it could also be what I put - although to be exact, only considering Ab, you're correct. – Tim Aug 04 '21 at 13:17
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1It's also done in jazz stuff, too. Cm7-Bmaj7 all day, baby. – user45266 Aug 04 '21 at 17:47
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In Neo-Riemannian Theory, this is known as a Slide (or S) transformation.
In an S transformation, a consonant triad (major or minor) moves to a consonant triad of opposite mode by keeping the third and "sliding" the perfect fifth up or down a half step.
In your example, the third of Am, C, stays constant, while the fifth A–E slides down by half step.
Note that this transformation is an involution, which simply means applying S to the resulting triad will return you to the original triad of Am.
Richard
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Assumed the minor chord is vi of the relative major, the major chord one semitone lower will be the mediant bVI of this relative major: vi-bVI-I
This will be my analysis of the linked question (Pink Floyd) by Brian Thomas)
Albrecht Hügli
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