modulating

[lilypiano]

I turned in my harmony final today. I  think I did okay. The modulations were hard for me, though.  There was a modulation from f# minor to E flat major.  I used a vii diminished 7 of VI in f# which functioned as a #vi diminished in E flat. Do any of you know if this is okay? or do modulations have to be by only certain types of pivot chords?

[cjp_piano]

So vii7 of VI in f# minor would be C# E G Bb right?  (VI in f#minor is D) This would naturally go to some kind of D chord then.  Hm... Then how did you get to Eb?

I would do:

          A C# F#        A C Eb Gb                  Bb D F             Eb G Bb

f#m:  i6                  Eb: vii7 of V                  V                     I

[lilypiano]

i used sharp vi diminished 7.  the teacher hadn't really gone over that chord. i just saw it on a chart, and it had  the same notes as the vii7 in f#.
that's right isn't it?  Eflat f g aflat  bflat   c   d eflat
sharp the six and make a succesion of minor thirds...  c# e  g  bflat... same as seven diminished
 

I just don't know if it's acceptable, or if only certain chords can be used to modulate.

[cjp_piano]

Yes, if you sharp the 6 in Eflat and make is a dimished 7 chord, then it's c# e g bflat, but it's not the same as vii7 in f#. 

vii7 in f# would be E# G# B D.

But anyway, my point was that a vii chord would go to a i chord.  So if you have a c# dimished 7 chord, it would naturally progress to some kind of D chord, so I'm not sure how that would put you in the key of Eflat.

[lilypiano]

I meant vii diminished of VI in f sharp.  I went from the #vi  in Eflat to V in first inversion and then eventually to I. 

[mike_lang]

You know, you could establish F# minor, then reinterpret it as ii/EM.  When you go to B7 (V/EM), that could be reinterpreted as a German 6th of EbM.

[cjp_piano]

You know, you could establish F# minor, then reinterpret it as ii/EM.  When you go to B7 (V/EM), that could be reinterpreted as a German 6th of EbM.

Ah, yes!  I like this idea   

[steve jones]

I think that Michael's is a pretty good option. I would probably latch a  I(64), V, I cadence on the end just to confirm where you're at without any doubt though!

SJ