Pivot Chord Modulation Generator
Changing key without it sounding like a lurch usually means finding a chord that belongs to both keys, playing it as though it belongs to the old one, and leaving it as though it belongs to the new. This finds those shared chords for any two keys, picks one, and writes a short progression that turns on it and settles the new key with its own cadence — with the chord named by its number in both keys, which is the part that makes the trick make sense.
What this generator does
Works out the seven chords of each key from its scale, finds the ones that appear in both, and builds a progression that opens in the old key, turns on the shared chord, and closes with the new key’s fifth chord falling to its first.
How to use this tool
- Choose the key you are starting in, and whether it is major or minor.
- Choose where you want to end up — up a fifth, down a fifth, the relative, the parallel, or anywhere reachable.
- Read the progression, and the two names the turning chord has.
- Try again for a different route, or work from the list of other shared chords underneath.
Understanding the controls
- Starting key
- Any of the twelve, major or minor. Minor keys are read from the natural minor, except for the cadence.
- Where to go
- Up or down a fifth is the smoothest, because the keys share six of their seven notes. The parallel key — same letter, other mode — is three steps away and shares fewer chords, which is why it needs a firmer cadence.
Common use cases
- Getting a song out of the key it has been stuck in for two verses
- Practising modulation as a harmony exercise, in every key in turn
- Explaining to a student why one chord can be read two ways
- Finding the smoothest route between two keys a piece already visits
- Writing a link passage between two sections in different keys
How this generator works
The progression is read back before it is shown. Each key’s chords are worked out again from its own scale; the turning chord is looked up in both lists; every chord before the turn is looked up in the old key and every chord after it in the new one; and the last two chords are checked to be the new key’s fifth and first. The spelling is checked as well, by measuring the gaps between the written notes to confirm they make the chord each one is named as.
Randomness and fairness
Which shared chord you turn on, and which chords surround it, come from your browser’s secure generator. Every other shared chord is listed underneath, so nothing is hidden by the draw.
For how randomness is produced across the whole site, see how Generate Random works.
Limitations and good to know
- Not every pair of keys shares a chord. Keys six steps apart share none at all, and that is reported rather than fudged with a chord that belongs to neither.
- Plain triads only — no secondary dominants, borrowed chords or augmented sixths, which are the other common routes between distant keys.
- The cadence in a minor key uses the major fifth chord, as a cadence in a minor key does. The rest of the minor key is read from the natural minor.
- It gives you chords, not voicings. Which note goes in which part is a separate question.
Privacy and your data
Everything is worked out in your browser. Nothing about your choices is transmitted or stored.
Related generators
- Random Chord Progression GeneratorGenerate a chord progression in any key — either a well-known pattern or a fresh sequence — with Roman numerals and the actual chord names.
- Circle of Fifths Drill GeneratorDrills the circle of fifths as questions rather than a diagram — key signatures, relative minors, neighbours and the order of sharps and flats.
- Chord Voicing GeneratorVoices a progression in four parts so each voice moves as little as it can, with parallel fifths and octaves detected rather than assumed away.
- Random Key Signature GeneratorDrill key signatures — draw a random key and check how many sharps or flats it has, which ones, and what its relative major or minor is.