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Coffee Break

Coffee Break: Key changes

The Beach Boys in 1964, from left to right, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson (1944 - 1983) and Carl Wilson (1946 - 1998).
The Beach Boys in 1964, from left to right, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson (1944 - 1983) and Carl Wilson (1946 - 1998).Fox Photos/Getty Images

by Anna Reed

April 25, 2018

Key changes - or modulations - occur when the key of a song changes from one set into the next.

This device is alive and present in pop music and has been for decades.

So for today's Coffee Break, what songs do you want to hear that have key changes?

Respond with your song ideas in the comments below.

Have an idea for a Coffee Break topic? Submit your idea for a future theme and browse past Coffee Breaks in our archive. Or, when you register for a Minnesota Public Radio account, you can send requests via Alexa, too Just say "Alexa, ask The Current to play Song by Artist" e.g. "Alexa, ask The Current to play Left of the Dial by The Replacements."

Songs played

Wouldn't It Be Nice - The Beach Boys
Even In The Rain - The Fiery Furnaces
Here You Come Again - Dolly Parton
Just - Radiohead
I Walk The Line - Johnny Cash
Massive Night - The Hold Steady
Do You Know the Way to San Jose - Dionne Warwick
Surrender - Cheap Trick
Dizzy - Tommy Roe