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key in motion · one shape, four keys

11 s · 90 bpm · the root moves C, F, G, C

key in motion · one shape, four keys 11 s · 90 bpm · the root moves C, F, G, C
0:00 / 0:11
↓ wav ↓ midi

One arpeggio shape, unchanged, while the key beneath it moves every bar — C, then F, then G, then home to C. The root is its own line, read over time, so the same figure modulates through four keys. The companion to the moving-scale example.

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One shape, a moving key

The arpeggio never changes — 1 3 5 8, a major shape. What moves is the root, and the root is its own line:

arp:      1 3 5 8     # the shape, repeated every bar
key-line: 0 5 7 0     # the root, one per bar:  C  F  G  C

Each bar, the root is read from key-line (0 = C, 5 = F, 7 = G) and the shape is transposed to sit on it. Same figure, four keys — modulation as a line sampled over time.

It’s the companion to the moving scale: one moves the scale under a fixed phrase, this moves the key. Both are the same mechanism — a value paired with a context that is itself changing over time.