How do i do this effectively? How do i transition from one key the other smoothly? The best example i can give (i know most ppl on this site listen to rock) is in Gospel music where they change keys and the change is so smooth and you immediately flow into the new key w/o any problems. I bet there are other examples but a lot of music i listen is gospel, R&B and jazz.

I did a little post on that over here:
http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/s...ead.php?t=19844

The main idea is to decide how much you will prepare for the arrival of the key. To completely prepare requires using effective voice leading by means of using chords that approach the new key (i.e. secondary dominants).

So that if you are in C major but you want to go to E major you would look for ways to outline:

C major -> F# minor (or dominant 7) -> B major (or dom 7) -> E major.

Because the function of those chords is to be a ii - V -I pointing to the new key you want to be in. Regarding the voice leading specifically I did a whole thing on that on my music blog:
http://christopherschlegel.thinkert...r.com/index.php

Hope this helps. Happy playing.

Your options are pretty much as follows:

1) Play in the first key, and then move to the second on the change
2) Play in the first key, use another key to transition between the two, and then on to the second key, usually a chromatic run or dimished bits to bridge the gap.
3) Play in another key that fits the two you're playing against.

Depends on the music, and your ear really. If you know your diatonic harmony you'll be able to tell whether both keys in question below to another key - in which case you can play in the same key in spite of the change.

Also, depending on what the two keys are, modal shapes can imply keys so you might be able to use those.

If you can be specific on what changes we're talking about, I can gear the answer to your specific if that helps....

__________________
"It’s taken me all my life to learn what not to play...” - Dizzy Gillespie

Furthermore!

You don't need to limit use of secondary doms to changing keys. You can also do it within a key. Adds depth and a richness of sound to a chord progression that makes it sound more integrated.

For example, the old standby of playing in G major and going to E minor. This is just I to vi - or change to relative minor:


But how about we prepare for the arrival of the E minor chord?

Notice that even though F#minor and B7 are not in the key of G they can be used very nicely to sound as if you are "temporarily in the key of E minor". Just long enough to get to E minor, then you can just keep playing in G major.

Does that little example sound familar?! Sure, it the opening to "Yesterday" by the Beates - and a million other jazz tunes & classical pieces.

The circle of fifths is also a common way to make a key change work. You play through chords one fifth away from each other to reach your desired key. Normally you only play through a couple.

For example, say you are in the key of G and you want to get to another key. Well, the fifth of G is D and you could simply play the G and then the D and be in a new key. And off you go in the key of D now. Or you could go a step further: G D A (A is a fifth away from D). Now you've gone from the key of G to A.

Relative minors can make the transitions a bit smoother, too, because they change the sound of things without actually taking you away from your target key. For example, you could go G Em D Bm A or G Bm D F#m A and they work quite well.

OMG thanks so much guys. You really hit on what i was looking for, esp MarkPav. I noticed when playing in C there came a part of the song that normally called for a key change and i kept on playing in C while the singer had shifted to F!!! It was incredible to me that i could keep on playing in C and still have the singer sing in F. What is the theory behind this and who do i know if a key will "fit" in another?

diatonic harmony...

Key of A for Example

A Bm C#m D E F#m G#dim

each key uses the same progression...

__________________
"It’s taken me all my life to learn what not to play...” - Dizzy Gillespie