When you think of what skills a good musician has, there is a good chance you think of phrasing. Phrasing is the art of splitting up one’s piece into discernible phrases, or deliberately blurring the distinction between phrases.
At the root of musical transitions is phrasing. Being able to neatly switch between two musical phrases is an important skill in being able to create great songs.
In this post I will be go over some of the best transitions I have heard, specifically transitions from one stylistic choice to a somewhat different one. Transitions happen all the time in various fashions, but I’m going to be focusing on more “major” and “impactful” transitions.
For the examples I will be giving, I will be splitting them into two categories: subtle transitions and resolving transitions. Subtle transitions aren’t subtle in the way that one might not realize that a transition has happened, more so there being not so much build-up to an inevitable transition. Subtle transitions may only change just one key element to the song, but in doing changing the entire “vibe”. Resolving transitions resolve any build-up prior, think of a classic “beat drop”. These transitions are usually visible from miles away, but getting a perfect transition can still be elusive.
My first example comes from an odd place: the soundtrack of a promotional video. Tim Henson’s “Rebirth” is a song uploaded to youtube as an advertisement for a guitar related product. I would classify this as a more subtle transition, for about three quarters into the song, while playing a repeating line on his guitar, he changes his tone from a “modern clean tone” to a “multivoicer effect”. He adds some production effects to make the change more impactful, but at it’s core, the only thing he changes is the guitar tone. The first time I listened to this piece, the transition caught me off guard, and even now when I know to look out for it, it still manages to be the highlight of the piece.
A more obvious example is from Dream Theater’s “Another Day“. There is significant build-up, and if you knew anything about the band, you’d expect a guitar solo, and they resolve the build-up with the perfect note. After an intense couple measures, with loud drums, heavy guitar, and operatic singing, everything goes silent for a moment except the lead guitar bending on the 11th fret. That dramatic moment fits perfectly into the song, although it doesn’t last long: the drums and rhythm guitar do quickly come back in. That transition sets the mood for the entire solo, without that transition, the solo would have had a much lesser impact to the listener.
The smoothest transition I have ever heard is in “BELIEVIN’” by NANIWA EXPRESS. It transitions from saxophone into electric guitar in the cleanest fashion I have heard. The saxophone leaves a phrase unresolved, where it then get resolved by the electric guitar. The song had started with a clean guitar tone, but this is the only place where the dirty guitar tone comes in, furthering the impact of this transition. This type of mid-phrase transition seems obvious, but it is not used enough. It sounds great if used tastefully, the only issue being that it requires coordination between musicians.
Another odd transition is from the beginning of “The End of Everything” by Plini. Instead of increasing in intensity throughout the song, Plini starts the song very in a very loud and demanding manner, building up towards what seems to be a sort of beat drop, but instead he quickly defuses the piece and transitions to a much more calming mood. This type of defusing transition is interesting and rare to see. Most artists want to keep the song developing upwards, so it is interesting to see a varied approached to song development.
Lastly I’d like to mention a song that I would consider a masterpiece: “Ego Death” by Polyphia feat. Steve Vai. Throughout the 5 minute and 50 second long song is a large variety of incredible transitions. The intro features a relatively chill nylon string part that then seamlessly transitions into a clean guitar and bass part. The song then moves from the clean guitar part into an epic distorted part. This part is actually less intense then the previous section, with is an impressive contradiction to have in a song. The last major transition is with introducing Steve Vai’s part. From 3:30-4:15 in the song, Polyphia gives the “mic” to Steve Vai, where he then continues the build-up to an impressive resolution. The Polyphia guitarists and Steve Vai have distinctive styles and tones in their careers as well as this song, yet the transitions between them are as smooth as butter.
Transitions are one of the most satisfying things in music, and really make or break a song.
I apologize for not posting recently, and for this post not being up to normal quality as my other posts.
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