14.49Diminished chord as a bridge to a remote key

Because one °7 chord can be reinterpreted under four root names, it can act as a pivot.

Example:

You hear:

B°7

and expect C.

But if the same notes are reinterpreted as:

D°7

they could resolve to E♭.

So a composer can use the same physical chord to redirect the music somewhere unexpected.

That is modulation through enharmonic reinterpretation.

We’ll revisit this later.