The second chorus is introduced the same way as the first. F# is the fifth of b minor, and the authentic cadence that follows brings us back to b minor for the second verse. At the end of the chorus, the bass moves up a half step from A to A#, back down to A, then down to F#. The chorus has the same chord progression as the verse i-iv-VII-V, or d minor, g minor, C Major, A Major. It’s a pretty brilliant key change, sounds beautiful, and Toni sings it excellently! The suddenness of the new key is thanks to the subtle use of common notes in the melody, as well as the common chord, A Major. Because the first three notes of that melody are found in both b minor and d minor, we aren’t aware of the key change until the downbeat of the next measure, when we hear the D in the bass as well as the F of the melody, which firmly puts us in the new key of d minor! However, the F is extremely out of place in b minor, as it is a diminished fifth away from it. The first three notes can be found in b minor, so the listener isn’t alert to the fact that the key is about to change.
When Toni sings “Unbreak my heart”, she sings C#-D-E-F. The two keys, b minor and d minor, are closely related, which means that they share some of the same notes (D, E, G, A* and C#*).
What makes the modulation even more striking is the notes in the melody that Toni sings. This V to I movement (or in this case, i) is called an authentic cadence, which is the most common cadence in western music (a cadence being the cessation of motion at the end of a musical phrase or song). The A chord, which is the VII chord in the key of b minor, functions as the V or the dominant of d minor. Just before the chorus, instead of continuing to the F# Major chord, the instruments stay on the A, while Toni Braxton sings “Unbreak my heart” which leads us up the scale to the key of the chorus, d minor. The verse is in the key of b minor, and progresses with the i-iv-VII-V chords (b minor, e minor, A Major, F# Major). The most interesting feature of this song is its modulation from verse to chorus to bridge and back again, which separates it from most other chart-topping hits that remain in the same key throughout. I was listening to this song today, rediscovered my fascination with it, and decided to analyze it further. To put this write-up into perspective, I originally wrote this today as an answer to a Quora question from two years ago asking about the music theory behind the song.
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