The 3⁷ swears it's heading to the relative minor — then lands on 6 major instead and sets up house. It's the chromatic mediant on the sharp side, arriving through a real dominant, so the surprise feels earned rather than cut in. Doo-wop bridges and film scores split the difference between logic and lens flare here.
hear it in doo-wop bridges · Beach Boys-school swerves
Lead-in — how players set it upPlay the honest version once — 3⁷ to 6- — so the bright landing lies well.Or approach 3⁷ through its own ii — 7ø⁷ makes it inevitable.Or from 4 — predominant, then the bright swerve.Follow — where it usually goes6 major's own 4 and 5 furnish the sunlit room.Keep one shadow — the new 6- remembers the minor that wasn't.Or use it as a bridge and trapdoor home when the verse returns.
Sing the honest resolution's shape but land major: the melody's b3-to-3 adjustment IS the bright surprise.Target tones (in C)C — lean on E (3)E7 — lean on G# (3) · D (b7)A — lean on C# (3)Half-step wiresC ↘ B · G → G# · G# → A · D ↘ C#Across the borderhold these into A: E