song: How Will I Know
artist: Whitney Houston
album: Whitney Houston (1985)
writers: Boy Meets Girl (George Merrill & Shannon Rubicam), & producer Narada Michael Walden

vocal, lead: Whitney Houston
vocal, background: Emily “Cissy” Houston, Whitney Houston, & Mary Canty
electric guitars: Corrado Rustici
synthesizers + keyboards: Preston Glass / “Tiger Head” & Yvonne Lewis
bass (Minimoog): Randy “The King” Jackson
tenor saxophone: Premik Russell Tubbs

This is a complete transcription of the instruments listed, which includes all of the main parts (except drums). “How Will I Know” was the third single off Whitney Houston’s first album, and its music video in particular was a big hit on MTV during its period of transitioning to R&B and Pop music. The song was originally written for Janet Jackson, who turned it down, but it was picked up by producer Narada Michael Walden, who eventually rearranged the song into its known synth-pop style. Make sure to see the Vertex Effects interview with Walden (2025) as well as the one with the songwriter duo (2025). I find it safe to say that this song was the musical blueprint for “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”, which became an even bigger hit two years later – scroll down to find my transcription of this song. Enjoy!

On why that unusual modulation “down” from the key of Gb to Eb does not feel that unusual:
My guess is that it resembles a standard modulation 2 semi-tones upwards (which would be from Gb up to Ab, like that in “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”). The modulation occurs as the song goes from the Bridge into the Saxophone Solo section. The Bridge ends on a Db chord, the dominant (V) in the key, which sets up our expectation to simply return to the tonic (I), Gb, like the previous Chorus did. However, going into the Saxophone Solo section, we unexpectedly get an Eb chord, a movement from a Db to an Eb chord. This is that familiar movement 2 semi-tones upwards that subverts our expectation by taking us into a new key, just as that standard modulation does. The difference then is that this movement 2 semi-tones upwards occurs not up from the tonic (I) but from the dominant (V), which leaves the key 3 semi-tones lower than before. This unusual movement, however, is masked by the song structure: This new key of Eb is not opened by another chorus but by a saxophone solo. This interlude ensures that the we do not hear the Chorus section back-to-back in different keys, making it harder for us to notice that anything unusual occurred.