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Submediant

In music, the submediant is the sixth degree (scale degree 6) of a diatonic scale. The submediant ("lower mediant") is named thus because it is halfway between the tonic and the subdominant ("lower dominant")[1] or because its position below the tonic is symmetrical to that of the mediant above.[2] (See the figure in the Degree (music) article.)

In the movable do solfège system, the submediant is sung as la in a major mode and fa in a minor mode. It is occasionally called superdominant,[3] as the degree above the dominant. This is its normal name (sus-dominante) in French.


In Roman numeral analysis, the triad formed on the submediant is typically symbolized by "VI" if it is a major triad (the default in a minor mode) and by "vi" if it is a minor triad (the default in a major mode).


The term submediant may also refer to a relationship of musical keys. For example, relative to the key of C major, the key of A minor is the submediant. In a major key, the submediant key is the relative minor. Modulation (change of key) to the submediant is relatively rare, compared with modulation to the dominant in a major key or modulation to the mediant in a minor key.

In English as in German, the tonic is flanked on both sides by  / supertonic, submediant / mediant and dominant / subdominant – the 7th degree being more usually known as the leading tone (or leading note) if it is a semitone under the tonic. (See the figure in Degree (music)#Major and minor scales);

subtonic

In French and Italian, a conception with two centres, (sous-tonique, sotto-tonica) and supertonic (sustonique, sopra-tonica) on both sides of the tonic, subdominant (sous-dominante, sotto-dominante) and "superdominant" (sus-dominante, sopra-dominante) on both sides of the dominant – and the mediant left alone between the two.

subtonic

The term mediant appeared in English in 1753 to refer to the note "midway between the tonic and the dominant".[10] The term submediant must have appeared soon after to similarly denote the note midway between the tonic and the subdominant.[11] The German word Untermediante is found in 1771.[12] In France, on the other hand, the sixth degree of the scale was more often called the sus-dominante, as the degree above the dominant. This reflects a different conception of the diatonic scale and its degrees:[13]


In the German theory derived from Hugo Riemann, the minor submediant in a major key is considered the Tonikaparallele (minor relative of the major tonic), labeled Tp, and the major submediant in a minor key is the Subdominantparallele (major relative of the minor subdominant), labeled sP.

Deceptive cadence