Editing Subtonic (section)

{{About|the musical [[scale degree]] one [[whole step]] below the [[Tonic (music)|tonic]] note|the scale degree one semitone below the tonic|Leading note}}
{{Image frame|content=<score sound="1">
{
\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
\relative c' {
  \clef treble \key c \minor
  \time 7/4 c4 d es f g aes \once \override NoteHead.color = #red bes \time 2/4 c2 \bar "||"
  \time 4/4 <bes d f>1 \bar "||"
} }
</score>|width=330|caption=The scale and subtonic triad in C minor.}}
In [[music]], the '''subtonic''' is the degree of a musical scale which is a [[major second|whole step]] below the [[tonic (music)|tonic]] note. In a [[major key]], it is a lowered, or flattened, seventh [[Degree (music)|scale degree]] ({{music|flat}}{{music|scale|7}}). It appears as the seventh scale degree in the [[Natural minor scale|natural minor]] and [[Descending melodic minor scale|descending melodic minor scales]] but not in the [[major scale]]. In major keys, the subtonic sometimes appears in [[Borrowed chord|borrowed chords]]. In the [[Solfège#Movable do solf%C3%A8ge|movable do solfège]] system, the subtonic note is sung as ''te'' (or ''ta'').

The subtonic can be contrasted with the [[leading-note|leading note]], which is a [[minor second|''half step'']] below the tonic.<ref>Bruce Benward and Marilyn Nadine Saker, ''Music: In Theory and Practice'', vol. 1, seventh edition (Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2003), p.&nbsp;33. {{ISBN|978-0-07-294262-0}}. "Used only to designate the seventh degree of the natural minor scale,"</ref> The distinction between leading note and subtonic has been made by theorists since at least the second quarter of the 20th century.<ref>Donald Tweedy, ''Manual of Harmonic Technique Based on the Practice of J. S. Bach'' (Philadelphia: Oliver Ditson, 1928), p.&nbsp;7.</ref> Before that, the term ''subtonic'' often referred to the leading tone triad, for example.<ref>Herbert, John Bunyan (1897). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=-L7UAAAAMAAJ&dq=subtonic+chord&pg=PA102 Herbert's Harmony and Composition]'', p. 102. Pennsylvania State. {{pre-ISBN}}</ref><ref>Gardner, Carl Edward (1918). ''[https://archive.org/details/musiccompositio00gardgoog/page/n72 <!-- pg=48 quote=subtonic chord. --> Music Composition: A New Method of Harmony]'', p. 48. Carl Fischer. {{pre-ISBN}}</ref><ref>Clack, H. P. (1899). ''[https://archive.org/details/songsandpraises00clacgoog/page/n23 <!-- pg=14 quote=subtonic chord. --> Songs and Praises]'', p. 14. H.P. Clack. {{pre-ISBN}}</ref><ref>Root, George Frederick (1872). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=O4kyAQAAMAAJ&dq=subtonic+chord&pg=PA316 The Normal Musical Hand-book]'', p. 315. J. Church. {{pre-ISBN}} "The name in harmony sometimes given to seven of a diatonic scale," p. 344.</ref><ref>Stainer, John (1871). ''[https://archive.org/details/atheoryharmonyf00staigoog <!-- quote=subtonic chord. --> A Theory of Harmony Founded on the Tempered Scale]'', p. 9. Rivingtons. {{pre-ISBN}}</ref>

The word ''subtonic'' is also used as an English translation of ''subtonium'', the Latin term used in [[Gregorian mode|Gregorian chant theory]] for the similar usage of a tone one whole step below the mode final in the [[Dorian mode|Dorian]], [[Phrygian mode|Phrygian]], and [[Mixolydian mode]]s.<ref>[[Julian Rushton]], "Subtonic", ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]'', second edition, edited by [[Stanley Sadie]] and [[John Tyrrell (musicologist)|John Tyrrell]] (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001); Harold C. Powers, "Subtonium", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001)</ref>