Editing Submediant

{{Short description|Tonal degree of the diatonic scale}}
{{Image frame|content=<score vorbis="1" lang="lilypond">
{
\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
\relative a {
  \clef treble
  \time 7/4 a4 b cis d e \once \override NoteHead.color = #red fis gis \time 2/4 a2 \bar "||"
  \time 4/4 <fis a cis>1 \bar "||"
} }
</score>

<score vorbis="1" lang="lilypond">
{
\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
\relative a {
  \clef treble
  \time 7/4 a4 b c d e \once \override NoteHead.color = #red f g \time 2/4 a2 \bar "||"
  \time 4/4 <f a c>1 \bar "||"
} }
</score>|width=310|caption=The scale and submediant triad in the A major (top) and A minor (bottom) scale.}}

In [[music]], the '''submediant''' is the sixth [[degree (music)|degree]] ({{music|scale|6}}) of a [[diatonic scale]]. The submediant ("lower mediant") is named thus because it is halfway between the [[tonic (music)|tonic]] and the [[subdominant]] ("lower dominant")<ref>Benward & Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I'', p. 33. 7th edition. {{ISBN|978-0-07-294262-0}}. "The lower mediant halfway between tonic and lower dominant (subdominant)."</ref> or because its position below the tonic is symmetrical to that of the mediant above.<ref>[[Allen Forte|Forte, Allen]] (1979). ''Tonal Harmony'', p. 120. 3rd edition. Holt, Rinehart, and Wilson. {{ISBN|0-03-020756-8}}. "The triad on VI<!--caps in original--> is called the ''submediant'' because it occupies a position ''below'' the tonic triad analogous to that occupied by the mediant above the tonic triad.</ref> (See the figure in the [[Degree (music)#Major and minor scales | Degree (music)]] article.) 

In the [[Solfège#Movable do solfège|movable do solfège]] system, the submediant is sung as ''la'' in a major mode, ''le'' or ''lo'' in do-based minor and ''fa'' in la-based minor. It is occasionally called '''superdominant''',<ref>[[Ebenezer Prout]], ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Fz5dVLe2xiEC&dq=Submediant+superdominant&pg=PA5 Harmony: its theory and practice]'', 09/09/2010</ref> as the degree above the dominant. This is its normal name (''sus-dominante'') in French.

In [[Roman numeral analysis]], the [[Triad (music)|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 [[Key (music)|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 (music)|Modulation]] (change of key) to the submediant is relatively rare, compared with modulation to the [[dominant (music)|dominant]] in a major key or modulation to the [[mediant]] (relative major) in a minor key.

==Chord==
Amongst the primary roles played by the submediant chord is that in the [[Cadence#Deceptive cadence|deceptive cadence]], V<sup>(7)</sup>–vi in major or V<sup>(7)</sup>–VI in minor.<ref>[[Arthur Foote|Foote, Arthur]] (2007). ''Modern Harmony in its Theory and Practice'', p. 93. {{ISBN|1-4067-3814-X}}.</ref><ref>Owen, Harold (2000). ''Music Theory Resource Book'', p. 132. {{ISBN|0-19-511539-2}}.</ref> In a submediant chord, the third may be [[Voicing (music)#Doubling|doubled]].<ref>Chadwick, G. H. (2009). ''Harmony – A Course Of Study'', p. 36. {{ISBN|1-4446-4428-9}}.</ref>

: <score vorbis="1" lang="lilypond">
   \new PianoStaff <<
      \new Staff <<
         \new Voice \relative c'' {
             \stemUp \clef treble \key c \major \time 4/4
             b1 c
             }
         \new Voice \relative c'' {
             \stemDown
              g1 e
              }
            >>
     \new Staff <<
         \new Voice \relative c' {
             \stemUp \clef bass \key c \major \time 4/4
             d1 c
             }
         \new Voice \relative c' {
             \stemDown
             g1 a \bar "||"
             }
         >>
    >>
</score>
{{Image frame|content=<score vorbis="1" lang="lilypond">
{
\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
\relative c {
  \clef bass
  \time 4/4
  <c e a>1_\markup { \concat { \translate #'(-4 . 0) { "C: vi" \raise #1 \small "6" \hspace #6.5 "ii" \hspace #5 "V" \raise #1 \small "6" \hspace #6.5 "I" } } }
  <d f a> <b d g> <c e g> \bar "|."
} }
</score>|width=300|caption=A [[vi–ii–V–I]] [[chord progression]] in C<ref name="Materials" />}}In major, the submediant chord also often appears as the starting point of a series of perfect descending fifths and ascending fourths leading to the [[Dominant (music)|dominant]], [[Vi–ii–V–I|vi–ii–V]]. This is because the relationship between vi and ii and between ii and V is the same as that between V and I. If all chords were major (I–VI–II–V–I), the succession would be one of [[Secondary dominant|secondary dominants]].<ref name="Materials">Andrews, William G.; Sclater, Molly (2000). ''Materials of Western Music Part 1'', p. 226. {{ISBN|1-55122-034-2}}.</ref> This submediant role is as common in [[Popular music|popular]] and [[classical music]] as it is in [[jazz]], or any other musical language related to Western European tonality. A more complete version starts the series of fifths on the chord of iii, iii–vi–ii–V–I, as in measures 11 and 12 of [[Charlie Parker]]'s "[[Blues for Alice]]". In minor, the [[Chord progression|progression]] from VI to ii° (e.g. A{{music|b}} to D diminished in C minor) involves a [[diminished fifth]], as does the ii° chord itself; it may nevertheless be used in VI–ii°–V–I by analogy with the major. Similarly, a scale's full counterclockwise [[circle of 5ths]] progression I–IV–vii°–iii–vi–ii–V–I can be used by analogy with the usual descending fifth progression, even though IV–vii° involves a diminished fifth.

[[File:Wagner - Tannhauser, Zu dir wall'ich.png|thumb|right|300px|Wagner – ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]'', "Zu dir wall' ich":<ref name="Materials"/> I–vi–IV–ii–V progression[[File:Wagner - Tannhauser, Zu dir wall'ich.mid]]]]
Another frequent progression is the sequence of descending thirds (I–vi–IV–ii–|–V in [[root position]] or [[first inversion]]), alternating major and minor chords.<ref name="Materials"/> This progression is also frequent in jazz, where it is used in a shortened version ||: I vi | ii V7 :|| in what is nicknamed the "[[I Got Rhythm]]" progression by [[George Gershwin]]. This chord progression moves from [[Tonic (music)|tonic]] I, to the submediant (vi), to the supertonic ii, to the dominant V7.

[[Chromatic submediant]]s, like [[chromatic mediant]]s, are chords whose [[root (chord)|roots]] are related by a [[major third]] or [[minor third]], contain one [[common tone (chord)|common tone]], and share the same quality, i.e. [[major or minor]]. They may be [[altered chord]]s.

Submediant chords may also appear as [[Seventh chord|seventh chords]]: in major, as vi<sup>7</sup>, or in minor as VI<sup>M7</sup> or {{music|sharp}}vi{{music|halfdim}}<sup>7</sup>:<ref name="K&P 2463">{{Cite book|title=Tonal Harmony|url=https://archive.org/details/workbookfortonal00kost_245|url-access=limited|last1=Kostka|first1=Stefan|author1-link=Stefan Kostka|last2=Payne|first2=Dorothy|date=2004|publisher=McGraw-Hill|isbn=0072852607|edition=5th|location=Boston|pages=[https://archive.org/details/workbookfortonal00kost_245/page/n219 231]|oclc=51613969}}</ref><blockquote><score lang="lilypond">
{
\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f
\relative c'' {
   \clef treble
   \time 4/4
   \key c \major
   <a c e g>1_\markup { \concat { "vi" \raise #1 \small "7" } } \bar "||"

   \clef treble
   \time 4/4
   \key c \minor
   <aes c es g>1_\markup { \concat { "VI" \raise #1 \small "M7" } }
   <a c es g>_\markup { \concat { "♯vi" \raise #1 \small "ø7" } } \bar "||"
} }
</score></blockquote>In [[rock music|rock]] and popular music, VI in minor often uses the chromatically lowered fifth scale degree as its seventh, VI<sup>7</sup>, for example as in [[Bob Marley]]'s clearly minor mode "[[I Shot the Sheriff|I Shot The Sheriff]]".<ref name="Stephenson">Stephenson, Ken (2002). ''What to Listen for in Rock: A Stylistic Analysis'', p. 89. {{ISBN|978-0-300-09239-4}}.</ref>

==Name==
The term ''mediant'' appeared in English in 1753 to refer to the note "midway between the tonic and the dominant".<ref>[http://www.etymonline.com|Online Etymology Dictionary], s.v. "Mediant".</ref> The term ''submediant'' must have appeared soon after to similarly denote the note midway between the tonic and the subdominant.<ref>The term can be found in John W. Calcott, ''A Musical Grammar in Four Parts'', London, 3d edition, 1817, p. 137. (1st edition 1806.)</ref> The German word ''Untermediante'' is found in 1771.<ref>[[Johann Georg Sulzer]], ''Allgemeine Theorie der schönen Künste'', 1771, s.v. "Sexte".</ref> 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:<ref>See Nicolas Meeùs, "Scale, polifomia, armonia", in [[Jean-Jacques Nattiez|J. J. Nattiez]] (ed), ''Enciclopedia della musica'', vol. II, ''Il sapere musicale'', Torino, Einaudi, 2002, p. 84.</ref>
* In English as in German, the tonic is flanked on both sides by [[subtonic]]&nbsp;/&nbsp;[[supertonic]], submediant&nbsp;/&nbsp;[[mediant]] and [[dominant (music)|dominant]]&nbsp;/&nbsp;[[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]]);
* In French and Italian, a conception with two centres, [[subtonic]] (''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.

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.

==See also==
*[[Deceptive cadence]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{degrees|state=uncollapsed}}
{{chords}}

[[Category:Diatonic functions]]
[[Category:Scale degrees|6]]