Scales, Keys & Modes

Submediant

Pronounced sub-MEE-dee-unt

Definition

The submediant is the sixth degree of a scale: A in C major, F in A minor. Its chord, vi in a major key, is the relative minor's tonic chord and the usual target of a deceptive cadence.

The submediant is scale degree 6: A in C major, F in A minor. In movable-do solfège it is la in a major key.

Two treble-clef examples in 4/4. C major: quarter notes C D E F G A B C, numbered 1 to 8, with the word submediant written under A. A minor: A B C D E F G A, numbered 1 to 8, with submediant under F. — The submediant is degree 6: A in C major and F in A minor.

Where the name comes from

Like the subdominant, the name works downward from the tonic. The mediant is halfway up from the tonic to the dominant (C, E, G); the submediant is halfway down from the tonic to the subdominant (C, A, F). So A in C major is the "lower mediant", not the note under the mediant.

The submediant chord

In a major key the triad on degree 6 is minor: A C E in C major, written vi. It shares two notes with the tonic chord (C and E), so it can stand in for it, and it is the tonic chord of the relative minor, A minor. The progression I–vi–IV–V (C, Am, F, G) is one of the most familiar in pop music. In a minor key the submediant chord is major: F A C in A minor, written VI.

The deceptive cadence

The submediant chord's most famous job is to surprise. When a phrase reaches the dominant chord, your ear expects the tonic next. If vi arrives instead, V–vi, you get a deceptive cadence: the bass rises a step instead of falling a fifth, the leading tone still rises to the tonic, and the music carries on instead of ending.

Two grand-staff examples in 4/4, one bar each. Both start with a half-note G major chord: G and B in the treble, G and D in the bass. The first moves to C major (G and C over C and E). The second moves to A minor (E and C over A and C). Labeled V–I and V–vi. — Left: the dominant chord, G, resolves to the tonic chord, C (V–I). Right: the same G chord moves to A minor instead (V–vi), a deceptive cadence. In both, the leading tone B rises to C; what changes is the bass, which steps up to A instead of leaping up to C.

In minor keys

In minor, degree 6 is one of the notes that changes between the forms of the minor scale. Natural and harmonic minor keep it low (F in A minor), only a half step above the dominant, so it leans down onto degree 5. Melodic minor raises it (F♯) on the way up, to smooth the climb to the raised 7th. That half step between 6 and 5 in minor gives the submediant much of its dark, sighing quality.

The C major scale numbered by degree, with the submediant, A, in coral.

Common questions

Why is the sixth degree called the submediant?

Because it lies halfway between the tonic and the subdominant below it (C, A, F in C major), mirroring the mediant, which lies halfway between the tonic and the dominant above it.

What is the submediant chord in a major key?

A minor triad on degree 6, written vi: A minor in C major. It is the tonic chord of the relative minor and the usual destination of a deceptive cadence.