The submediant is scale degree 6 of a key: the pitch a major sixth above the tonic in a major key and a minor sixth above the tonic in a natural minor key, bearing the submediant function as the subordinate degree of the scale's upper region. In C major the submediant is A (the root of the iv chord, an A-minor triad), and in A natural minor it is F (the root of the VI chord, an F-major triad). Parameters: (1) intervallic status — the submediant sits a major sixth above the tonic in major keys and a minor sixth above the tonic in natural minor keys; it is a whole step above the dominant and a third below the tonic (a minor third in major keys, a major third in natural minor keys). (2) functional role — it is the degree that commonly moves to the dominant as a pre-dominant or colour degree (submediant–dominant motion, iv–V or VI–V), and it names the key a third from the tonic (the vi / VI key, one of the keys in mediant relation to the tonic). (3) relational definition — the submediant is defined relative to the tonic (the submediant of C major is A; of A minor is F) and is the sixth ordinal of the key's scale. Persistence mechanism: codified in Western tonal and harmonic theory, taught in music-theory and harmony curricula (scale-degree numbering; Roman-numeral analysis naming iv in major and VI in minor), reproduced in composition and analysis practice (identifying the submediant's pre-dominant motion and its role in modulation to the related key), and maintained through the conventions of tonal notation. It is distinguished from the mediant (scale degree 3 — a third above the tonic, the lower of the two 'mediant' degrees; the submediant is a sixth, not a third), from the dominant (scale degree 5 — the point of greatest harmonic tension; the submediant sits a whole step above it and bears a subordinate, preparatory function rather than the tension function), and from a bare pitch (any point on the pitch axis; the submediant is a pitch bearing a specific ordinal and function). [formal: submediantia | substrate: mind | horizon: centuries | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
submediant
The submediant is scale degree 6 of a key: the pitch a major sixth above the tonic in a major key and a minor sixth above the tonic in a natural minor key, bearing the submediant function as the subordinate degree of the scale's upper regi…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A human-made musical construct: the sixth scale degree of a key — the submediant, a major sixth above the tonic in major keys and a minor sixth above the tonic in minor keys — built to persist in Western tonal and harmonic theory as the named subordinate degree of the scale's upper region.
Names and aliases
- submedianten · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- scale-degreeINSTANCE_OF →
The submediant is a specific kind of scale-degree: the sixth ordinal slot of a diatonic scale, functionally designated by its position a sixth above the tonic. The source's accepted definition carves it as 'scale degree 6 of a key: the pitch a major sixth above the tonic ... bearing the submediant function' - a scale-degree with its ordinal fixed at 6 and its function named. scale-degree is the NEAREST accepted kind (Law 11e): no intermediate rung exists on the map; musical-scale is the container of degrees, not their kind; tonic is the degree's relational anchor, not its kind. A competent speaker calls the submediant 'a scale degree - the sixth'. Specific to general (Law 9); pinned sense (Law 11d): the functional sixth degree per the source's own definition.
- tonicDEPENDS_ON →
Law 8b removal test, pinned to the entry's own carve: the submediant is 'scale degree 6 of a key: the pitch a major sixth above the tonic (major keys) or a minor sixth above the tonic (minor keys)' and its entire identity is relational to the tonal center. Its intervallic status is 'a sixth above the tonic', its ordinal (6) is reckoned from the tonic as degree 1, and its functional role (pre-dominant motion to the dominant; the vi/VI key a third from the tonic) is defined against the tonic as reference. Remove the tonic construct now and the submediant stops operating as a submediant: the sixth interval has no origin to reckon from, the ordinal slot loses its zero point, and what remains is a bare pitch a sixth above an arbitrary center - a pitch, not a named degree. This is the same test the board already applied to leading-tone DEPENDS_ON tonic (accepted), dominant DEPENDS_ON tonic (accepted), and subdominant DEPENDS_ON tonic (accepted): a specific named degree's mechanism is its center-relation, not its ordinal slot. Not a sayability claim: the submediant's operational definition IS the sixth above the tonic. Pinned sense (Law 11d): the sixth degree and its subordinate function per the entry's definition. Not DERIVED_FROM: this is a present-tense functional dependency, not a historical origin.
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Sep 26, 2026, 11:07 AM UTC
- Content hash
- 9693ddbdd08faaf7fd80d74ced3204cba23ab8de6bbaa0c11ace40b547beb368