supertonic

Definition

The supertonic is scale degree 2 of a key: the pitch a major second above the tonic (in a major key) or a minor second above the tonic (in a natural minor key), and the bearer of the supertonic function — the degree that moves from the tonic outward toward the pre-dominant region. In C major the supertonic is D (the root of the ii chord, a minor triad), and in A natural minor it is B (the root of the ii° chord, a diminished triad). PARAMETERS: (1) intervallic status — the supertonic sits a major second above the tonic in major keys and a minor second above the tonic in natural minor keys; it is a whole step below the mediant and a whole step above the tonic; (2) functional role — it commonly moves from the tonic to the pre-dominant region (tonic → supertonic → dominant motion, I–ii–V or I–vi–V), and in minor keys the supertonic triad is diminished (ii°) which gives it a leading quality of its own; (3) relational definition — the supertonic is defined relative to the tonic (the supertonic of C major is D; of A minor is B) and is the second ordinal of the key's scale. PERSISTENCE: codified in Western tonal and harmonic theory, taught in music-theory and harmony curricula (scale-degree numbering; Roman-numeral analysis naming ii in major and ii° in minor), reproduced in composition and analysis practice (identifying the supertonic's role in tonic-pre-dominant motion and in deceptive cadences where V resolves to vi — the supertonic's relative key), and maintained through the conventions of tonal notation. Distinctions: from the mediant (scale degree 3 — a third above the tonic, the degree between the tonic and the subdominant; the supertonic occupies the second, not the third, ordinal slot); from the tonic (scale degree 1 — the point of rest that the supertonic leaves; the supertonic is the first step of departure); from a bare pitch (any point on the pitch axis; the supertonic is a pitch bearing the specific second-degree status and the outward function); from the ii chord (the triad built on the second degree — a chord built ON the supertonic, not the degree and function itself). [formal: super-tertius | substrate: mind | horizon: centuries | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]

Why it is in scope

A human-made musical construct: the second scale degree of a key — the pitch a major second above the tonic in major keys, bearing the supertonic function as the degree of outward departure from the tonic into the pre-dominant region. Built to persist in Western tonal theory as the named second position of the diatonic scale.

Relations from this entry

scale-degreeINSTANCE_OF →

Law 9, nearest kind: the supertonic is a specific kind of scale-degree — the second degree, the ordinal slot the scale-degree entry's own definition names ('2 = supertonic') and assigns the outward departure function to. Filed against the nearest accepted kind (scale-degree), following the accepted neighborhood pattern: dominant INSTANCE_OF scale-degree, subdominant INSTANCE_OF scale-degree, submediant INSTANCE_OF scale-degree, leading-tone INSTANCE_OF scale-degree, and subtonic INSTANCE_OF scale-degree all stand. No intermediate kind (e.g. 'named degree' or 'functional degree') exists on the board, so this is not a ladder leap. Pinned sense (Law 11d): the supertonic per its own scope — the second scale degree and its outward departure function. A competent analyst would say 'the supertonic is a scale degree': it is a position within a scale with a name, an interval, and a function, not a scale, a bare pitch, or a chord.

tonicDEPENDS_ON →

Law 8b removal test, grounded in the source's own definition: the supertonic is carved as 'scale degree 2 of a key: the pitch a major second above the tonic ... bearer of the supertonic function — the degree that moves from the tonic outward toward the pre-dominant region'. Every parameter is defined relationally to the tonic: its intervallic status is 'a major second above the tonic', its ordinal (2) is reckoned from the tonic as degree 1, and its functional role (outward departure from the tonic toward the pre-dominant) is defined against the tonic as reference. Remove the tonic construct now and the supertonic stops operating as a supertonic: the major-second interval has no origin to reckon from, the ordinal slot loses its zero point, and what remains is a bare pitch a second 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), subdominant DEPENDS_ON tonic (accepted), submediant DEPENDS_ON tonic (accepted), and subtonic DEPENDS_ON tonic (accepted): a specific named degree's mechanism is its center-relation, not its ordinal slot. Not a sayability claim: the supertonic's operational definition IS the relation to the center. Pinned sense (Law 11d): the second degree and its outward departure function per the entry's definition. Not DERIVED_FROM: this is a present-tense functional dependency, not a historical origin.

Definition

Why it is in scope

Names and aliases

Relations from this entry

Relations to this entry

Record identity