View source for Subtonic

{{Short description|Degree of a musical scale}}
{{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>

== Chord ==
{{Image frame|content=<score sound="1">
\new PianoStaff <<
  \new Staff \fixed c' {
    <<
      { a4 b c' c'\fermata | c' d' e' e'\fermata | e' e' d' c' | b2 a\fermata | } \\
      { <c e>4 e <e a> q | q <g b> <g c'> q | q <a c'> <d gis> <e a> | f <e gis> <c e>2 | }
    >>
  }
  \new Staff \fixed c {
    \clef bass a4 gis a a | a g c' c | c a, b, c | d e a,2 |
  }
  \new Lyrics \lyricmode {
    \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t
    \tempo 4=90
    I4 V I \tempo 4=60 4 \tempo 4=90 |
    4 \markup { \center-column { VII V/III } } III \tempo 4=60 4 \tempo 4=90 |
    4 I VII I |
    II VI \tempo 4=60 I2 |
    \bar "||"
  }
>>
</score>|caption="In minor, the subtonic serves as secondary dominant to the mediant (Bach BWV 26)<ref name="Forte"/>}}

The [[Triad (music)|triad]] built on the subtonic note is called the subtonic chord. In [[Roman numeral analysis]], the subtonic chord is symbolized by the Roman numeral "{{music|flat}}VII" in a major key. In a minor key, it is often written as "VII", the [[Flat (music)|flat]] symbol being often omitted by some theorists because the subtonic note appears in the natural minor scale. The flat symbol is used for the major scale because the subtonic is a non-[[diatonic]] note.

Theorists [[Stefan Kostka]] and Dorothy Payne describe the subtonic chord (VII) as "sounding like the V in the key of the [[relative major]]—that is, a [[secondary dominant|V of {{music|b}}III]]."<ref>[[Stefan Kostka|Kostka, Stefan]] and Payne, Dorothy (1995). ''Tonal Harmony'', p. 118. McGraw Hill. {{ISBN|0-07-035874-5}}.</ref> [[Allen Forte]] writes that "[w]hile VII in relation to C minor (I) becomes V in relation to III (E{{music|b}} major).... As a major triad on an unaltered or natural scale degree 7 in minor the VII functions as a secondary dominant triad in relation to the mediant."<ref name="Forte">[[Allen Forte|Forte, Allen]], ''Tonal Harmony'', third edition (S.l.: Holt, Rinehart, and Wilson, 1979): pp.&nbsp;116, 123. {{ISBN|0-03-020756-8}}.</ref> In the minor mode, the subtonic chord may also appear as a [[major minor seventh chord]] (i.e. dominant seventh chord), {{music|flat}}VII<sup>7</sup>.<ref name="K&P 2463">{{Cite book|title=Tonal Harmony|last1=Kostka|first1=Stefan|last2=Payne|first2=Dorothy|date=2004|publisher=McGraw-Hill|isbn=0072852607|edition=5th|location=Boston|pages=220|oclc=51613969}}</ref>
{{Image frame|content=<score sound="1">
{
\relative c' {
  \clef treble
  \time 4/4
  <d f a>2 <bes d f aes> <c e g>1 \bar "||"
} }
</score>|width=300|caption=A [[backdoor progression]] in C: ii–{{music|flat}}VII<sup>7</sup>–I}}In [[jazz]], the flattened seventh is also used as a [[chord substitution|substitute]] for the [[dominant (music)|dominant]], V, especially in the [[Backdoor progression|backdoor cadence]],<ref>[[Jerry Coker]], ''Elements of the Jazz Language for the Developing Improvisor'' (Miami: CCP/Belwin, Inc, 1991), p.&nbsp;82. {{ISBN|1-57623-875-X}}.</ref> ii–{{music|flat}}VII<sup>7</sup>–I, where the subtonic is substituted for the dominant seventh. In this case, {{music|flat}}VII functions as a [[common chord (music)|pivot chord]] borrowed from the [[parallel key|parallel minor]] (its dominant seventh). The chords V<sup>7</sup> and {{music|flat}}VII<sup>7</sup> have two [[common tone (chord)|common tones]]: in C major, these chords are G–B–'''D'''–'''F''' and B{{music|flat}}–'''D'''–'''F'''–A{{music|flat}}.

However, while "the leading-tone/tonic relationship is axiomatic to the definition of [[common practice tonality]]", especially [[Cadence|cadences]] and [[Modulation (music)|modulations]], in [[popular music]] and [[rock music|rock]] a diatonic scalic leading tone (i.e., {{music|natural}}{{music|scale|7}}–{{music|scale|1}}) is often absent.{{sfn|Moore|1995|p=187}} In popular music, rather than "departures" or "aberrant", the "use of the 'flattened' diatonic seventh scale degree… should not even be viewed as ''departures''<!--emphasis original-->".{{sfn|Moore|1995|p=186}} In reference to chords built on the flattened seventh, [[Richard Franko Goldman]] argues that "the concept of [[Borrowed chord|borrowing]] is in actuality unnecessary. The mixture of major and minor is a simple fact in the [[Classical period (music)|Classical]] and [[Romantic music|Romantic periods]]."<ref>[[Richard Franko Goldman|Goldman, Richard Franko]] (1965). ''Harmony in Western Music'', p. 76. Barrie & Jenkins/W. W. Norton. {{ISBN|0-214-66680-8}}.</ref>

==See also==

*[[♭VII–V7 cadence|{{music|flat}}VII–V<sup>7</sup> cadence]]
*[[Leading note]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}
'''Sources'''
* {{cite journal|last=Moore|first=Allan F.|year=1995|title=The So-called 'Flattened Seventh' in Rock|journal=Popular Music|volume=14|number=2|pages=185–201|doi=10.1017/S0261143000007431 |s2cid=162661553 }}

==Further reading==
* Stell, Jason Travis. 2006. "The Flat-7th Degree in Tonal Music". PhD diss. Princeton: Princeton University.

{{degrees}}

[[Category:Diatonic functions]]
[[Category:Scale degrees|7]]