 thumb|right|tonic and submediant (tonic parallel) in c major: cm and am chords . thumb|right|tonic and submediant in c minor: cm and am chords . thumb|left|minor seventh chord on a . vi7 or submediant seventh chord in c major. thumb|right|chord progression from the tonic to supertonic, resolving to the dominant . thumb|left|wagner - tannhauser, zu dir wall'ich .  thumb|left|330px|chromatic mediants in c major and a minor. thumb|right|"1. tonic, 2. mediant, i.e., half-way to dominant, 3. dominant, 4.sub-mediant, i.e., half-way to sub-dominant, 5. sub-dominant."macdowell, edward a. (2008 edition). the music-lover's handbook, p.167. isbn 1-4437-8087-1. in music, the submediant is the sixth scale degree of the diatonic scale, the 'lower mediant' halfway between the tonic and the subdominant or 'lower dominant'.benward & saker (2003). music: in theory and practice, vol. i, p.33. seventh edition. isbn 978-0-07-294262-0. it is also the third factor of the subdominant (iv) triad. it is occasionally called superdominant,  being above the dominant. in music theory, the submediant chord is symbolized by the roman numeral vi if it is major or vi if it is minor.bartlette, christopher, and steven g. laitz (2010). graduate review of tonal theory. new york: oxford university press, pg 102-106. isbn 978-0-19-537698-2 for example, in the c major scale (white keys on a piano, starting on c), the submediant is the note a; and the submediant chord is a-minor consisting of the notes a, c, and e. therefore, am is the vi chord in the c major scale. since the submediant is minor it may provide contrast with major chords, frequently in a sequence of descending thirds (i, vi, iv, ii | v in root position or first inversion). further, in the a natural minor scale (same white keys, now starting on a), the submediant is the note f; and the submediant chord is f (or f-major) consisting of the notes f, a, and c. therefore, f is the vi chord in the a (natural) min
Diatonic_functions Scale_degrees