In music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

, the subtonic or flattened seventh (VII) is the lowered or minor seventh

Minor seventh

In classical music from Western culture, a seventh is a musical interval encompassing seven staff positions , and the minor seventh is one of two commonly occurring sevenths. The minor quality specification identifies it as being the smallest of the two: the minor seventh spans ten semitones, the...

 degree

Degree (music)

In music theory, a scale degree or scale step is the name of a particular note of a scale in relation to the tonic...

 of the scale, a whole step

Major second

In Western music theory, a major second is a musical interval spanning two semitones, and encompassing two adjacent staff positions . For example, the interval from C to D is a major second, as the note D lies two semitones above C, and the two notes are notated on adjacent staff postions...

 below the tonic

Tonic (music)

In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...

, as opposed to the leading tone

Leading-tone

In music theory, a leading-note is a note or pitch which resolves or "leads" to a note one semitone higher or lower, being a lower and upper leading-tone, respectively....

. The subtonic appears in three forms: as the scale degree, , melodically

Melody

A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...

 and as the chord VII in both VII-I cadence and in modulations

Modulation (music)

In music, modulation is most commonly the act or process of changing from one key to another. This may or may not be accompanied by a change in key signature. Modulations articulate or create the structure or form of many pieces, as well as add interest...

 harmonically

Harmony

In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...

.

For example, in the A minor scale

Minor scale

A minor scale in Western music theory includes any scale that contains, in its tonic triad, at least three essential scale degrees: 1) the tonic , 2) a minor-third, or an interval of a minor third above the tonic, and 3) a perfect-fifth, or an interval of a perfect fifth above the tonic, altogether...

 (white keys on a piano, starting on A), the subtonic is the note G (in C major

Major scale

In music theory, the major scale or Ionian scale is one of the diatonic scales. It is made up of seven distinct notes, plus an eighth which duplicates the first an octave higher. In solfege these notes correspond to the syllables "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti/Si, ", the "Do" in the parenthesis at...

 this would be B); and the subtonic chord

Chord (music)

A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...

 uses the notes G, B, and D (in C: B-D-F). In music theory

Music theory

Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...

, the subtonic chord is symbolized with the Roman numeral

Roman numerals

The numeral system of ancient Rome, or Roman numerals, uses combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet to signify values. The numbers 1 to 10 can be expressed in Roman numerals as:...

 VII for a major triad built on the note, or vii for a minor triad; in a minor key, the flat symbol is sometimes omitted by some theorists because the subtonic note appears in the natural minor scale, but the flat symbol is usually used for the major scale because the subtonic is a non-scale note.
In jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, the flattened seventh is also used as a substitute

Chord substitution

In music theory, chord substitution is the use of a chord in the place of another related chord in a chord progression. Jazz musicians often substitute chords in the original progression to create variety and add interest to a piece. The substitute chord must have some harmonic quality and degree...

 for the dominant

Dominant (music)

In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale, called "dominant" because it is next in importance to the tonic,and a dominant chord is any chord built upon that pitch, using the notes of the same diatonic scale...

, V, especially in the Backdoor cadence

Backdoor progression

In jazz and jazz harmony, the chord progression from iv7 to VII7 to I has been nicknamed the backdoor progression or the backdoor ii-V. This name derives from an assumption that the normal progression to the tonic, the ii-V-I turnaround is, by inference, the front door...

, ii-VII7-I, where the subtonic is used for the dominant seventh. VII is in this case a pivot chord borrowed from the parallel minor

Parallel key

In music, parallel keys are the major and minor scales that have the same tonic. A major and minor scale sharing the same tonic are said to be in a parallel relationship...

 (its dominant seventh). V7

Dominant seventh chord

In music theory, a dominant seventh chord, or major minor seventh chord,is a chord composed of a root, major third, perfect fifth, and minor seventh. It can be also viewed as a major triad with an additional minor seventh...

 and VII7, the subtonic seventh chord, have two common tone

Common tone

In music a common tone is a pitch class that is a member of, or common to, a musical scale and a transposition of that scale, as in modulation...

s, in C: GBDF and BDFA.

In classical music

Classical music

Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

, use of the subtonic is generally rare in major keys apart from reference to the subdominant

Subdominant

In music, the subdominant is the technical name for the fourth tonal degree of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance "below" the tonic as the dominant is above the tonic - in other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdominant. It is also the note immediately...

 key (one fewer sharp or one more flat), but the subtonic chord is considered diatonic in a minor key. Minor key non-classical music has seen most of the use of the subtonic. It often functions as an alternate to a minor dominant chord, and is often led into and out of the tonic chord. Modulation to the subtonic is relatively rare, compared with, say, modulation into the dominant (see: closely related key

Closely related key

In music, a closely related key is one sharing many common tones with an original key, as opposed to a distantly related key...

).

However, even in a minor key, use of the subtonic, while implied in some pre-Baroque music

Baroque music

Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...

 due to the use of "minor-sounding" musical mode

Musical mode

In the theory of Western music since the ninth century, mode generally refers to a type of scale. This usage, still the most common in recent years, reflects a tradition dating to the middle ages, itself inspired by the theory of ancient Greek music.The word encompasses several additional...

s, was never popular in much of traditional classical music, apart from references to the relative major

Relative key

In music, relative keys are the major and minor scales that have the same key signatures. A major and minor scale sharing the same key signature are said to be in a relative relationship...

 key, since the subtonic is the dominant

Dominant (music)

In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale, called "dominant" because it is next in importance to the tonic,and a dominant chord is any chord built upon that pitch, using the notes of the same diatonic scale...

 of the relative major.

However, while, "the leading-tone/tonic relationship is axiomatic to the definition of common practice tonality," especially cadences and modulations, in popular music

Popular music

Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...

 and rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

a diatonic scalic leading tone (ie, -) is often absent. In popular music, rather than, "departures," or, "aberrant," the, "use of the 'flattened' diatonic seventh scale degree...should not even be viewed as departures".