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In music
Music

Music is an art form whose media is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics , and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture ....
, the subtonic is the lowered seventh degree of the scale, as opposed to the leading tone
Leading-tone

In music theory, a leading-note is a note or pitch which resolution or "leads" to a note one semitone higher or lower, being a lower and upper leading-tone, respectively....
 (vii). For example, in the A minor scale
Minor scale

A minor scale in music theory is a diatonic scale with a third scale degree at an Interval of a minor third above the Tonic . While this definition encompasses Musical mode with the minor third, such as Dorian mode, the term may more usually refer only to the natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor scales, descri...
 (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 mode scale is one of the diatonic scale Musical scales. It is made up of seven distinct notes, plus an eighth which duplicates the first an octave higher....
 this would be B); and the subtonic chord
Chord (music)

In music and music theory a chord is a set of two or more different note that sound simultaneously. Most often, in European-influenced music, chords are tertian Sonority that can be constructed as stacks of thirds relative to some underlying musical scale....
 uses the notes G, B, and D (in C: B-D-F). In music theory
Music theory

Music theory is the field of study that deals with how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It identifies patterns that govern composer techniques....
, the subtonic chord is symbolized with the Roman numeral
Roman numerals

Roman numerals are a numeral system of ancient Rome based on letters of the alphabet, which are combined to signify the sum of their values. The system is decimal but not directly Positional notation and does not include a zero....
 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 classical music, 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....
 key (one less sharp or one more flat), but the subtonic chord is considered diatonic in a minor key.






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In music
Music

Music is an art form whose media is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics , and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture ....
, the subtonic is the lowered seventh degree of the scale, as opposed to the leading tone
Leading-tone

In music theory, a leading-note is a note or pitch which resolution or "leads" to a note one semitone higher or lower, being a lower and upper leading-tone, respectively....
 (vii). For example, in the A minor scale
Minor scale

A minor scale in music theory is a diatonic scale with a third scale degree at an Interval of a minor third above the Tonic . While this definition encompasses Musical mode with the minor third, such as Dorian mode, the term may more usually refer only to the natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor scales, descri...
 (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 mode scale is one of the diatonic scale Musical scales. It is made up of seven distinct notes, plus an eighth which duplicates the first an octave higher....
 this would be B); and the subtonic chord
Chord (music)

In music and music theory a chord is a set of two or more different note that sound simultaneously. Most often, in European-influenced music, chords are tertian Sonority that can be constructed as stacks of thirds relative to some underlying musical scale....
 uses the notes G, B, and D (in C: B-D-F). In music theory
Music theory

Music theory is the field of study that deals with how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It identifies patterns that govern composer techniques....
, the subtonic chord is symbolized with the Roman numeral
Roman numerals

Roman numerals are a numeral system of ancient Rome based on letters of the alphabet, which are combined to signify the sum of their values. The system is decimal but not directly Positional notation and does not include a zero....
 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 classical music, 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....
 key (one less sharp or one more flat), but the subtonic chord is considered diatonic in a minor key. However, even in a minor key, use of the subtonic, while implied in some pre-Baroque music
Baroque music

Baroque music describes a period or style of European classical music approximately extending from Dates of classical music eras. This era is said to begin in music after the Renaissance music and was followed by the Classical music era....
 due to the use of "minor-sounding" musical mode
Musical mode

Mode is a term from Western music theory having three senses: the rhythmic relationship between long and short values in the late medieval period; in early medieval theory, Interval ; and, most commonly, a concept involving Musical scale and melody type ....
s, was never popular in much of traditional classical music, apart from references to the relative major
Relative key

In music, the relative minor of a particular major key is the key which has the same key signature but a different Tonic , as opposed to Parallel key which shares the same tonic....
 key, since the subtonic is the dominant
Dominant (music)

In music, the dominant is the fifth degree of the Scale . For example, in the C major scale , the dominant is the note G; and the dominant chord uses the notes G, B, and D....
 of the relative major. Meanwhile, in pop and rock music the subtonic is rather common. Also, in Jazz
Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
 music the subtonic is used very often as dominant 7th type chord often leading back to the tonic or to the sub.

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
Tonic (music)

The tonic is the first note of a scale in the tonality method of musical composition. The chord #The Triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord ....
 chord.

"Subtonic" also refers to a relationship of musical keys. For example, relative to the key of C major, the key of B major is the subtonic. Modulation
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....
 to the subtonic is relatively rare, compared with, say, modulation into the dominant.

Note "sub" chords found in the Minor Scale Harmony:

Tonic = i

Supertonic = ii or iiš

Mediant = III or III+

Subdominant = iv or IV

Dominant = V or v

Submediant = VI

Raised submediant = viš

Subtonic = VII

Leading tone = viiš