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Chromatic Mediant

The document discusses chromatic mediants, which are chords whose roots are related by a major or minor third. Chromatic mediants contain one common tone and share the same quality of being major or minor. They were rarely used in the Baroque and classical periods but became more common during the Romantic period. Chromatic mediants usually prolong the tonic harmony and can proceed from or to the tonic or dominant chords.

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692 views

Chromatic Mediant

The document discusses chromatic mediants, which are chords whose roots are related by a major or minor third. Chromatic mediants contain one common tone and share the same quality of being major or minor. They were rarely used in the Baroque and classical periods but became more common during the Romantic period. Chromatic mediants usually prolong the tonic harmony and can proceed from or to the tonic or dominant chords.

Uploaded by

VictorSmerk
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chromatic mediant

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Chromatic mediants in C major and a minor.


In music, chromatic mediants, "are altered mediant and submediant chords."[1] A
chromatic mediant relationship is a relationship between two sections and/or chords
whose roots are related by a major third or minor third, contain one common tone, or
share the same quality, i.e. major or minor. For example, in the key of C major the
diatonic mediant and submediant are E minor and A minor. Their parallel majors are E
major and A major. The mediants of the parallel minor of C major (C minor) are E
major and A major, and their parallel minors are E minor and A minor, totaling six
chromatic mediants for that key. Thus an E major chord is one of six chromatic mediant
chords in C major and the keys of C major and E major share a chromatic mediant
relationship.
Chromatic mediants are usually in root position, may appear in either major or minor
keys, usually provide color and interest while prolonging the tonic harmony, proceed
from and to the tonic or less often the dominant, sometimes are preceded or followed by
their own secondary dominants, or sometimes create a complete modulation.[1]
Some chromatic mediants are equivalent to altered chords, for example VI is also a
borrowed chord from the parallel minor, VI is also a secondary dominant of ii (V/ii),
and III is V/vi, with context and analysis revealing the distinction.[1]

Chromatic mediant from Tchaikovsky's Chant sans paroles, op. 2, no. 3, mm. 43-45
Play (helpinfo). Note VI in root position and the repeated return to I (D and F,
respectively), characteristic of chromatic mediant root movement.[1]
Chromatic mediant chords were rarely used during the baroque and classical periods,
though the chromatic mediant relationship was occasionally found between sections, but
the chords and relationships became much more common during the romantic period.[1]

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