mediant
- noun
- /ˈmiːdiənt/
- Specialized
- In the key of C major, E is the mediant note, situated between the tonic C and the dominant G.
Examples
-
They can progress to learning a repertoire of music that includes subdominant harmony, then mediant, submediant, supertonic, and secondary dominant, and eventually more chromatic harmonies.
Academic text (1999) -
The composer emphasized the mediant in his piece to create a rich harmonic texture.
-
Unfortunately, except for devotees of xenophobic mediants, a scattering of conspiracy-addled loons, and a few scientists like myself, the world had lost interest in the shitdogs.
Fiction book (1999) -
To find the mediant of the scale, you need to identify the third note after the tonic.
Surface Forms
Morphology
mediant = median (semi-transparent) = medi + ant
Derived from the idea of 'middle' (as in 'median'), so the link to 'middle' is clear, but the specific technical musical sense (the third scale degree) requires domain knowledge.
Etymology
Mediant comes from the Latin medius, which means 'middle', and is like the English words median and medium. In music the mediant is the note in the 'middle' between the first and the fifth note of a scale, so the name tells you its position.
