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→Harmonic Theory: Mediant
E is the 3rd note in the C Major scale, which means the E Minor chord in the context of C Major is called the <u>iii Chord</u>. Again that's the roman numeral 3. ''Notice we use lower-case for minor chords.'' The iii Chord is also called the <u>mediant</u>, since its root is halfway between the roots of the I and V chords (and thus shares a pair of notes with each of them).
The mediant is often thought of as a <u>parallel</u> or <u>substitute</u> for the dominant chord. The 5th of the mediant is the leading tone or 7th note of the scale, which tends to "want" to resolve to the tonic note. Thus, they often serve the same harmonic function of resolving to the tonic chord(dominant), although the resolution is weaker than V - I.
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