midicnGlossary 中文

Modal Mixture

Borrowing chords from the parallel mode while the tonic stays the same

ModeChordKey

Modal mixture borrows chords or scale degrees between parallel major and minor keys sharing a tonic. C major may take iv, ♭VI, ♭VII or ♭III from C minor; a minor key may take I, IV or V from the major. The tonic stays put, while the modal colour changes.

Borrowed chords usually appear in subdominant areas and before cadences. ♭VI and ♭VII may descend to the dominant, the ♭6 of iv sighs against 5, and a Picardy third is mixture at the final cadence. They darken or brighten the music without leaving the key.

Mixture is not modulation. No new tonic is established and no cadence confirms a new key; nor is it a chromatic passing chord, a horizontal voice-leading event. Judge by whether the tonic and cadences still hold the old key, not by the number of accidentals.

Sources

  • 定义与借用和弦的用法参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Modal mixture"；本文为原创表述

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