Picardy third joke

A Picardy Third, Picardy Cadence, or Tierce de Picardie in French, is a major chord at the end of a piece or section of music in the minor key.

1. What is the opposite of a Picardy third?
2. Why is a Picardy third called a Picardy third?
3. What is a Picardy third in music?

What is the opposite of a Picardy third?

Reverse Picardy Third

The "reverse" Picardy third, where an expected major chord is replaced by its minor equivalent, is almost never used at the end of a work - an example of this rarity is in Mendelssohn's Characteristic Piece Op.

Why is a Picardy third called a Picardy third?

Robert Hall hypothesizes that, instead of deriving from the Picardy region of France, it comes from the Old French word "picart", meaning "pointed" or "sharp" in northern dialects, and thus refers to the musical sharp that transforms the minor third of the chord into a major third.

What is a Picardy third in music?

: the major third as introduced into the final chord of a musical composition written in a minor key.