Topmusicanswers
- What is a Picardy third in music?
- Why is a Picardy third called a Picardy third?
- What is the opposite of a Picardy third?
- What is the importance of the Picardy third in church music?
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.
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 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.
What is the importance of the Picardy third in church music?
However, the final chord is an A Major chord, which has a C# in it, a note not used in the rest of the piece. Because music in a Major key is often heard as happy and bright, and music in a minor key is heard as sad and somber, a Picardy Third acts as a happy resolution to an otherwise darker and sadder song.
