Picardy third (major ending in a minor key)

Definition

The Picardy third (tierce de Picardie) is the ending of a piece or section in a minor key on a major tonic chord: in A minor, the last chord is A (A C# E) instead of Am (A C E). The term is first documented by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in the Dictionnaire de musique (1768), but the practice is much older (Renaissance and Baroque).

Why it was done

• Acoustics: the major third is the 5th harmonic of the fundamental; in the harmonic series of A, C# appears, not C. A final major chord "sounds" more stable, especially in very reverberant churches where the beating of the minor third is more noticeable.
• Rhetoric: closing in major = consolation, light after darkness.
• In the 16th–17th centuries a final minor third was considered not very conclusive; pieces often closed without a third (open fifth) as well.

In notes

Cadence in A minor: Dm – E7 – A (iv – V7 – I).

• G# (leading tone) rises to A
• D falls to C# (not to C)
• B falls to A; E stays

The third C# arrives by descending motion from D: it is a very natural resolution.

Real examples

• J. S. Bach: most of the chorales in minor and many preludes and fugues of The Well-Tempered Clavier close in major; the Prelude in C minor BWV 847 (Book I) ends on a C major chord.
• Greensleeves (traditional English song): many harmonizations close on the major tonic chord.
• Pop and rock: the major ending of a minor tune is rare but powerful; it is often used in ballads and soundtracks as a final "revelation."

Internal uses (not only endings)

• Major tonic as V/iv: in A minor, A (with C#) followed by Dm: the Picardy becomes a secondary dominant toward the iv. This is the case of Am – A7 – Dm, very common in tango, klezmer, Italian melodic pop.
• Major/minor alternation on the same tonic (Am – A): typical of the blues, Anglo-Irish folk, and film music.

Modern variants

• Picardy with major seventh: Amaj7 at the end of a piece in A minor: bright, dreamy ending (neo-soul, J-pop).
• Picardy with 9 or add9: Aadd9 (A B C# E).
• Delayed Picardy: Asus4 → A, or Am → A in the same bar (the third rises C → C#).

Exercise for the producer

1. Take a minor loop (Am – F – C – G).
2. End the piece with E7 → A (instead of Am).
3. Make a pad voice rise from C to C# in the last two beats, with a filter automation that opens: the change of light becomes "visible."

Related topics

Harmony in minor keys, the harmonic series and timbre, modal interchange, harmony for film music, cadences.