Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom

It is rare to borrow from the major mode during a passage in a minor key. The major tonic usually functions as \(\left.\text{V}\middle/\text{iv}\right.\) if it’s not the last chord of a piece, and raised \(\hat{6} \) and \(\hat{7} \) occur naturally as part of the melodic minor scale.

In minor, the one place to borrow from the major mode is at the end of a piece in minor, with the use of the major \(\left.\text{I}\right.\) chord instead of minor \(\left.\text{i}\right.\).

While the Picardy 3rd (the major third above the tonic) was most commonly encountered in the Baroque era, it has been used from then until now, though with less frequency.