Be wary of internet searches that lead you to believe that the descending minor third at the beginning of a song means the song is in a minor key. Here are a few examples to make the point that full context is always necessary to determine whether a song is in a major or minor key.

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Minor Third Down – Song Beginnings

Video Transcript

One of my pet peeves is that on many, many lists that you find on the internet that tell you about the minor third descending, the context of the song they reference is actually in major.

Fine that’s a minor third but – not so minor anymore.

Minor third. It’s as major of a context that you can be.

A descending major triad once again.

It’s not wrong. These are all minor thirds, but they happen in a major context. It’s much more important to hear things in context. I’d much rather you hear that’s the five to the three rather than hearing it’s a minor third, because music doesn’t happen in isolation and the moment where we need it – you need it in context.