Inversions

Today I'm going to teach you all about inversions. Last lesson we learned about triads. Now let's take them to a new level. You'll remember that a triad is based on the root note of the chord, plus the third and the fifth. For example, a C chord is C, E and G. Now, take the bottom note and stick it on top. You end up with E, G, C. That is the same chord, but has a slightly different feel to it. This ordering of the notes is called the first inversion.

To create the second inversion, we do the exact same thing again. Move bottom note of the chord to the top. So we have G, C, E. Once again, it's the same chord. They are all C chords, they are just different inversions of the C chord.

Practice playing all of the chords that make up the C major scale in all of their inversions. One thing you'll quickly notice is that the chords can be joined together with minimal movement. Let's take a look at an example. Let's play a C chord in the first inversion, E, G, C. Now play an A minor in the second inversion, E, A, C. To switch chords, I only had to move one finger. You'll notice the same thing when you move from the first inversion of D minor to the root inversion of G.

This method of rearranging the notes of the chords allows you to play the same chords in a much smoother sounding way. Play a C chord followed by an A chord, both of them in the root inversion. The sound is much more jumpy than it was when you used the inversions before isn't it? That is the power of chord inversions.

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