How To Invert Chords
By Matti Carter
Inversion is a technique that can be applied to chords while playing an instrument or writing music. By inverting chords a lot can be achieved in terms of how the music sounds, offering you the potential to improve your composition skills dramatically.
Inverting a chord means changing the order of the notes in the chord. For example, while the root position of the C-major chord is structured C-E-G, the inversions of it would be E-G-C, or G-C-E. Triads have three different positions; the root position, the first inversion and the second inversion. The same rule applies for larger chords such as chords with four notes or more. A four-note chord has four different positions, a five-note chord has five, and so on.
It is obvious that inverting chords makes a huge difference in the way music sounds. The key difference to the sound is the change in the bass note. Remember, the bass note is not necessarily the same as the root note. Here are examples showing the three inversions of the C-major chord:
First inversion of the C-major chord = C/E
Second inversion of the C-major chord = C/G
Third inversion of the C-seventh chord: C7/B♭
Third inversion of the C-seventh chord: C7/B♭
While writing down chord notation, the root note of a chord is always described with the first letter. The letter on the right side of the forward slash (/) is used to describe the bass note of the chord. The bass note also determines the inversion of the chord. For example, the chord C/G is a C-major triad with G as the bass note.
When to use Inversions
Inverting some specific chords in a song will make the music sound smoother. Not only will it sound better, but it will also become easier to play. If all we did was play chords from the root positions, the harmony of the music would be jumping up and down constantly. Of course it is not against the rules to play like that. However, you don’t want to get stuck playing music with only root position chords, because using inversions can sound a lot better.
Let’s take a look at two images. Both images represent the same harmony. In the first image, all the chords are played from the root position. In the second image, the second and fourth chords have been inverted, so that the music sounds different.
Image 1: Harmony with root position chords
Image 2: Same harmony as in Image 1, but including inverted chords
If possible, try playing the music of the images with your instrument. What does Image 1 sound like compared to Image 2? Can you hear the difference? Which version do you think sounded better and why?
There are also lots of benefits to understanding and applying inversions, so I recommend practising and starting to use them right away. By practising playing and identifying inversions, you will start to know how each different inversion sounds. Your ear will improve, and you will learn how to make great musical decisions while applying inversions to your own playing.
© Matti Carter
About The Author:
Matti Carter is a professional musician based in Helsinki, Finland. He teaches composition and piano, writes instructional music related materials and composes music. Feel free to contact him.