Chord Inversions

How do chord inversions affect the sound of a progression?

Chord inversions affect the sound of a progression by making the music sound like it needs to move forward through a balance of steady and unsteady-sounding chords. When in root position, chords sound firm and steady because the bottom or bass note (DO) is the foundation of the chord. An example of this is a D major chord with D (DO) as the bottom note played. When in first inversion, the chord sounds less steady and like it needs to change. This is because F# (MI) is the bottom note played and D (DO) is the highest note played. In the second inversion, the chord sounds even less steady because the bottom chord is A (SO) and D (DO) is hidden in the middle of the chord. 

What is the difference between chord inversions and slash chords?

Chord inversions can be, and often are, written as slash chords. For example, a D major chord played with F# as the bottom note can be written as D/F#, but since F# is in the D major chord this makes it the first inversion of a D major chord. \

Slash chords can also be different from chord inversions because they can include non-chord tones. For example, you may see a slash chord that looks like C7/F. F is not a chord tone in a C7 chord; those notes are C-E-G-Bb. You can still play a C7 chord and also include an F as the bass note, which is a true slash chord.

Basically, in chord notation, chord inversions are written as slash chords, but not all slash chords are true chord inversions.

Do inversions change the name of a chord?

Chord inversions can change the name of a chord if they are written in slash chord style. A root position D major chord is written above the measure it is played in as D, a D major chord in 1st inversion is written as D/F#, and a 2nd inversion D major chord is written as D/A. 

How do inversions help with smoother left-hand accompaniment?

Chord inversions help to create a smoother left-hand accompaniment by keeping the left hand in roughly one spot on the keyboard. When a performer plays only root position chords, the left hand must jump from one spot on the keyboard to play one chord before jumping to another spot to play another. If the piano chords are C major and G major, this can be quite a leap. When using an accompaniment with inversions, C major can be in root position but G major can be in either 1st or 2nd inversion and the hand only needs to move one note to reach.

How do you find inversions quickly without memorizing every note?

Finding inversions quickly requires consistent practice and a strong understanding of chord shapes. There is no substitute for good quality practice when approaching music and the piano. In order to find inversions quickly without memorizing every note, I recommend learning the formative steps in order to build chords. In root position, the bottom interval of a major chord needs to be a major third, but the top interval needs to be a minor third. Once you find a major chord using these elements, it’s important to practice moving these notes up and down the keyboard to find different arrangements of these notes. For example, if you are playing a C major chord, play the root position chord of C-E-G, then move up to the first inversion of E-G-C, and then the second inversion of G-C-E. Now move back down through these inversions. Do the same with other chords as well. You will still be memorizing every note, but through practice, not just the memorization of information.

Are seventh chord inversions different from triad inversions?

Seventh chord inversions are different from triad inversions in that they include one extra note, so there is an additional inversion. For example, the notes of a root position C7 chord are C-E-G-Bb. So the first inversion is E-G-Bb-C, the second inversion is G-Bb-C-E, and the third inversion is Bb-C-E-G.

Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman, and in this lesson we're going to learn about a very powerful musical tool
that allows you to manipulate chords in all kinds of ways.
It's called chord inversions, and understanding them is critical for any composer, musician, or pianist, especially as we're getting to more advanced music.
Let's come to the piano to check out how chord inversions work.
Let's say we wanted to play the chord progression I in the key of C, so this is our I chord,
and then we wanted to play a IV chord next, which would be right here in the key of C or F major chord.
Now you can see that that's a bit of a jump to get all the way from here to here.
That would be what's called not smooth voice leading. If you can imagine that each of these notes is a different voice, this voice would have to go:
A pretty big jump up, but there's another way to do that IV chord using inversions.
We've mentioned this occasionally, that you can take this C,
...