Chord Inversion Help?

[AlexArkansas]

Anyone have any advice or know any websites that can help with chord inversions and how to apply them to one's playing?

[Ridge runner]

Yeah just take the notes of any chords,say for simplicity's sake a C Major Chord..it's spelled C,E,G. C is the root,E is a Major 3rd,and G is the 5th,ok make a open string C chord down on the low end C on the 3rd fret 5th string ect.. the first inversion is when you moved down to the 7th fret 5th string "E" in the bass then up to the 10th fret "G" is in the bass and this is the second inversion..
e--------------------------------------
b-1--5--8-----------------------------------
g-0--5--9----------------------------------
d-2--5--10---------------------------------
a-3--7--10----------------------------------
e-------------------------------------

you can do inversions to any chord not to just three note chords either,there are a lot of books on inversions.
But not only do they give you a different vibe/sound,but they keep you from jumping all over the neck which is often impractical,like when playing a jazz tune..you just grab the nearest inversion that happens to be near by..but let the ear be the final judge.
But it should be stressed you gotta know the note names,what exactly are the intervals is it a major third,minor third,Flat 7th, Natural 7th, flat 5th,raised 5th ect... doing it by tabs like the one above is not the way!!! lol

[boneyguy]

I play mostly blues and funk and I use inversions all the time for comping or little chord phrases (as I think of them).

Most of the time I'm using dom7 type inversions (the blues, right). I just sat down some years ago and figured out how to do them up and down the neck on different string sets. And I'll tell you something, I hear lots of really good guitar players at these jams and no one is doing that so it sort of helps me stand out I think. It's a pretty simple thing to get under your fingers but it sure can enliven and spice up your playing.

So my approach is to use them melodically. At least that's how I think of using inversions. I'm hearing two seperate things when I use them. Firstly I'm hearing the upper voice of the chord as a little melody and so I phrase the inversions with respect to creating a suitable little counter melody to whaterver else is going on around me in the band at that moment.

Secondly I'm aware of the bass note movement in the inversions because I'm also hearing a bassline in my head as well.

That's how I personally use and think of triad type inversions.

There has got to be a lot of websites that cover triad inversions and there's certainly a lot of books that cover that as well. What would be most useful is to learn a bit of chord construction theory and figure it out for yourself because that's when it really becomes something you can use musically and then you can also begin to stretch out and make your own little note clusters/chords based on knowing how to build chords. I also use a lot of three note clusters that aren't diatonic triads. That's when it really gets fun.

[Mjark]

x7x58x is C major - see how the note order is 3 R 5?

[Joe-Bob]

This might be an exercise best done by yourself. You'll learn a lot more.

Make up some fretboard charts and xerox up a whole bunch of 'em. Sit down and start making yourself some charts. Start with the root in the bass, then 3rd, 5th, 7th. Do it for 6 string, 5th string and 4th strings.

Some chord shapes are not as practical as others. You should start to see patterns appear, keep those in mind. Do major, minor, dom. 7, etc. in all keys.

When you get done with those, do them all over again with the target note on top instead; R, 3, etc. for the first and second strings. When you're done with those, put them all in a three-ring binder and keep 'em for later practice and reference.

[Samrsmiley]

Hey man I would start with small three note triads to get the concept. Start with the top three strings then the second set (EBG, BGD).

Try making up little voice leading exercises with them. How can you move through a simple progression with as little movement as possible.

One good resource for this work is Jon Damian's 'Chord Factory' book. Van eps stuff is great too.

[raito]

boneyguy, you just described voice leading. And described it very well.

[AlexArkansas]

Thank you all SO much for the help. I guess I should have mentioned that I understand the idea behind inversions, and even know a shape or two, but don't tend to use them or think in terms of inversions when I play. I tried substituting them for a few barre chords in a simple song during practice the other day, but they didn't necessarily improve the sound or minimize hand movement or allow for more interesting passing tones between changes. Something isn't clicking yet. What y'all have told me will definitely help. Thanks again.

[Mjark]

They're useful as Boneyguy notes for bass movement. Like D A Bm A which is not all that interesting can be really nice because of the descending movement if you play the A with the major third Db as the lowest note. They won't always sound right when you just use them randomly in place of a barre chord although I have done that too with mixed results.

[ednew]

Originally Posted by Mjark

Like D A Bm A which is not all that interesting can be really nice because of the descending movement if you play the A with the major third Db as the lowest note. .

FYI:
The Key of D has two sharps: F# and C#. It has no flats. The third of A Major is C#.

Pet peeve, sorry.

Ed

[boneyguy]

Originally Posted by Mjark

They're useful as Boneyguy notes for bass movement. Like D A Bm A which is not all that interesting can be really nice because of the descending movement if you play the A with the major third Db as the lowest note. They won't always sound right when you just use them randomly in place of a barre chord although I have done that too with mixed results.

A small but important detail: the third of A is spelled as C# not Db.

EDIT: typing at the same time as the poster above obviously. Wasn't intentionally dog piling on you Mjark.

[Mjark]

Yes, sorry.

[upinthemteles]

Originally Posted by ednew

FYI:
The Key of D has two sharps: F# and C#. It has no flats. The third of A Major is C#.

Pet peeve, sorry.

Ed

I've never really understood this as I'm not classically trained. It seems like mere semantics to me. Does thinking of things this way help or something? I feel like there's something I'm missing. I realize this may be a complicated answer, but I'm all ears.

[boneyguy]

Originally Posted by upinthemteles

I've never really understood this as I'm not classically trained. It seems like mere semantics to me. Does thinking of things this way help or something? I feel like there's something I'm missing. I realize this may be a complicated answer, but I'm all ears.

Pitch and spelling are two different contexts.

In the context of spelling, each key can use each of the seven letter names only once. In the example given above the letter name 'D' is already used to represent the 4th degree in relation to the chord 'A' and is the tonic note of the key of 'D' so you can't use that same letter again, even with the a '#' or 'b' attached, to represent another note in that key.

Notes that fall outside of the key (non-diatonic notes) will require repeating letter names but will be modified using sharps and flats.


Chord spelling is just that; using the alphabet to spell out the notes in a chord. A letter represents a particular pitch and even though C# and Db are the same pitch (enharmonic) they do not represent the same thing in the context of spelling.

Just like spelling words. 'Brake' and 'break' both sound the same but require different spellings in order to convery the correct meaning.

[Mjark]

If you don't think that way it can get really confusing trying to think about harmonizing a scale for instance. I probably used Db because I was thinking about the way the bass line descends, or I'm just a dummy.

[Larry F]

Originally Posted by upinthemteles

I've never really understood this as I'm not classically trained. It seems like mere semantics to me. Does thinking of things this way help or something? I feel like there's something I'm missing. I realize this may be a complicated answer, but I'm all ears.

The name Db implies contexts that C# does not. So, it can be very confusing if the wrong enharmonic is used. This is true of music that is written in keys. However, my composition students generally do not write in keys, which makes the decision about whether to spell a note C# or Db a little trickier. I have noticed this problem fading away now that they use notation programs which automatically spell enharmonics for you.

[boneyguy]

Originally Posted by Mjark

If you don't think that way it can get really confusing trying to think about harmonizing a scale for instance. I probably used Db because I was thinking about the way the bass line descends, or I'm just a dummy.

Yeah if you're not thinking 'inside a key' and you're just thinking chromatically or non-diatonically then spelling descending notes as flats and acending notes as sharps seems logical and that's how I would do it too.

[Larry F]

When considering the inversions of a chord, the note played in the bass part determines the inversion of the overall chord. I think a more important concept in a band situation is voicing.

[boneyguy]

Originally Posted by Larry F

When considering the inversions of a chord, the note played in the bass part determines the inversion of the overall chord. I think a more important concept in a band situation is voicing.

Good point. I think up until now it's been assumed, for no particular reason, that we're talking about closed voicings of triads but as you say the term inversion only describes the chord tone being used in the bass and I think voicing a chord is a bigger and more interesting matter for sure.

[upinthemteles]

Originally Posted by boneyguy

Pitch and spelling are two different contexts.

In the context of spelling, each key can use each of the seven letter names only once. In the example given above the letter name 'D' is already used to represent the 4th degree in relation to the chord 'A' and is the tonic note of the key of 'D' so you can't use that same letter again, even with the a '#' or 'b' attached, to represent another note in that key.

Notes that fall outside of the key (non-diatonic notes) will require repeating letter names but will be modified using sharps and flats.


Chord spelling is just that; using the alphabet to spell out the notes in a chord. A letter represents a particular pitch and even though C# and Db are the same pitch (enharmonic) they do not represent the same thing in the context of spelling.

Just like spelling words. 'Brake' and 'break' both sound the same but require different spellings in order to convery the correct meaning.

I kinda get it now. So key of G has F# as the seventh, can't say Gb because we already used G. Key of Bb the fourth is Eb as D is the third and we can't say D#.

So key of C, if there's a flat fifth what would it be? Db or C#?