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CHORD INVERSIONS-BY BODOM by bodom 10 Jul 2007 Views: 11673

Hey me again. I'm going to talk a bit about chord Inversions and what they are. Before you read this you should have an understanding of how chords are made. I recommend reading my lesson on Keys then Chords.
Ok here we go. I showed you how to form a chord using the formulas e.g. Major = 1 3 5 and minor = 1 b3 5.
I'll use C Major as an example. So basically you just play the 1st 3rd and 5th notes of the Key of C to make a C major chord. But what about the order? What if you played the 3rd note first, then the 1st and 5th? Will this make a difference? Yes it does, it is still a C major chord but it sounds different. This is known as an Inversion.

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Lets look at the typical C major chord that is played.

E---|---|---| <--- Open string

|-C-|---|---|

G---|---|---| <--- Open string

|---|-E-|---|

|---|---|-C-|

X---|---|---| <--- X means do not play string

  1   2   3   <--- Fret number

The first note played is the C note. So this is known as the Root position. (C is the root note in the C major chord)

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But what if you played this chord instead?

E---|---|---| <--- Open string

|-C-|---|---|

G---|---|---| <--- Open string

|---|-E-|---|

|---|---|-C-|

E---|---|---| <--- Play this string now

  1   2   3   

Now the E is the first note played. This is known as the 1st Inversion. 1st Inversion is when the 3rd is played first(when it is the bass note). This may be written as a C/E chord.

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What about this chord?

E---|---|---| <--- Open string

|-C-|---|---|

G---|---|---| <--- Open string

|---|-E-|---|

|---|---|-C-|

|---|---|-G-|

  1   2   3

Now the G is the first note. This is known as 2nd Inversion because the 5th note is in the bass position. This may be written as C/G chord.

There you go! Now you know what Inversions are. So if someone asked you to play a C/E chord you know that it is just an Inversion of the C major chord. Its just a C major chord with an E as the bass note.