First Inversion Chords
By Claude Thomas | August 3, 2008
By John Aschenbrenner
You must first fully understand “root position” chords before you attempt to understand inversions. Inversions are based on a full knowledge of root position.
Read the essay on ROOT POSITION CHORDS if you haven’t already.
First of all, what is an “inversion?” It means, literally, “to turn upside down.”
Remember that in the root position chord, the name of the chord (C, for example) was always the same as bottom note (the key furthest to your left.)
So if you played a C chord, the lowest key of that chord IN ROOT POSITION is always C.
Here’s a C chord:
G
E
C
The C is on the bottom, the E is in the middle, and the G is on the top.
Now take that bottom note C, and put it on the top of the pile:
C
G
E
Now you have a C chord in which the bottom note is no longer the root of the chord ( C ) but has been changed to E. The chord is still a C chord, except that it is now a different “flavor” of C.
Let’s do it with an F chord. Here’s an F chord:
C
A
F
The F is on the bottom, the A is in the middle, and the C is on the top.
Now take that bottom note F, and put it on the top of the pile:
F
C
A
Now you have an F chord in which the BOTTOM note is no longer the root of the chord ( F ) but has been changed to A. The chord is still an F chord, except that it is now a different “flavor” of F.
The principle is universally the same with all 12 chords: to make a “first inversion” of a chord, take the bottom note of that chord and move it to the top.
Do this with the basic chords C F G D E and A. Don’t go further until you fully understand the idea and can play C F G D E and A chords in first inversion and root position.
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