It's easy to fall into the trap of playing chords in the same, predictable way. But if we realize that a chord is just a collection of notes, we can easily and musically change how we stack those notes for new sounds. We call these chord inversions, because we are… wait for it… inverting the notes in the chord.
In this lesson, I am going to show you how to use inversions to add spice to a few of the most commonly used chord progressions. These shapes are a great tool to help you create and express your individuality and better understand how music works.
Let's take a look at what chord inversions are. As we've stated, they are simply a group of notes rearranged into a different order. With triads–three-note chords consisting of the 1 (or root), 3, and 5–you have three possible inversions: root position, 1st inversion, and 2nd inversion. As the name suggests, root position has the root as the lowest note in the chord, while 1st inversion has the 3 in the bass and 2nd inversion has the 5 in the bass. (When we expand to four-note chords we add the 3rd inversion, with the 7 in the bass.)
Guitar Chord Inversions Demystified
Ex. 2 shows one of the most popular chord progressions in music, G–C–D, or the I–IV–V. I kept the strumming consistent and the fingerings rather easy.
Now that we have our vanilla progression, let's use inversions to make it more interesting. In Ex. 3 we insert a G7/B chord, which is 1st inversion, to create a smoother bassline into the C chord in measure 3. The C moves up by a step for the D chord and then I add in a 1st inversion D chord (D/F#) to create a half-step motion to the G.
Let's take that bass movement and make it a bit clearer. In Ex. 4 I single out the bass notes. This is a cool way to really add emotional development to your chord progressions. You will notice that I keep the same rhythmic vibe through all of the examples. You can use all of these techniques in different parts of the same song to change the level of intensity.
An Introduction To Chord Inversions
Ex. 5 is based on a minor chord progression. This will be the vanilla version that we will then embellish with more inversions. It's a very basic I–IV–IVm progression in A minor. Get comfortable with these shapes before moving on to the next step.
In Ex. 6, we add an Am/G, D/F#, and Dm/F to the mix. These inversions allow for a super-hip descending bass line (A–G–F#–F). After playing this one a few times listen to the intro to While My Guitar Gently Weeps to see how George Harrison masterfully used inversions.
As you can see, inversions can be a powerful tool. In Ex. 7, I single out the bass notes again to really bring out that descending movement. You can work on your right-hand picking techniques by playing this example with just the pick, pick and fingers, or just fingers.
Guitar Chord Inversions
Ex. 8 is an interesting chord progression because it doesn't fall entirely within a single key. One way to think of the E–A–D–G progression is V–I–IV–bVII in the key of A, although it's notated here in the key of E. This progression has a unique rhythmic signature, where there is a push, or anticipation, on the and of beat 4 in measures 1 and 3.
Next up is—you guessed it—adding in the inversions. There's so much that you can do with a progression like Ex. 9. In the first measure I added a 1st inversion E (E/G#) as a passing chord to give the bassline a half-step approach going into the A. I repeated the same technique going into the D and G chords.
Ex. 10 takes our already interesting chord progression and showcases the bass movement between the chords. The rhythm in this example is a bit more modified but it still retains the most important feature of the pushes on the and of beat 4 in every other measure.
Th Chord Inversions For Guitar
Don't be afraid to experiment and come up with your own fingerings for chords and inversions. Listen to your favorite players and try to copy what they are doing. You will find that many guitarists use chord inversions to define their style and sound. Cheers.Paul Davids' new guitar lesson with Ariel Posen is another reminder of why triads are the often-overlooked secret weapon of great guitar playing. John Mayer understands this and so does Ariel, and in the video below is a great illustration of how using these 'smaller' three-note chords and inverting them can add sophistication to your guitar playing and provide a great foundation to build upon.
Ariel and guitar YouTube titan Paul also look at dynamics, which are easily overlooked too but add the special sauce of emotion and atmosphere that takes guitar playing to a higher level.
I’ve always liked that sound, especially the fourth [pickup position on a Strat]. When I was a kid, that was my favourite sound on the guitar; it’s even, it’s smooth, it has chimeyness but it still has bass. It’s the most colourful selection on the Strat. So said John Mayer to usback in 2010, and that leads us to what he considers to be the perfect accompaniment for that kind of go-to tone.
Free Chord Inversion Guitar Lessons
“Sort of in the centre of the fretboard… the one, the two and the five. I think that’s sort of my signature, he says of the three-note inversions that form a key part of some of his most popular songs.
These three-note chords above are the kind of approach Mayer is talking about. And there is a slight ambiguity to them at times; a sus2 is neither major nor minor and an Emaj7 could be seen as a C#m9 if played over a C# root.
I'm the Guitars Editor for , handling news, reviews, features, tuition, advice for the strings side of the site and everything in between. Before I worked on guitar magazines for 15 years, including Editor of Total Guitar.I've currently set aside any pipe dreams of getting anywhere with my own songs and I am enjoying playing covers in function bands.
Get Started With Chord Inversions
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Nirvana session cellist Kera Schaley talks about playing on In Utero: The funny thing about All Apologies is Steve kept trying to talk Kurt out of putting cello on itAny instructor will tell you that the vast majority of players suffer from the same malady with respect to their rhythm playing; a severely limited vocabulary of chords, comping applications and rhythm patterns. And those stacks of chord books and rhythm exercises that most of us have stashed somewhere are gathering dust for a good reason – they just don’t work. What to do? Take a few trips with Frank Vignola on his Inversion Excursion.
In this series, you’ll study a set of inversions, pick a key, grab a new pattern and apply over a practice rhythm tracks – playing your way through while you smarten up your chops. Don’t wait. Start your journey now!
Comp Like The Pros With Every Inversion At Your Fingertips
Let us start with major chord triads in C major. All “fancy” chords start with a triad. The major chord triad is C-E-G which is the first, third and fifth step of the scale. This is the basis of all major and dominant chords. We start with the triad on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd strings. Root position means that the root or C note is in the lowest part of the chord or in the bass. First inversion means that the 3rd is in the bass and the 2nd inversion means the 5th is in the bass. Same chord, but different way of putting notes together. In this section we go through the C triad on all the different sets of strings. 1st, 2nd and 3rd, then 2nd, 3rd and 4th, then 3rd, 4th and 5th then 4th, 5th and 6th. We also go through what I call the spread inversions where a string is skipped to give a larger sounding chord. Then we move onto the extensions such as major 7th, major 6th and just about every other chord extension I could come up with. Don’t forget that learning your triads will help you to learn the extended chords because all extended chords are based on the triad.
These are the C major triads on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd strings. Start slowly learning the three different inversions on the first 3 strings. Try strumming four beats per inversion moving smoothly between chords. Think ahead and visualize where your fingers need to go while strumming the chord you are currently on. This will help you to move smoothly in between chords. Always look to see how this triad fits into larger bar style chords or chord grips that you may already know. For each inversion, look at the chord and pick out each of the chord tones naming the
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