An essential part of my online piano course “Piano in 3 Weeks” is learning about chord inversions.
For this reason – and Because I get these questions all the time: “What are chord inversions used for – why do I have to bother with learning how to invert chords?” – I have chosen to write this list of ways – and reasons – why to use chord inversion.
I don’t know if you, dear reader, is a beginner at piano playing or you are a more seasoned player who wants more information about how to use chords.
Therefore, before we move on to the list and all the reasons and explanations, I just want to establish a few ground rules about the concept of chords. If we don’t agree on what a chord is, it’s impossible to discuss how and why to invert it.
So, what is a chord? In my world a chord is when you play three or more notes at the same time. Playing a chord can also be referred to as playing a harmony.
Some people will argue that playing just two notes at the same time will constitute a chord. I agree that two notes are indeed a harmony – but based on the music theory I build my teaching on – two notes are not a chord.
I am simply telling you this – not to start a discussion – but to tell you that when I use the word “chord” – I mean three or more notes played at the same time.
Also, let’s agree on what chord inversions are. A chord inversion is basically when you change the order – the stacking – of a given chord.
A three note chord – a triad – has a total of three inversions.
A four note chord – a tetrad – has a total of Four inversions.
A five note chord has a total of Five inversions.
And so on…
The more notes you get in a chord, the more ways you can mix them up. This free way of mixing up your chord notes is not necessarily called chord inversions.
Therefore – to keep things clear – in this article we will only deal with the basic concept of chord inversions: If you have three notes – each note can be either at the bottom of the chord – in the middle of the chord – or at the top of the chord. Giving a total of three inversions for a three note chord.
All right? So, with these ground rules laid out let’s move on to the main subject of today – what are chord inversions used for.
1 – Chord inversions for smoother and more coherent playing
One of the main reasons you should use chord inversions is to make your piano playing both smoother and more coherent. If you only use root note chords your hand will spend a lot of time and effort moving up and down the keyboard.
A root note chord is the same as “root inversion”. Your basic chord with the root note at the bottom of the chord. The root note is the note that gives name to the chord. In the chord G major the root note is the note “G”.
In a three note chord I call the three inversions
Root inversion (root note at the bottom of the chord)
1st inversion (root note at the top of the chord)
2nd inversion (root note in the middle of the chord)
With a four note chord you get a 3rd inversion
With a five note chord you get a 4th inversion – and so on…
As an example of how your hand has to move let’s look at this chord progression:
| C | F | G | C |
If you play this progression (right hand) with only root note chords your hand has to move like this:
C – Your thumb on middle C
F – Your entire hand has to move Four White keys to the right to place your thumb on the note F
G – Your hand Moves one White key to the right landing the thumb on the note G
C – Your hand has to move Five White keys down the keyboard to get back home to C
It almost goes without saying that having your hand traveling these distances takes time. Even if you’re good at hitting your chords there will be tiny interruptions in your playing. This is especially true if you play a faster song.
It’s also important to understand that the human ear interprets the top note of a chord as a melody note. This means that when you move around between root note chords – your “chord melody” – the top note – will sound kind of “jumpy”. This in turn can give a sense of non-smoothness in your playing.
If you on the Other hand start using the right chain of chord inversions the problems will be solved.
If you play the chord progression from before with these inversions – your hand Hardly has to move at all:
C – root inversion – (notes from bottom to top:) C – E – G
F – 2nd inversion – (notes from bottom to top:) C – F – A
G – 1st inversion – (notes from bottom to top:) B – D – G
C – root inversion – (notes from bottom to top:) C – E – G
As you can see the distance your hand has to travel is now minimized. The hand can stay at a position with the thumb either on the middle C – or just one key from the middle C.
This means that you are able to move from one chord to another with much greater speed and less interruption between the chords.
This in turn means that your chord changes – as you move through the chord progression – will sound much smoother. And you will simply be faster on the piano keyboard.
2 – Chord inversions for playing melody Line on top of the chords
As I mentioned earlier – the human ear will always hear the highest note you play on the keyboard clearer than the rest of the notes you play.
This means that the top note you play in any chord will be perceived as part of a melody Line.
It is this simple fact that enables us to play chords and melody line at the same time.
So, if you want to master this skill it’s all important that you get good at inverting chords. You have to be able to invert all your chords in such a way that the melody line moves seamlessly along the top of all your chords.
And yes – this is definitely a more advanced skill to master. It requires..
that you can play the melody Line on the piano
that you know the chord progression for the song
That you know when the chord changes in relation to the melody lin
That you know how to invert all the chords to have the melody note at the top of the inversion
But anyway, if you are new to using piano chords please don’t think that you can never learn the skill of playing both chords and melody line in one hand. You can absolutely learn this skill. Only, you have to start with the basics.
In my online course “Piano in 3 Week” – a course for both beginners and more seasoned players – I will show you everything you need to know to become a piano player as fast and easy as possible.
My course is built on the fact that most piano students want results fast. They want to play contemporary music. Pop and rock songs that they know.
In “Piano in 3 Weeks” I show you how to search and find the best chord chart for your favourite song – how to read, construct and play the chords for the song – how to invert the chords for smooth and groovy playing – and how to Spice UP your version of the song with an array of musical tools.
I would like to invite you to watch the webinar intro to the course. It is absolutely FREE.
Even if you don’t feel like taking an online piano course – the intro video will give you a few free tips and tricks – and more than one “aha” moment.
If you want to watch the free video Introduction – simply sign up for the online webinar here – and I’ll see you in a minute.
Thank you for visiting my site. Hope to see you back again.
Niels
