Beyond Mel Bay Chords :: Inversions An inversion is when a chord tone other than the root is played in the bass. For example, the notes that make a C major chord are: Root: C 3rd: E 5th: G A typical C chord on the guitar looks like this: If we also played the “g” on the 6th string, we’d have a chord that looked like this: There are 3 types of inversions: 1st Inversion// ::the 3rd of the chord is the bass note. 2nd Inversion// ::the 5th of the chord is the bass note. 3rd Inversion// ::the 7th of the chord is the bass note. This is an inversion. Inversions are also called “slash” chords. First Inversion // ::the 3rd of the chord is the bass note 6th String Bass; Major 6th String Bass; Minor 6th String Bass; Dom7 (7) A F Co ew mm Go o Fir on d S st Inv Mov hap ers ea es: ion ble s 5th String Bass; Major 6th String Bass; Add2 5th String Bass; Minor Specific Chords 1 Beyond Mel Bay Chords :: Inversions Common Chords in First Inversion– Major Open Position Moveable Common Chords in First Inversion– Minor Open Position Variations C/E Am/C G/B Em/G D/F# Bm/D A/C# F#m/A E/G# C#m/E B/D# Gm/Bb Moveable F/A You’ll notice only a couple variations of the moveable shapes. For each type of inversion, it’s good to find both a 6th string bass voicing and 5th string bass. This will allow you to play in different areas of the neck as needed. Dm/F First Inversion // ::the 3rd of the chord is the bass note 2 Second Inversion Beyond Mel Bay Chords :: Inversions There are 3 types of inversions: 1st Inversion// ::the 3rd of the chord is the bass note. 2nd Inversion// ::the 5th of the chord is the bass note. 3rd Inversion// ::the 7th of the chord is the bass note. Second Inversion // ::the 5th of the chord is the bass note A F Co ew mm Go od Se o co n nd Mo Shap Inv ve es a ers bl : ion e s 6th String Bass; Major 6th String Bass; Minor 6th String Bass; Dom7 (7) 5th String Bass; Major 6th String Bass; Add2 5th String Bass; Minor Specific Chords 3 Beyond Mel Bay Chords :: Inversions Common Chords in Second Inversion– Major Open Position Moveable Common Chords in Second Inversion– Minor Open Position Variations C/G Am/E G/D Em/B D/A Bm/F# A/E F#m/C# E/B C#m/G# B/F# Gm/D Moveable In many cases, there just aren’t good open voicings for many inversions. F/C Knowledge of the notes on the neck is helpful to knowing inversions. To learn the notes on the fretboard, see the training: “Note Location Drills” Dm/A Second Inversion // ::the 5th of the chord is the bass note 4 Third Inversion version Beyond Mel Bay Chords :: Inversions There are 3 types of inversions: 1st Inversion// ::the 3rd of the chord is the bass note. 2nd Inversion// ::the 5th of the chord is the bass note. 3rd Inversion// ::the 7th of the chord is the bass note. Third Inversion // ::the 7th of the chord is the bass note 6th String Bass; Major 7 5th String Bass; Major 7 A Fe Co w mm Go Th on od S ird M h Inv ov ape ers ea s: b ion le s 6th String Bass; Dom 7 5th String Bass; Dom7 (7) 6th String Bass; Minor 7 5th String Bass; Minor 7 A better alternative 5 Minor 7 Specific Chords Beyond Mel Bay Chords :: Inversions Common Chords in Third Inversion– Major 7 & Dom7 Open Position Moveable Open Position C/B C/Bb Common Open Chords in Third Inversion– Minor Moveable Open Position Moveable Am/G G/F# G/F Em/D D/C# D/C Bm/A A/G# A/G F#m/E E/D# E/D C#m/B B/A# B/A Gm/F F/E F/Eb Dm/C Again, you’ll notice most of these inversion shapes are repeated over and over. And over. Part of including all these chords is to show that you can get by with knowing a few good shapes. Third Inversion // 6 ::the 7th of the chord is the bass note Examples Beyond Mel Bay Chords :: Inversions Examples These are just a few examples of songs that have inversions in them. Now that you’re aware of them, you’ll start to see them all over the place. Good Reasons to Use an Inversion Voicing: 1. When you are the only accompaniment. 2. When the song arrangement doesn’t sound right without it. 3. When it’s a shape/fingering that you can play well. 4. When the root note will muddy up the inversion bass note. (E.g. low E of an open E chord can get in the way of an E/G#. If the inversion voicing is too difficult, simply lay off your bottom two strings and play the part of the chord on strings 4-1. Good Reasons NOT to Use an Inversion Voicing: 1. When there is a piano and bass guitar already pounding out that bass note. Concentrate instead on creating a chord that gets out of the mid range. 2. It moves by too fast. “In Christ Alone” is a good example of this. 3. The shape is difficult, and attempting to play it will throw you off. 7 One more type of “slash” chord Hybrid Chords (Another "Slash Chord") Hybrid Chords are another kind of "slash" chord. However, they are not inversions. They are a simpler way to spell complex chords. D/E, which is a D chord over an E bass note, is easier to communicate than E9sus4. Below are a two types of hybrids. V9sus Hybrid The following hybrid chords form some variation of the V9sus chord. This is the most common hybrid chord. For example, C/D = D9sus4--the C triad: c-e-g creates a b7, 9, & sus4, respectively, over the D. The Am7/D simply adds the 5th of D (a). These chords usually resolve to the V7 or directly to the I. C/D C/D 8fr Am7/D These two are movable chords that can be used in any key. G/A D/E Bm7/E A/B Dm7/G 5fr These chords are examples of open V9sus hybrids 3 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 8 9 10 C/D 5fr 0 10 1 1 2 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 4 2 0 2 3 2 0 3 m7, m7(4), m11, m7b5 Hybrid The minor 7 (m7) chord (R, b3, 5, b7) can also be seen as a major chord triad with its relative minor in the bass. E.g.: C/A (c,e,g,a). Other variations of the major chord create different minor chord tensions. Below are a few examples. The (m7) spellings are written over the tab. C/A 6 Cm/A C2/A 5fr *movable chords D2/B 4fr 3fr A2/F# *open chords Am7 Am11 Am7b5 Bm7(4) F#m7(4) 5 5 5 3 5 5 4 5 5 0 3 2 0 2 0 0 2 2 5 5 5 2
© Copyright 2024