Subject: What the Heck is a Chord Inversion?
You are getting this e-mail because you subscribed to it on www.learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com. If you don't want to receive these e-mails any longer, go to the bottom of this message and click on "unsubscribe." Hey there Friend, Before we get to this week's lesson, let's do a quick recap.Probably the biggest problem new guitar players have is learning how to play guitar chords. They struggle with getting their fingers to form the different chord shapes... They fight to learn how to make smooth chord changes... and they get get downright frustrated with barre chords. First Steps My first suggestion for getting a handle on guitar chords is to simply memorize the shapes. To start, there are five basic open chord shapes to master, and the easiest way to learn them is to focus in on one at a time. Place your fingers on the fingerboard in the first shape and pluck each string. Make sure each note sounds clear and not muffled. Practice each chord shape for a minute or two each day until you can easily place your fingers on the fingerboard in the shape without any hesitation. Here are the five basic shapes you need to learn again: The next suggestion was to learn some of the minor chord shapes... ...again, memorizing the basic shapes will go a long way to making you a respectable guitar player. You can see the minor chords on those pages above. We then covered how chords get their names, which is based on the musical key. For each key there is a musical scale, which can be major or minor, and chords are created by using specific notes from those scales. Just to remind you, the major chords are made by using the first, third and fifth notes from a major scale. Actually, all chords can be made from the scale that the chord is named after - it's all about which intervals are used (an interval is just another name for a note in a scale). Each interval is a specific number of frets away from the tonic of the scale. Don't get too wrapped up in all this terminology. My purpose here isn't to confuse you, it's just to make you a little familiar with some of the terms you might come across. For example, using the C major key we have the notes C, D, E, F, G, A, B and C. A C major chord is made by combining the C, E and G notes, or the 1 (tonic), three (major third) and 5 (perfect fifth) notes (the intervals are in parentheses). If we wanted to make a C minor chord, we'd use C, Eb (E flat) and G. The intervals are the tonic (1), minor third (3b) and the perfect fifth (5). You can create any chord based on any key by just knowing which intervals you need. OK, enough about that for now. We'll come back to it later. Inversions One of the last things I brought up last week was the idea of chord inversions. The term 'inversion' is simply a way to describe the order the notes of the chord are placed on the fingerboard. All these major and minor chords we've talked about can be played with the notes jumbled in different orders. They're still the same chords, but they'll each sound a little different based on which note is in the bass position (the lowest sounding note). This can be a handy technique for writing little riffs and arpeggios to make a song more interesting. Naming Inversions Yep, you guessed it. When you play a chord using a specific note order, that note order has a name. This is just so we musicians can tell each other which version of a chord we happen to be using. When the note order is 1, 3, 5 from the scale, this is known as a root inversion, because the root note (tonic) is the bass note of the chord. From the basic open chords you've learned, the C and G chords are root inversions. When the note order is 3, 5, 1, this is known as a first inversion. We haven't seen any of these examples yet. A chord with a note order of 5, 3, 1 is known as a second inversion. The three remaining basic open chords you've learned (A, E and D) are examples of second inversions. The Most Common Inversion I made a statement last week that many chords we play do not follow the note order of 1, 3, 5. In fact, of the five basic chord shapes, only two of them follow the 1, 3, 5 note order, or root inversion. Those chords are C and G. The other three open chords are played with a different note order, specifically a 5, 1, 3 order, which is a second inversion. For example, play an open E major chord. Pluck each note working downward from the low E string (sixth string) to the high e string (first string). The notes of each string are: E, B, E, G#, B and E, from sixth string to first string. Did you notice that out of all six strings, there are only three different notes - E, G# and B? This fact takes us back to what a chord is, and that is three distinct notes played simultaneously. The three note chord is also known as a 'triad'. Following the formula to build major chords, E major is created from the major scale in the key of E. The notes of the scale are E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D# and then the scale starts over again with E. When we play an E major chord, the triad is focused on the notes of the fifth , fourth and third strings. The fifth string has the B note, the fourth has the E note and the third has the G# note. You should recognize this from the basic chord shape you learned for E major. As you can see, the note order for E major is B, E and G#. That corresponds to a 5, 1, 3 note pattern based on the scale, or a second inversion. Let me illustrate: E major scale E = 1 (tonic or root note) F# = 2 G# = 3 (major third) A = 4 B = 5 (perfect fifth) C# = 6 D# = 7 (E) = 8 See how the notes are rearranged on the fingerboard to give us the E major chord? In truth, for most guitar players, the second inversion shapes will be the most common chords played. All major and minor barre chords are second inversions. For us rock players, these will be the work horse chords for us (along with power chords, but that's another episode). What Do You Really Need To Know? I've spent the last few minutes explaining chord inversions, but you don't really need to know anything about what an inversion is. All you really need is to memorize the different shapes and know how to apply them to play the various chords. Sure, understanding the theory behind inversions helps to make you a better musician, but you would likely figure them out without all the fancy terminology. Being a musician is more about playing notes and chords that work together, and you can hear what works intuitively. You just know when it sounds good (and bad, for that matter). That's the wonder of our magnificent brains and ears. Next week, I'm going to show you how to take each basic shape you've learned and play all the major chords. We'll eventually revisit inversions again, but for now, just enjoy playing these basic shapes. Keep on rockin'! Peace~ Dave P.S. If any of this raises questions in your mind, just reply to this email... Dave "Eddie" Vance is a rock guitar enthusiast and gear nut. He has been playing guitar for over 30 years and enjoys tormenting the neighbors every chance he gets. When he's not slaving for the man, you can find him rocking out with his B.C. Rich Bich guitar, a cold beer and some sweet tunes. He also runs Learn-To-Play-Rock-Guitar.com, but you knew that already! Follow Learn To Play Rock Guitar:I welcome your feedback! Did you like today's message? What other topics would you like to see covered in my e-mails? Please let me know at: dave@learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com As always, please feel free to forward this email to a friend! I review products before recommending them. If you buy a product based on my recommendation, I will receive a commission. 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