INVERTING CHORDS INVERTING CHORDS

TThehe ttrriiadsads and 7th chordschords wewe havehave exaexamineminedd so so far fa ra rear ecal calellde dr ootroot posi postiiontion chords chords beca becuseaus thee the root of rtheoot cofhord the isc hotherd l owis teshet lnote.owes t W note ceall. W thee c bottomall the bnoteottom the not basse the note bas. sBut not tehe. Bbautss t henote ba sofs nota chore ofd and athe chor rootd a notnd ethe of raoot chord note a ofre nota chor alwaysd are tnohet samalwea ysthing. the same thing.

WWhheenn wwee iinvenverrtt aa chorhordd ((jjusustt lliike whenwhen we iinvertnverteded intintervaervals)ls),, wewe rere-ar-arrangerange thethe orderorder ofof the the not es notwheilse w nothil eac nottual alyct uachangilly changngi theng not thees notthemes seltheves.mse lAve sts.ep-by- A stestep-byp appr-stepoach appr tooa cthih st opr thiocesss pr oclooksess like lthiookss: like this:

Term Triad 7th Chord

Root The root Position is in the bass

The root moves First to the top (inverts), Inversion leaving the 3rd of the chord in the bass

The process repeats: Second the bass note (the 3rd) Inversion moves to the top, leaving the 5th as the new bass note

Third (only for The process repeats: now the 7th of the chord Inversion 7th chords) is in the bass

Note: all these inversions are in closed position, meaning that there is never more than an octave between the lowest and highest note. In listening to these different inversions, notice that while there is something different-sounding Iabon liutste eacningh chorto thed,s ethe diyff morerenteover inve rsoundsions, thenot isamece th.a t Iwt ishi laes t ihef ereach is sinverometsionhing i sdi jfustfer eant di-sfoundiferentng hue of athebout sam eaec hcol choror. d, In t hemyusi mcor theeoveoryr tsermounds, tthehe sasameme .not Ites is inas ainyf e aorderch inve or rarrsionangem is mentere lwy iall dialwaysfferent make huethe sofam thee harsammeony col,or al. though In mus ieacc theh oruniy queterm arrs, tangemhe samente not ofe st hein anotnyes or dewillr or have arrange its m owentn, w uniqueill aharlwamonicys ma "hue"ke the. same harmony (since harmony is not defined by the vertical order of the notes), although each unique arrangement of the notes will have its own, unique harmonic "hue".

7 3 FIGURED BASS NOTATION I FIGUFIGREUDRE BD ABASSSS NONOTATTAIOTNIO I N Figured bass notation uses numbers to describe the inversion of a triad or 7th chord. While we have FailregurFiadyguedred baacquir bassss not ednotatia taion lonogic us useseals num setnum ofbebers rnams ttoo es dedescr sforcribei bedes tthecrihe binginveinversi rallsonion t heof of a possibl atr tiadria dore o 7thinverr 7t chorh sionschod.r d. Whiof W chorlehi weldse whave (er oot haposiavelreti aaonldyre, a1st adycquir ianversicquied raone dlogic , a2nd logial i cnversetal sofsionet namof, andnaesm 3rforesd f desorinvers dcriesbingioncribi in ngall 7t athhell ct hordhepossibl pos caseseibl invers),e ithenvesions numrsions oferi chorofc syste cdshor m(dsroot of (frigurootpos edipostion basi,t i1stons i, s inversi1s mt uchinvone mr, s2ndoreion ,concii nver2nd sionseinv ande, randsi ons cient3r, dand iifnvers ic.3r d ion Theinv ine rnum s7tionhber c ihordns 7t in hcase ficguredhors),d the c bassas numes) ,nota erithecti numsysteon reemrferi cof to shysafrmoniigutemred ofc bas intfiergurs valsise dm auchbabovess m itheores m bass conciuch notmseore and ofe cany oncscient cishordeif ic.and in The asnycie numntinverifibercsion.. sT inhe fi numguredbe bassrs in nota figurtioned rebaferss to nothaatrmiononi recf eintr ertovals har maboveonic theinte bassrval snot abovee of anythe cbahordss not in ea nyof inverany csion.hord in any closed inversion. The threTehe not threse ofe nota trieads of form a t tworiad difforferem nttw ionter divalsffere abovent int etherva bals ssabove note. t heThese bas ints notervae.ls cThangehese as itntheThee rinveva tlhresrsi ceonha not ngeofes the ofas tr atiad htriead chainve formnges.rsi ontwo of dif tfheere nttri ianterd cvalshange aboves. ( theWe ba wssil lnot fore.go These the mintaervajor lsor c hangeminor as quathelit invees ofrsi tonhe ofin ttheerva trliads s ichancenges. those are inherently defined by the governing scale).

Root pos. 1st inv. 2nd inv. Root pos. 1st inv. 2nd inv. triad triad triad triad triad triad The same idea holds true for 7th chords, except there is one additional interval since there is one TheThe sa sammee ide ideaa hol holdsds tr tuerue f orfor 7t 7thh c horchordsds,, e exceptxcept t therheree iiss oneone aaddiddittiionaonall interntervalval sisincence thetherere i sis one one additiaddionaltional note. note. additional note.

RootRoot pos pos. . 1st1st i nvinv.. 2nd inv. 3r3rdd inv inv.. 7th7th chor chordd 7th7th chor chordd 7th chord 7th7th chor chordd

By vertically listing the intervals above the bass note of a chord from bottom to top, we thereby know the chord’s inversion, if any. This chart lists all the inversions and intervals as we would see them in figured bass notation: ByBy ver verticticallallyy li stilistingng the the i nterintervalvalss above above t thehe bassbass notnotee ofof a chord from bottombottom toto ttop,op, w wee ther therebyeby knowknow the the chord’ chord’s sinver inversion,sion, i fi fa anyny.. Triad 7th Chord Inversion Fig. Bass Fig. Bass Bass Note ThiThis chars chart lit stlists sall all the the i nverinversionssions a ass w wee w woulouldd seesee tthemhem iinn figured bass notation.ion. 5 7 Root Root in bass 3 5 3 6 6 3rd in bass 1st 3 5 3 6 6 2nd 4 5th in bass 4 3 6 3rd N/A 4 7th in bass 2

Root position: V 7 6 7 41st inversion: V 5 4 2nd inversion: V 3 4 3rd inversion: V 2 FIGURED BASS NOTATION II

This chart is a simplified version FofIG theUR sEDam eBAS figuSr NOTed baAsTIONs nota tIIion. It eliminates any unnecessary numbers. This is the notation that we actually use.

This chart is a simplified version of the same figured bass notation. It eliminates any unnecessary numbers. This is the notation that we actually use. Triad 7th Chord Inversion Fig. Bass Fig Bass Bass Note

Root (no numbers) 7 Root

6 6 1st 5 3rd

6 4 5th 2nd 4 3

4 3rd N/A 7th Inversion Triad 7th Chord Bass2 Note 5 7 Root Root in bass 3 5 3 These numbers would be superscript and to t6he right of the Roman numeral. For example, if we 1st 6 3rd in bass were Thesetrying numbe to desrscr wibeoul ad V be tr superiad i3ncas itse tandhre eto pos the5 s irblighte i nveof thersi onschor, dit symwoulbol.d l ook For lexaikemple so: , if we were 3 trying to desctibe a V triad in its three possible inversions, it would look like so: 6 6 2nd 4 5th in bass 4 Root po3 sition: V 6 3rd N/A 1st inver4 sion: 7thV in6 bass 2 6 2nd inversion: 4 V

If we were trying to describe a V 7th chord in its four possible inversions, it would look like this:

If we were trying to describe a V 7th chord in its four possible inversions, it would look like this: Root position: V 7 6 1st inversion: 5 Root position: VV 4 6 2nd inversion: V 3 1st inversion: V 5 4 4 3rd inversion: V 2 2nd inversion: V 3 4 3rd inversion: V 2

7 5