'Bach' Guitar Chord Inversions
In this guitar theory lesson we are going to work with triads.
Recapitulation: triads are chords built of 3 different notes (major chord formula: 1 3 5; minor chord formula: 1 b3 5)
The guitar chord voicings we are talking about in this lesson are played on strings 2, 4 and 5.
I'm not sure if chord voicings like this have an official name, but to me they sound very 'Bach', so let's call them Bach voicings.
If you want to know even more about chord inversions, I suggest you take a look in this excellent music theory book (it's the jazz theory bible) :
Now, what exactly are chord inversions?
Let's start with a simple C major chord: C E G
The bass note of this chord is C, which is the 1 or the root.
What happens if we put the E in the bass and keep the rest of the notes?
That's what we call an inversion, the 1st inversion to be exact.
And what happens if we put the G in the bass?
Then we get the 2nd inversion.
So inversions are chords that have a different note then the root in the bass: the 3, the 5 or the 7.
Chord inversions are written with a slash: in this case C/E for the first inversion and C/G for the second inversion.
Let's have a look at the guitar tabs for the major chord and its inversions:
And here are the guitar chord diagrams:
Here's the guitar tab for the minor chord and its inversions:
And here are the guitar chord diagrams:
These chords are very simple, but they've got a nice sound, especially the second inversion.
Basic chord voicings like
these make it easy memorizing chord inversions.
They also make a good foundation to construct more complex chords: there are two open strings (string 1 and 3) on which you can fret a note to include in you chord voicing.
Chord inversions play an important role in harmonizing melodies (fingerpicking jazz guitar).
The root position of a chord is not always in the immediate neighborhood of the melody note and that's where chord inversions come to the resque.
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