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Triads and Inversions
Do you know how to play a G chord in first inversion? How about
a D chord in 2nd inversion?
Knowing all the inversions can allow you to create more
interesting bass lines for those standard
chord progressions as well as give you countless voicing
possiblities on new chord progressions.
This a "concept" lesson that doesn't deal with any specific song
yet contains important fundamental
voicings every guitarist should know. Work thru these voicings
and maybe they'll be a catalyst for
the creation of the next great three chord song.
First a quick review on the basic triads:
Major triad (Ma3 plus a mi3, i.e. C E G),
Minor triad (mi3 plus a Ma3, i.e. C Eb G),
Diminished triad (mi3 plus a mi3, i.e. C Eb Gb),
Augmented Triad (Ma3 plus a Ma3, i.e. C E G#)
These days two additional three note structures are commonly
used:
sus2 (or 2) triad (ma2 plus a P4, i.e. C D G) U2 and the Police
used this alot.
sus4 triad (P4 plus a Ma2, i.e. C F G) in classical harmony this
chord always resolves to a
more "stable" chord, in contemporary usage this chord doesn't
need to resolve (unless, of
course, you want it to resolve)
So a triad has just three note names, but many triads are six
string chords (like the basic E or G
chords). If you haven't already figured it out, notice there are
only three different letter names used
on those chords. For instance the G chord is voiced (from string
6 to 1) G,B,D,G,B,G. Only G
(root), B (3rd) and D (5th) letter names are used but there are
two 3rds (B) and three roots (G) in
addition to the one 5th (D).
The extra roots and 3rd are referred to as "doubling" chord
tones. All basic major
and minor chords contain only 3 different letter names, the
doubling of chord tones accounts for the
extra string(s) used for these chords.
For this lesson we will use simple three note versions of the
triads, no doubling is used. In addition,
we will voice the triads in close position (the chord tones are
as close together as possible, as
opposed to "open position" examined in a later lesson). First we
start with root position triads then
work toward the inversions.
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Four root position triads of each quality, with roots on strings
6 thru 3
Root position major triads
Root position minor triads
Root position diminished triads
Root position augmented triads
Root position sus2 triads
Root position sus4 triads
Four 1st inversion triads of each quality, with roots on strings
4 thru 1
First inversion major triads
First inversion minor triads
First inversion diminished triads
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First inversion augmented triads
First inversion sus2 triads
This inversion results in a structure of Perfect 4ths, sometimes
referred to as Quartal
Harmony. These would referred to as root position Quartal
triads. Sorry,it sometimes gets
confusing.
First inversion sus4 triads
Notice how these voicings look like root position Sus2 chords
(except the root is on a
different string). The structure of the Sus2 and Sus4 triads
turn out to be inversions of one
another and are also related to Quartal Harmony.
Four 2nd inversion triads of each quality, with roots on strings
5 thru 2
Second inversion major triads
Second inversion minor triads
Second inversion diminished triads
Second inversion augmented triads
Second inversion sus2 triads
look familiar?
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Second inversion sus4 triads
Hmm, didn't I see these before?
Let's examine the simple progression I-IV-V-I. This is referred
to a "diatonic" chord progression,
one that uses notes from a single diatonic scale. In this lesson
the examples use the major scale and
the harmonic minor scale to create these basic diatonic
progressions in major and minor
respectively.
First the progression in major. In a major key the I, IV and V
triads are all major in quality and
there are many way to connect the chords of this progression
with regard to voiceleading.
We'll start by examining a limited set that uses a common tone
voiceleading principle taught in
traditional harmony courses.
notation file
The common tone voicing shown at the above right (after the
double bar line) is based on a
minimum motion prinicple that produces smooth voiceleading. The
root position I chord moves to a
2nd inversion IV chord then a 1st inversion V chord and back to
a root positon I chord.
The root of the I chord is a common tone with the IV chord (it
is the 5th of the IV chord) and can be
kept in the lowest voice as the other two notes of the I chord
move up one scale degree to become
the correct notes for the IV chord. (The 3rd and 5th of the I
chord move up to become the root and
3rd respectively of the IV chord. It sounds more complicated
than it really is!)
The movement from the IV chord to the V chord could have been
simply up one whole step in
parallel motion however I've decided to go a different direction
for three reasons:
1. Since there are no common tones between the IV and V chords
(or between any triads of adjacient scale degrees i.e. I chord and
II chord) there are no tones that direct the
voiceleading one way are another. Although it might seem most
obvious to move in the
direction of the root movement of the progression (in the case,
up from IV to V), by forcing
the voicing downward you create another relatively smooth
voiceleading link to add to your
basic repertoire of chord connecting skills.
2. This sets up the V to I connection that I want, in other
words I'm in control and recognize that the most obvious
voiceleading from IV to V (up) is not the best for my specific
goals
(to end on the same chord inversion that I started)
3. Tradition. Although the dreaded "parallel 5ths" (I jest) are
not an issue in this example, if you continue this voiceleading
idea and begin with a 1st inversion I chord the IV and V
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chords are in root position. (are you bored yet?) The "obvious"
up voiceleading movement
from IV to V will result in parallel 5ths!!! (sometime a few
hundred years ago in some
learned music people got a bug up their butt and decided that
parallel 5ths were a bad thing,
I've never understood that notion, however traditional music
education has sort of hung on
to this rule. I suppose they still teach vacuum tube theory in
electronic courses also.). The
way to avoid parallel 5ths (for those who care) is to "force"
the voicing down. In other
words, don't move in parallel motion (in this case up) with the
root movement of the two
chords. Instead, go the other direction (in this case, down) and
you'll never have parallel
5ths, even if/when you add low roots to all the chord voicings
(as in a basic four-part writing
assignment).
Who cares? (If you're still reading, maybe you care.) Welllll, I
think its nice to know what
the traditions are so you can break them with a certain knowing
smugness (but then I may
need profession help). Are parallel 5ths a bad thing? Really? Of
course they aren't, and to
most people they sound fine (even good). So where am I going
with this nitpicky nonsense?
Well, I have a confession to make.
I'm almost ashamed to admit it but I am guilty of marking
students papers with red for the
meager offense of parallel 5ths. My respect for tradition
produces a mild insanity that
prevents me from being ashamed. Sorry.
Anyway, regardless of your voiceleading politics, these common
tone voicings are an essential
building block towards learning the fingerboard. And they sound
nice too.
A set on strings 6,5,and 4
A set on strings 5, 4 and 3
A set on strings 4, 3 and 2
A set on strings 3, 2 and 1
for Mac:
11kHz aiff file of I-IV-V-I in major (350K)
5.5kHz aiff file of I-IV-V-I in major (180K)
for PC:
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11kHz wav file of I-IV-V-I in major (350K)
5.5kHz wav file of I-IV-V-I in major (180K)
Now in a Minor Key, using the harmonic form, the I and IV chords
are minor, while the V chord is
major.
A set on strings 6,5,and 4
A set on strings 5, 4 and 3
A set on strings 4, 3 and 2
A set on strings 3, 2 and 1
for Mac:
11kHz aiff file of I-IV-V-I in minor (400K)
5.5kHz aiff file of I-IV-V-I in minor (200K)
for PC:
11kHz wav file of I-IV-V-I in minor (400K)
5.5kHz wav file of I-IV-V-I in minor (200K)
Summary of diatonic common tone voiceleading principles
The principles illustrated this lesson are summarized below:
1. Diatonic chord progressions that have a root movement up a
4th (i.e. (I to IV) or (V to I) contain one common tone. The other
two tones of the first chord move up one scale degree
to create the second chord. Try it, it works.
(conversely, progressions whose root movement move down a 4th
i.e. plagal cadences: IV
to I, have one common tone and two tones moving down to the next
chord. Test it out
yourself.) Get used to pivoting around the common tone of the
two chords of these types of
progressions. They are the most common type of harmonic
progressions.
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By the way, many books refer to these progressions as root
movement of a 5th. The
progression up a 4th will land on the same letter name as a
progression down a 5th (they will
be one octave apart). Likewise a progression down a 4th will
land on the same letter name as
a progression up a 5th. For theorical purposes they are
considered equivalent and either the
4th or 5th will be used depending on the contextual needs.
Just remember this simple music math. (up a P4) = (down a P5) P
= Perfect
The other direction also equates. (down a P4) = (up a P5).
The value of this knowledge is that when adding a bass (doubling
the root) to the above
mentioned 3 note chord voicings, you know that when using the
4th interval you will be
moving in the same direction as other 2 moving voices (remember
there is one common
tone) and when using the 5th interval instead you will be moving
in contrary motion with
the other 2 moving voices.
2. Diatonic chord progressions that have a root movement of a
2nd (up or down) have no common tones. Going in the direction of
the root movement produces a smooth parallel
voicing that is easy to find. Going in the opposite direction of
the root movement can
produce relatively smooth voiceleading as well. The Old Masters
often liked moving the
voices in the opposite direction as root movement's especially
when the chord was in root
position. This method has been taught as the more
"sophisticated" method and is one
guideline for following the common practice period rules. While,
of course, no composer
ever feels any obligation to write within the common practice
period rules, it does makes for
conversation, albeit boring.
3. Diatonic chord progressions that have root movement of a 3rd
(no examples in this lesson, but here are the facts anyway) have
two common tones*. The other chord tone moves one
scale degree to create the new chord. BTW, the non-common tone
always moves in the
opposite direction as the root movement, i.e. C to Am (root
movement down a 3rd), the
non-common tone 'g' (fifth of the C chord) moves up to 'a' (root
of the Am chord) the other
notes (c and e) are common to both chord and don't move. Another
example: C to Em (root
movement up a 3rd), the non-common tone is 'c' and it moves down
to 'b'. The other chord
tones (e and g) are common to both chords.
* When shifting between different forms of minor, as is often
done, there might be only one
common tone between the two chords. example key of Am: the VII
chord from natural
minor G major (g,b,d) and the V chord from harmonic minor E
major (e, g#, b).
Its really easy once you know these common tone voiceleading
principles. Feel free to use some
totally different voicings as the need arises, but if you need
some smooth voicings try these.
One final word: Don't cop a "I-already-know-this-simple-stuff"
attitude! Completely master these
simple voicings! Memorize their shapes and their sounds!! It
takes a little time but it is time well
spent. They are more useful than you may realize at first.