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Inversions.
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So far, you've played chords in
what are called root position.
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Which means that your thumb is on
the note, gives the chord its name.
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The root note.
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So for instance, C [SOUND].
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This is root position because your
thumb is playing the root of the note,
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which is C.
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Now there are two other ways to play those
three notes, the C, the E and the G.
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You could play the C,
E and play the G below.
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[MUSIC]
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You're still playing C, E and G.
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Or you could play C, E and G.
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Hold the note.
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[MUSIC]
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So you're still playing C, E and G.
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So C, E, G.
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C, E, G.
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Or C, E, G.
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[SOUND] Ok, so
the other two are called inversions.
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And we're gonna call this a middle
inversion because your middle finger's
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going on the root of the note.
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C E G.
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And we'll simply call the other one
a backward inversion because you're
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going backwards down from the root.
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C E G.
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[SOUND] Now with inversions you'll
still need the base to play
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the root of the chord because
the lowest note of a chord
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determines the overall
tonality of the chord.
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So when you're playing C
with the root position,
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[MUSIC], that's okay.
This will definitely be a C.
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When you're playing a middle inversion,
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[MUSIC],
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the lowest note has changed.
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So you still need the C in the bass
to give it an overall tone of C.
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If you're playing a backward inversion,
you'll still need the C in the bass
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[MUSIC]
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to give it that overall tone of C.
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So the easy way to form inversions,
to form the middle inversion,
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first, place your middle finger
on the root of the note,
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then find the other two
notes of the chord.
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So you're wanting to find C-E-G,
in the chord of C.
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So, place your middle finger, then find
the E, then find the G down below.
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So that's C in the middle.
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C backwards, simply place your small
finger on the ridge of the note and
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find the other two notes
back down the piano.
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So you're E and G, but below.
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It's called a backwards inversion.
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Very simple.
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So try this technique on all the other
chords you've learned so far.
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So for instance, let's try a F middle.
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So F, normally root position, F A C.
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So if you want F middle, immediately
put your middle finger on F and
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find the A and the C down below.
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Let's try G backwards.
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So first of all you're going to
go back down from the root so
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the small finger on the G,
find the B and the D down below.
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[MUSIC]
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That's G backwards.
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D minor middle.
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So D minor is D, F, A.
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So you're gonna play a middling version.
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So middle finger on the D, the red note.
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Find the F and the A.
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A has to be down below.
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[MUSIC]
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So get used to that shape as well.
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So back to the same root.
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[MUSIC]
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Shift is like that.
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Middle inversion.
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We'll see we have two there and
one there, that gap.
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Backwards inversion.
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There's a bigger gap on that side.
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If you get used to the shifts.
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Root position.
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Middle.
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Backwards inversion.
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So why use inversions?
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You may have noticed that if you play
other chords in root position only,
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you have to move your hand quite
a bit to get from chord to chord.
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So for instance,
if you're going from C up to F,
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you can see that you have to
move the whole sheet above and
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the actual sound changes quite a bit as
well from a low sound to a higher sound.
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If you play a middle F inversion.
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[MUSIC]
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So F, middle finger on the F.
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Find the other two notes A and C.
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[MUSIC]
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When you go from C to middle inversion F.
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[MUSIC]
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You can see you're not having
to jump about quite so much and
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the sound is connected closer together.
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So C, F, C, F.
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Try the example on the page, and
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try to notice how smooth
the transitions are.
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So you're going from a C,
to middle inversion F,
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and a backwards inversion G,
so small finger.
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Finger on the G, fanged,
the other two notes, B and D, down below.
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Back to C.
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So C, F middle, G backwards, and C.
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[SOUND]
Much
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smoother.
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On the next page, inversions a common
mistake so very very important.
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Very often you'll play
a sequence of chords such as C.
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[SOUND] Followed by C7.
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[MUSIC]
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And to make C 7th you move your
thumb using the memory trick before,
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you moved your thumb two left.
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[MUSIC]
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Okay?
You remember that?
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[MUSIC]
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But, what if you were playing
a C middle inversion and
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you wanted to turn it into a C7?
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So you're playing,
[MUSIC]
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C, and then you want to play C7.
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Most people without thinking after
learning this trick of moving
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the thumb two left,
again more their thumb two left.
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[MUSIC]
So they will try to play a C7 like that,
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but that's a different chord all together,
so go back to the C
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[MUSIC]
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and go to C7
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[MUSIC]
You'll notice that the C moved to the 7th,
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okay?
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So move the note to your left.
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All right, so again,
if you're playing C middle, it's
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this that moves to left.
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That's the seventh.
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That's very important to remember that.
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[MUSIC]
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With a middle inversion,
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it's still the root note C that
is to be moved to make C 7th.
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[MUSIC]
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And you're playing the root
note in the left hand as well.
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[MUSIC]
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Okay?
Or in a backwards inversion, same thing.
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So C backwards
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[MUSIC],
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you're finding the E and G down below
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[MUSIC]
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okay?
You're still moving this C,
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the root note down to the 7th.
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You're playing the base note.
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That's a C, the root note.
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C backwards.
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C7.
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Basically, the thing to remember is
to move the note, not the finger,
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so you learn first of all what position,
move your thumb.
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[MUSIC]
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But that was just a trick at
the time to remind you what to do.
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But remember now to move
the root note down to the 7th.
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Cuz you're still playing
the root in the left hand, so
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you don't need it in
the right hand anymore.
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[MUSIC]
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So you can move it on to the 7th.
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[MUSIC]
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But a middle inversion,
you're still moving the root note off,
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putting it on the 7th.
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Backwards inversion,
you're still moving the root note off and
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placing it on the 7th.