Four Note Jazz Chord Inversions. 2 2
So far you've played your jazz chords in root position. 3 3
In other words, you've played the root as the lowest note, 4 4
then added the third, fifth and seventh. 5 5
CM7, Dm7, Em7, FM7, root, third, fifth, seventh. 6 6
If you remember that you learned to play inversions in the right hand, so you had 7 7
the root chord, first, third, fifth, and then you played a middle inversion. 8 8
That's first, third, and the fifth below. 9 9
Then we played the backwards inversion, first, third, 10 10
fifth in a backwards direction. 11 11
You can do the same thing with these left hand chords. 12 12
Now, in popular style, you usually need the root note at the bottom, 13 13
to give the definite overall tone. 14 14
But with jazz chords, 15 15
the uncertain tonality of the inverted chords adds to the jazz sound. 16 16
So, let's look at C major seventh. 17 17
You've been playing root, third, fifth, seventh. 18 18
But you can play these four notes in three other combinations. 19 19
To help you memorize them I'll again use the words middle or backwards. 20 20
So C major 7 root position is C, E, G, B. 21 21
I'm gonna play it up here just so you'll be able to see it more clearly. 22 22
C, E, G, B. 23 23
Call this 1, 3, 5, 7. 24 24
[SOUND] Okay. 25 25
[SOUND] Let's try C major 7 middle inversion. 26 26
So play a middle C chord. 27 27
[SOUND] All right. 28 28
[SOUND] And then add the 7th. 29 29
So there is the 7. 30 30
[MUSIC] 31 31
You can also call this five, seven, one, three inversion. 32 32
[SOUND] Now let's try a C major seven backwards inversion. 33 33
So play a backwards C chord. 34 34
[SOUND] And add in the seventh. 35 35
[SOUND] Okay. 36 36
We can also call this a three five seven one inversion. 37 37
And a final inversion is seven one three five inversion, 38 38
where you play the seven as the lowest note. 39 39
So seven one three five. 40 40
[MUSIC] 41 41
Okay. OK, seven, one, three, five. 42 42
Sounds very muddy if you go too low, so that's why I'm playing it up here. 43 43
[MUSIC] 44 44
Mostly we'll be playing either root position [SOUND] or 45 45
the middle inversion, okay, 46 46
the five, seven five, seven, one, three. 47 47
[SOUND] Now on the next page is The Caterpillar Jazz Walk. 48 48
We're going to make use of these inversions to play a very common cycle of 49 49
fifths progression that's used in countless jazz songs and standards. 50 50
So it's back to the cycle of fifths that we've used many times now. 51 51
So. 52 52
[MUSIC] 53 53
C, F Major 7, B diminished 7, 54 54
E minor 7, A minor 7, D minor 7, 55 55
G7, back to C major seven. 56 56
Remember the sequence B E A D, use the word bead. 57 57
And then a D G C F so C F B E A D G C F B E A D G C F. 58 58
C F major seven, A diminished, E minor, A minor, D minor, G, C. 59 59
Now you can see that that jumps about a lot. 60 60
And it's a bit discordant, the way I'm playing it there. 61 61
So we're going to use inversions to make it all fit together much more smoothly. 62 62
So let's begin with the C major seventh middle inversion, up at middle C. 63 63
Okay. So you find C middle, 64 64
add the seventh, okay? 65 65
So that's C major seven, middle inversion with the left hand. 66 66
Five, seven, one, three. 67 67
[SOUND] Now in the cycle, the next chord in the cycle after C is F. 68 68
Okay, B, E, A, D, G, C, F, F Major 7. 69 69
So, here is where the caterpillar check comes in. 70 70
If you're playing C major 7 middle, and 71 71
you simply drop the bottom two notes down one note each, 72 72
you'll find you're magically on the chord of F major 7. 73 73
[SOUND] The next chord in the cycle okay, B E A D G C F B. 74 74
So it's B diminished. 75 75
This is technically B half diminished seven but don't worry about that for now. 76 76
And if use the caterpillar trick, we this time drop the top two notes down. 77 77
One note each to the left, and 78 78
we're magically on the chord of B half diminished 7 middle Inversion. 79 79
[SOUND] So there's B, drop those two down. 80 80
[MUSIC] 81 81
B diminished middle, add a 7. 82 82
Okay? We started on CM7 middle, 83 83
we drop the bottom two notes down, and we got FM7 root position. 84 84
Then we drop the top two notes down, and we got Bdim7 middle inversion. 85 85
[SOUND] And if we drop the bottom two notes of the B diminished we end up with 86 86
the next chord in the cycle. 87 87
E minor 7 root position. 88 88
[MUSIC] 89 89
So can you see why I call it the caterpillar walk? 90 90
[SOUND] Caterpillar walk's by squashing up and extending out again. 91 91
Squashing up, standing out again, squishing up. 92 92
So that's what we've been doing. 93 93
[MUSIC] 94 94
After Em7 root position, we again drop the top two notes down. 95 95
We get Am7 Middle inversion. 96 96
Then we drop the bottom two notes again, and we get the next chord in the cycle. 97 97
D minor seven. 98 98
[MUSIC] 99 99
Drop the top two notes again. 100 100
We've got G7 Middle inversion. 101 101
G7 middle 7. And finally, 102 102
drop the bottom two notes down. 103 103
We're back 104 104
[MUSIC] 105 105
C major seven. 106 106
Look at it in motion C major 7, F major 7, 107 107
B half diminished 7, E minor 7, A minor 7, 108 108
D minor 7, G7, C Major 7, just like a caterpillar. 109 109
[MUSIC] 110 110
And that's a very, very popular progression in jazz.