Chord Inversions

In a chord inversion, a note other than the root note is the lowest note of the chord. Chord shapes whose roots are on the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd string are almost always inversions.

Inverted chords are useful for several reasons. They are often used in chord solos. They can add efficency to chord changes. And, they add harmonic variety.

Landmark Chords
There are landmark chord shapes we can use to help us identify the notes of chord inversions. They are major 6/9 chords so the 1-3-6-2-5 sequence still applies. Though the shapes differ for each string, the landmark chord shape for the first string is the same as the 6th string. So, this represents only two more chord shapes you need to learn.

landmark chords lower

Not Knowing Where the Root Is.
Up till now we have dealt only with chords whose root was the lowest note of the chord. It is much easier to use landmark chords to identify other chords when you know which note is the root. Unfortunately with chord inversions, identifying the location of the root is not so simple. It requires a little trial and error testing. Another thing that adds challenge is that some chords share identical notes making positive identification more tricky.

Luckily there are some patterns to look for that will help you identify, or at least provide you a starting place on your hunt.

Patterns Suggesting Root Position
With so many possible ways chord inversions can occur, there is not any simple way to find the root in a given chord shape. However, since most chords are either major or minor it makes sense to start there. Below are some patterns to look for that will help you find the root of a chord.

Major 3rd Pattern:
This shows the major 3rd pattern on strings 1, 2, and 3.

Minor 3rd Pattern:
This shows the minor 3rd pattern on strings 1, 2, and 3.

Perfect 5th Pattern:
This shows the perfect 5th pattern on strings 1, 2, and 3.

Find the 3rd and the 5th:
At right is a four-note chord whose root we’d like to identify. We search the 3rd and 5th patterns until we find ones that match the chord in question. We look to see if a 3rd pattern and a 5th pattern that share a note. IF so, this is probably the root of the chord. We can then use a landmark chord to see if we can identify intervals that match any of the chord formulas.

Examples
The next pages show some examples of how you would use landmark chords to identify inverted chords.

example inversion 1

example inversion 2

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