Berklee Guitar Chords Inversions

FREE music lessons from Berklee College of MusicGuitar Chords 101 Lesson 2: Triad Inversions Up the Fretboard Berklee is offering free music lessons online designed to expand educational opportunities for musicians around the globe. The music lessons are available for free download from the Berkleeshares.com Web site and via a growing network of partner Web sites. These free music lessons are also available on digital file sharing networks. We encourage people to share our lessons with other musicians. While Berklee strongly disapproves of stealing copyrighted music online, we believe that file sharing offers new opportunities for musicians to learn, and to promote and distribute their work. This lesson is excerpted from an online course. While the navigation links on each page are not active, all of the multimedia interactions are. Have fun! Check out Berkleeshares.com for more lessons just like this one. © 2005 Berklee College of Music licensed to the public under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd-nc/1.0/ verify at http://berkleeshares.com/legal-notice Berkleemusic Home Course Home -> Lesson 2 -> Topic 2 Page 1 Syllabus Discussion Help Lesson 2 Topic 1 Topic 2 Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Activity 1 Activity 2 Topic 3 Activity 3 Topic 4 Activity 4 Activity 5 Activity 6 Activity 7 Activity 8 Topic 5 Course Contents Syllabus Grades Bookmark Communication Announcements Class list Discussion Chat Triad Inversions Up the Fretboard Click the image to start the video. Chord inversions help to smooth out motion from chord to chord, harmonize melodies, and allow smooth bass motion. On the guitar, use of inversions allows the player to be able play some form of a given chord virtually anywhere on the neck. Inversions are your friend! Up the Fretboard and Across the Fretboard. First, a clarification of terms is in order. The following approach should help us to get to more possibilities in the most effective way possible. We will be looking at two ways to work on chord inversions on the guitar: up and down the fretboard and across the fretboard. Up and down the fretboard refers to moving voicings from the lower-numbered frets to the higher-numbered frets (where the higher pitches are). Across refers to taking the inversions from the higher-pitched strings to the lower-pitched strings. Previous Page Next Page Berkleemusic Online School -- BMP-120.01 Guitar Chords 101 © 2002-2004 Berklee College of Music. All rights reserved. Our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Berkleemusic Home Course Home -> Lesson 2 -> Topic 2 Page 2 Syllabus Discussion Help Lesson 2 Topic 1 Topic 2 Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Activity 1 Activity 2 Topic 3 Activity 3 Topic 4 Activity 4 Activity 5 Activity 6 Activity 7 Activity 8 Topic 5 Course Contents Syllabus Grades Bookmark Communication Announcements Class list Discussion Chat Triad Inversions Up the Fretboard To invert a chord, move the bottom note up an octave. A root-position C triad is spelled C E G. Moving the C (the bottom note) up an octave yields E G C. A major triad with the third in the bottom is called a triad in first inversion. To get a second inversion triad, move the E up an octave, giving you G C E. A triad with the fifth of the chord in the bass is called a triad in second inversion. , root position is playable in third position, first inversion in eighth On the top string set position, and second inversion in twelfth position. Exercise 1. - Drill and Practice Up the Fretboard 1. Taking the keys of C, F, Bb, and Eb, practice playing all of the inversions of the major triad. Example 2.1: MP3 Examples PDF Examples Play the following triads for two beats each. 2. Now on , run through the major triads in four more keys. Example 2.3: Play the following triads alternating between four and two beats each. Previous Page Next Page Berkleemusic Online School -- BMP-120.01 Guitar Chords 101 © 2002-2004 Berklee College of Music. All rights reserved. Our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Berkleemusic Home Course Home -> Lesson 2 -> Topic 2 Page 3 Syllabus Discussion Help Lesson 2 Topic 1 Topic 2 Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Activity 1 Activity 2 Topic 3 Activity 3 Topic 4 Activity 4 Activity 5 Activity 6 Activity 7 Activity 8 Topic 5 Course Contents Syllabus Grades Bookmark Communication Announcements Class list Discussion Chat Triad Inversions Up the Fretboard Let's check out the inversions of minor, traveling up the fretboard. Flat the third, and perform C minor triad, first and second inversions on the top string set on . Drill and Practice Up the Fretboard 3. Taking the keys of C, F, Bb, and Eb, practice playing all of the inversions of the minor triad on , working your way up and down the fretboard. Example 2.2: MP3 Examples PDF Examples Pay close attention to the first attack of each inversion. Make the notes ring! 4. Next, try the minor triads in Gmin, Dmin, Amin, and Emin on . Example 2.4: Strings 4-3-2 typically have a more mellow sound. Watch out for extraneous string noise. Previous Page Next Activity: Practice Exercise Berkleemusic Online School -- BMP-120.01 Guitar Chords 101 © 2002-2004 Berklee College of Music. All rights reserved. Our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Back to Page 3 Back to Page 3 Back to Page 4 Back to Page 4