Ah... the dreaded staff. Reading music on the guitar is not fun -- especially when it comes to chords. But I need to start somewhere -- how about with inversions?
With a standard chord, such as C major 7, the root is the lowest note, then the third, fifth and seventh follow sequentially as higher tones. When we shuffle the order of these notes around, we get Inversions. The 'first' inversion is moving the root above all other notes, leaving the third at the bottom. If you see a bar with 'Cma7/E', the idea is to play this inversion. Out loud, you would say 'C major seven over E.'
For the second inversion, we bring the third above the root. The root is now the second note down in the chord. The root is the third note down on the staff with the third inversion. If we invert the chord again, we have the same voicing.
Knowing inversions is handy for when you start moving towards voice leading. 'Voice leading' is when a melody comes through very distinctly through chord changes. This is generally accomplished by having the notes in a melody line follow in a relatively tight area on the fretboard or staff.
By knowing all the intervals of different chords, you are putting an essential tool in your bag for good voice leading.
Note that these notes are all bunched together -- these are 'closed voicings.' When you have one of the notes outside the pack, that is where the 'drop 2' and 'drop 3' voicings come in. When the second voice of a closed voicing is dropped an octave, that makes a 'drop 2' voicing.
For the second inversion, we bring the third above the root. The root is now the second note down in the chord. The root is the third note down on the staff with the third inversion. If we invert the chord again, we have the same voicing.
Knowing inversions is handy for when you start moving towards voice leading. 'Voice leading' is when a melody comes through very distinctly through chord changes. This is generally accomplished by having the notes in a melody line follow in a relatively tight area on the fretboard or staff.
By knowing all the intervals of different chords, you are putting an essential tool in your bag for good voice leading.
Note that these notes are all bunched together -- these are 'closed voicings.' When you have one of the notes outside the pack, that is where the 'drop 2' and 'drop 3' voicings come in. When the second voice of a closed voicing is dropped an octave, that makes a 'drop 2' voicing.
Closed voicings for the dominants are basically un-finger-able. It is still a good idea to be able to 'see' them on the fretboard. The drop 2 voicings can all be fingered and are essential to learn.
Below, I mapped out drop 2 inversions for maj7, mi7, mi7-5, dom7, maj6, min6 and diminished chords on the staff and then plotted the fingerings. It was a good exercise which you might try yourself on blank paper.
Below, I mapped out drop 2 inversions for maj7, mi7, mi7-5, dom7, maj6, min6 and diminished chords on the staff and then plotted the fingerings. It was a good exercise which you might try yourself on blank paper.
| inversions_drop2_staff.pdf |
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