Play a C major chord as C – E – G, then play the same three notes rearranged as E – G – C. The harmony has not changed — it is still C major — but the sound is different. The bass note shifted, the spacing between the notes changed, and the chord now connects more naturally to whatever comes next. That rearrangement is called an inversion, and learning to use inversions is one of the fastest ways to make your chord progressions sound polished rather than blocky.
What Is a Chord Inversion?
A chord is in root position when its root note is the lowest pitch. An inversion occurs when a note other than the root is placed in the bass. Because a triad has three notes and a seventh chord has four, each chord type has a specific number of possible inversions.
| Chord type | Positions available |
|---|---|
| Triad | Root position, 1st inversion, 2nd inversion |
| Seventh chord | Root position, 1st inversion, 2nd inversion, 3rd inversion |
The upper notes can be arranged in any order — what defines the inversion is solely which chord tone sits at the bottom.
Triad Inversions in Detail
Take C major (C – E – G) and rotate the notes so each chord tone gets a turn in the bass.
| Position | Notes (bottom to top) | Bass note | Classical notation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Root position | C – E – G | C (root) | C |
| 1st inversion | E – G – C | E (3rd) | C/E |
| 2nd inversion | G – C – E | G (5th) | C/G |
The slash notation you see on lead sheets — C/E, C/G — tells you the chord name followed by the bass note. This is the most common way to indicate inversions in popular music.
Each inversion has a distinct character. Root position sounds stable and grounded. First inversion feels lighter, almost floating, because the third in the bass creates a less definitive foundation. Second inversion is the most unstable of the three and is often used as a passing sonority or to set up a cadence — the classic I⁶₄ – V – I ending in classical music places the tonic chord in second inversion right before the dominant.
Seventh Chord Inversions
Seventh chords add a fourth note, which means a fourth possible arrangement. Here is Cmaj7 (C – E – G – B) in all positions.
| Position | Notes (bottom to top) | Bass note | Slash notation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Root position | C – E – G – B | C (root) | Cmaj7 |
| 1st inversion | E – G – B – C | E (3rd) | Cmaj7/E |
| 2nd inversion | G – B – C – E | G (5th) | Cmaj7/G |
| 3rd inversion | B – C – E – G | B (7th) | Cmaj7/B |
Third inversion seventh chords are particularly useful in jazz and soul. Placing the 7th in the bass creates a half-step relationship to the root of the next chord, which produces a very smooth bass line. A Cmaj7/B moving to Am7 drops the bass just a whole step from B to A — far smoother than jumping from C down to A.
Why Inversions Matter: The Problem with Root Position
Play this progression on a piano using only root position chords: C – F – G – C. Your left hand leaps from C up to F, then up to G, then back down to C. The bass line jumps around in fourths and fifths. It sounds functional, but it also sounds like a harmony exercise rather than real music.
Now play the same progression with inversions: C (root position) – F/C (2nd inversion) – G/B (1st inversion) – C (root position). The bass line becomes C – C – B – C. Instead of leaping, it steps smoothly, and the whole progression gains a sense of forward motion. That smooth stepwise movement in individual voices is called voice leading.
The Principles of Voice Leading
Good voice leading follows a small set of guidelines that keep your parts moving efficiently.
Move each voice to the nearest available note. When changing from one chord to the next, each note in the voicing should travel the shortest possible distance — ideally a step or a half step. Large leaps draw attention and can make the texture feel disjointed.
Keep common tones. If two consecutive chords share a note, hold it in the same voice. Moving from C major (C – E – G) to Am (A – C – E), both C and E are common tones. Keep them where they are and only move G down to A.
Move voices in contrary or oblique motion. If the bass moves up, the upper voices sound best moving down or staying put. Parallel motion — all voices leaping in the same direction — can sound clumsy (and in classical theory, parallel fifths and octaves are specifically avoided).
Resolve tendency tones. The 7th of a chord wants to step down. The leading tone (major 7th above the root of the key) wants to step up to the tonic. Following these natural tendencies makes your harmony feel inevitable.
Voice Leading a I – vi – IV – V Progression
Let us apply these principles to the progression C – Am – F – G in close position on a keyboard.
| Chord | Soprano | Alto | Tenor | Bass |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | G | E | C | C |
| Am | A | E | C | A |
| F | A | F | C | F |
| G | G | F | B | G |
Look at the soprano line: G – A – A – G. It moves by step and even repeats a note. The alto: E – E – F – F. Common tones are held, and when movement is needed, it is a half step or whole step. No voice leaps more than a third. This is efficient, musical voice leading.
Compare that to a version where every chord is in root position with all voices jumping: the texture becomes choppy, the individual lines lose their melodic quality, and the ear has trouble following any single part.
Inversions and Voice Leading on Guitar
Guitarists use inversions constantly, often without thinking about it. An open C chord (X – 3 – 2 – 0 – 1 – 0) places E in the bass — that is C major in first inversion. The common G/B voicing (X – 2 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 3) puts the third in the bass to create a smooth bass line moving from G to C.
Inversions in the Interactive Chord Finder
Open the Interactive Chord Finder and select any key and scale. The Diatonic Chords table shows the chords built on each scale degree. While the tool displays chords in root position, you can use the piano keyboard to experiment with rearranging the notes into inversions. Try clicking the notes of a C major triad in different orders — E then G then C, for instance — to hear how the inversion changes the colour without changing the harmony.
When building a progression in the Chord Sequencer, think about which inversions would create the smoothest bass line between your chosen chords. Even a simple I – IV – V – I progression transforms when you voice each chord so the bass moves in steps rather than leaps.
Common Inversion Patterns Worth Knowing
A few inversion patterns appear so frequently in music that they are worth memorising.
Descending bass line: C – C/B – C/A – C/G, or equivalently C – Am/C – F/A – G. Placing chords in inversion to create a stepwise descending bass is a staple of pop, classical, and film music. Think of the bass line in “A Whiter Shade of Pale” or countless baroque chaconnes.
Pedal bass with changing upper chords: Keep the same bass note while the chords above it change. F/C – G/C – Am/C – C creates harmonic motion above a static foundation.
♯IV diminished passing chord: In C major, the progression C – C♯dim/E – Dm – G uses the diminished chord in first inversion to create a chromatic bass line (C – E – D – G) that smoothly connects I to ii.
Where to Go from Here
Inversions and voice leading are the bridge between knowing chords and using them musically. Once you are comfortable choosing inversions for smooth bass lines, you are ready to explore seventh chords in greater depth — the extra chord tone gives you even more inversion options and richer voice-leading possibilities. From there, topics like chord progressions and secondary dominants will make much more sense, because you will hear them as voice-leading events rather than abstract Roman numerals.
Pick any progression you already know, sit at a keyboard, and try to play it so that no voice moves more than a step. You will be surprised how different — and how much better — the same chords can sound.
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