Songs that use Inversions

this video is sponsored by extra an inversion is when we take any chord for example c major but we rearrange it so the lowest pitch is no longer the root note so for example we could arrange our c major chord like this same three notes but now rather than having c at the bottom of the chord we've got e at the bottom of the chord this is c first inversion or we could rearrange the notes like this to have g at the bottom of the chord so that makes it a second inversion c second inversion is ultimately the lowest note in the chord the bass note that dictates what the inversion is so even if i didn't change what my right hand was doing even if i played a standard c major triad in root position if i then played an e in the bass that has also inverted the chord the chord is now a first inversion so a first inversion could look a lot of different ways it could look like this or it could look like this it's ultimately the bass note the lowest note in the voicing that dictates the chord a common inversion to use is the tonic chord but in first inversion so in the key of c for example this would be the chord c but with e as its lowest note the kings of leon use this inversion here in their song use somebody to climb from a root position tonic chord to a root position iv chord [Music] we can see a similar usage of this chord in billy joel's uptown girl and ed sheeran uses this chord in the same fashion here for his song thinking out [Music] loud another commonly used inversion is the dominant chord the fifth chord of the key in first inversion for example we can see it here in american pie i can't remember how if i cried when i read about his widowed bride but something touched me deep inside and also here on free bird the dominant chord in first inversion creates a satisfying stepwise line between these chords walking smoothly between them [Music] a type of inversion i particularly like is the third inversion with triads with three note chords like major chords and minor chords we can only have a first inversion or a second inversion so for example if i go back to my c major chord again we start in root position so the chord hasn't been inverted yet i can then invert it once by taking the lowest note and putting it at the top of the chord that's our first inversion i can then invert it again by putting the new lowest note at the top again that gives us the second inversion and now if i go to invert it a third time by putting the lowest note once again at the top well this time i wind up with the same chord we started with just an octave higher we're back at the root position however if the chord we were inverting had an extra note had a fourth note we could then invert it a third time so for example if i had a c7 chord like this i can have root position i can have first inversion second version and now i can have a third inversion and what i really like about the third inversion it's got a very rich quality to it because of the seventh and the root note being right next to each other it gives it quite a satisfying rub between those two notes we can see a b minor seven chord in third inversion here at the start of ain't no mountain high enough [Music] if you need me call me no matter where you are no matter how far don't worry baby a song that is quite renowned for its beautiful use of inversions is god only knows almost every chord in the verse of the song has been inverted creating a rich distinctive sense of harmony [Music] to get an idea of the impact these inversions are having to the sound of the song this is what god only knows would sound like if the chords weren't inverted [Music] [Music] the chord progression still very much works and functions but it loses that character it loses that satisfying voice leading between the different chords it's amazing how the bass line the note played in the bass can have so much impact on how we hear a chord progression it was actually the beach boy's use of inversions on songs like god only knows that introduced paul mccartney to the idea of a bass line being able to change the inversion of the chord progression the thing that really made me sit up and take notice was the bass lines on pet sounds if you were in the key of c you would normally use the root note a c on the bass but you just get a completely different effect if you play a g when the band is playing c there's a kind of tension created we can see an example of paul using his bass line to invert the chord progression on george harrison's something here rather than underpinning the g chord with the more obvious root note of g paul has instead opted to play the fifth of the chord d effectively placing the chord into second inversion changing the nature of the harmony [Applause] the d in the bass creates a smooth line walking down from the e flat chord to the tonic chord of c if paul had instead kept the chord in root position it would have sounded like this [Music] [Applause] it's a subtle difference of course but it certainly changes the feel of this cadence as you would have noticed already when a chord is inverted it becomes what you might call a slash chord i.e a chord symbol where we're given a normal chord like g major and then after a slash we're given a note to place underneath it in the bass this is a straightforward intuitive way to label inverted chords when you're using actual alphabetical note names like g or d but how do we label inversions when we're not talking about chords with their alphabetical names when we're talking about them in the abstract like when we're using roman numerals so far in this video i have simply written an abbreviated label after the chord which is the system that i prefer to use as i think it's the most straightforward way however this isn't actually a common system the most widely used system for labeling inverted chords in roman numerals is to place little numbers like this next to the roman numeral for example a first inversion is signaled with a small six like this and a second version is written with a small six and a small four this system of using numbers next to the roman numerals is based on an old chord labeling system from the baroque era called figured bass the number is effectively describing the intervals of the inverted chord so with a c major chord first inversion we now have a minor sixth between the lowest note e and the highest note c so we label it with a little six if the c chord was in second inversion we'd now have a fourth between the g and c and a sixth between the g and e hence six four now if you're thinking that this is a confusing system well you're not alone not only does this system get super confusing once you start involving chord extensions like sevenths and ninths but it's also just messy and ambiguous because if a chord chart says one six and we're in the key of c is it asking for a c major chord first inversion or for a c six chord this is basically the collision of two different worlds of music from classical music and contemporary and jazz music in classical music this symbol is almost definitely telling you that the chord is a first inversion c chord but if you're playing a jazz tune and you see the symbol it's probably more likely that they're asking you to play a c chord with the sixth added on top there is another system for labeling inversions which is simpler and less confusing which is when you use little letters to denote the inversion rather than little numbers for example a small lowercase b would denote that the chord is in first inversion and a lowercase c would denote that it's in second inversion and so on this is certainly more simple and straightforward although even this system could still lead to confusion because for example a lowercase b is the symbol we use to denote a flat but anyway this is just one of those messy things where because music theory is far from standardized you sort of just have to learn different ways that different people do it and then figure out a way that works for you a common use of inversion is what's known as a cadential 6-4 this is when a passage of music comes to a close with this string of chords the tonic chord in second inversion the dominant chord and then the tonic chord now in root position this is a classic way to effectively drag out the concluding sound of a 5-1 perfect cadence [Music] it was commonly used in the classical period but it can also be found in various pop song [Music] and settings wish i could be part of that it's our problem freed philosophy [Music] but don't think twice it's all right now if you're wondering why it's called a cadential 6-4 well perhaps the roman numerals on screen have answered that question for you as i mentioned a moment ago 6 4 is the little numbers we put next to a roman numeral to denote it's in second inversion and cadential just means cadence or cadence-like so a cadential 6-4 is just a fancy name for this extended perfect cadence that uses a 6-4 chord in a moment i'm going to leave you with a piece of music i've composed that exclusively uses inverted chords uses no root position chords but just before we do that i want to talk to you about today's sponsor which is extra extra make these stylish slimline wallets like these ones which feature this pop-up function that makes it really easy to get to your cards but the best function of these wallets isn't the pop-up function it's this thing which is a bluetooth enabled card that you keep in your wallet and then if you can't find a wallet you can actually ring it ring your wallet from your phone which i think is really cool and you can buy these individually so you could get some extra ones and put them in your guitar case or on your rucksack or something like that use the link below to get 20 off your order or 30 off and a free gift bag when you spend more than 150 dollars [Music] and a big thank you as always goes to everybody who supports me on patreon including a extra special thanks going to these wonderful people [Music] so [Music] you

Channel: David Bennett Piano

Views: 160,413

Keywords: inversions, chord progressions, music theory, examples, songs that use, inverted, chord type, third inversion, roman numeral, figured bass

Id: kfvrwCxa720

Length: 14min 2sec (842 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 09 2022