NEXT LEVEL – SINGING OR PLAYING PIANO CHORDS

A chord is also called a triad, which is typically a group or a set of three (or more) notes played simultaneously. A chord can be three notes or more, whereas a triad is always three notes arranged in thirds. Any chord can be inverted, when you arranged a chord in a different order it’s called an inversion. What is an inversion? Webster’s Dictionary defines it as “the process or result of changing or reversing the relative positions of the notes of a musical interval (the distance between notes), chord, or phrase.” It is the reversal of position or the order they are in.

If you’ve been playing the basic chords, now it’s time to take it to the next level and play like a pro by using inversions. Inversions allow you to create more variations of sound by changing the order of the notes being played. Let’s begin with an easy chord, the C chord. The root chord is C, E, G (and C is the root). Now, lets put the same three notes in a different order (inversion #1) E, G, C. Let’s move them around one more time (inversion #2) G, C, E. Same three notes played three different ways: the root, inversion #1 and inversion #2.

Here is another way to understand inversions from a singer’s standpoint. Remember the movie The Sound Of Music, there is a song that Julie Andrew’s sings called “Do, Re, Mi” and the melody has: Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do which is also called Tonic Solfa. Think of C as “Do”, D as “Re”, E as “Mi”, F as “Fa”, G as “So, A as “La”, B as “Ti” and back to C as “Do.” If we played or sang Do, Mi, So, that is your basic (root positioned) of the C chord. If we change the order to Mi, So, Do we have the 1st inversion of the C chord. If we look at 2nd inversion of the C chord, it would be So, Do, Mi. Whether you are playing the chord inversions on the piano or singing harmonies with chord inversions, the music will sound beautiful with the inverted chords. Bands and choirs use this method for creating beautiful harmonies.

JOKE FOR THE DAY:

Why couldn’t the athlete listen to his music?

Because he broke the record!

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