Outside the BOx
TONE TWISTER
Robin Henderson demonstrates how to spice up your chord work using inversions…
A basic chord is made up of 3 notes – the 1st, 3rd & 5th notes of the root Major or minor scale. On the guitar you usually end up playing the root note as the bass, but an ‘inversion’ means that you swap the 3rd (1st inversion) or 5th (2nd inversion) as the lowest note. For example, C major contains the notes C-E-G: to create a 1st inversion you would swap the 3rd (E) to the bass giving the notes E-G-C. This chord would be notated as C/E, meaning a C Major chord with the altered bass note of E. The all-important result is a change of chord tone that can give a new sense of character to your progressions.
Ex1: Get to know some 1st inversion chord shapes. A and D shape chords tend to work best on the guitar. The top line is the original chord with the inversion underneath. Listen to how the tone of the chord has changed; feeling softer and subtle. These new inversions are all closed chords allowing you to repeat them at different pitches across the neck.
Ex2: Inverting the root and 5th of a typical rock power chord will make the 5th the bass note. With these examples you’ll notice an increased resonance, making these chords a great way of beefing up your sound without drop tuning. The hit song ‘Blurry’ by Puddle of Mud is a killer example, listen out for the chunky chorus.
Ex3: In the style of the legendary ‘Stairway to heaven,’ but this example uses a 12/8 time signature and has a descending bass line in semitones from A down to F. The chords are written in brackets to help you hold down the shapes and look out for the inverted slash (/) chords. Pick 3 down, and then 3 up strokes to fit in with the altered timing.
Ex4: From a sad to a happy sounding example, this 16th note riff is based on ‘Listen to the music’ by the Doobie brothers. The 16th note groove requires some quick alternate strumming and I’ve added in a few octaves between the 11th and 7th fret to spice things up. Complete the riff with a couple of pulls on the 10th fret B string to give a funky lead feel.
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Ex1. A & D shaped chords compared with 1st inversions A
k : 4 D= A
1 1
: 4 c
c
4 D= =
= =
# # # !
# # !
A/C# : 4 A/C#
: 4 D= c
4 D=D= #
c
# # %
# # # %
EX2. A & D shaped power chords compared with inversions A5
EX2. A & D shaped power chords compared with inversions A5
5 5
C5 C5
AA
A A
# # !
# # !
A5/E A5/E
5 5
AAAAAA
# # !
# # !
! !
AA
A A
& & $
& & $
C5/G C5/G
AAAAAA
& & $
& & $
$ $
EX3. Led Zeppelin style descending progression using 1st inversions 1
Am
:128 c
:128 c
Am E/G#
EX3. Led Zeppelin style descending progression using 1st inversions 1
BBB B B B B B BBB B B B B B
,&- ,&- ,&- (
,&- ,&- ,&- (
& & & & & & & & & & E/G#
DBB D
DBB D
,%- ,&- ,%- '
,%- ,&- ,%- '
B B B B B B B B B B
% % & & % % & & % % G
,$- ,$- ,%- &
,$- ,$- ,%- &
BBB B B B B B BBB B B B B B
% % $ $ $ $ $ $
EX4. Doobie bro's style EMajor & A Major 1st inversions E/G#
EX4. Doobie bro's style EMajor & A Major 1st inversions E/G#
5 5
DDDD 4 DDDD 4
4 4
B BBBBB B B
* * * !
* * * !
"" ""
BB BB
""
* *
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* *
BB BB
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* *
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BB BB BB BB
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BBC BBC
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""
"$ +
""
BBC BBC
"" + *
"" + *
BCB BCB BCB
BCB
* + (
* + (
* + (
* + (
BCB BCB
* + (
* + (
CCC CCC
+ + +
+ + +
CCC CCC
+ + +
+ + +
B BBBBB B B
* * * !
* * * !
"" "" % % D/F#
DBB D
DBB D
,#- ,$- ,#- %
,#- ,$- ,#- %
G D/F#
B B B B B B B B B B
# # $ $ # # $ $ # #
Ex1. A & D shaped chords compared with 1st inversions Am
Am
= =
= =
=
" # # !
" # # !
Am/C Am/C
=
= =
"
# # $
" # # $
D5 D5
AA
A A
$ # !
$ # !
D5/A D5/A
AAAAAA
$ # ! !
$ # ! !
D= D
D
D= =
= =
# $ # !
$ # !
D/F# D/F#D=D=D=
# $
# $
# %
# %
Dm Dm
= =
= =
=
" $ # !
" $ # !
Dm/F Dm/F
=
= =
" $
" $
# $
# $
G5 G5
AA
A A
) ( &
) ( &
G5/D G5/D
AAAAAA
) ( & &
) ( & &
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FMaj7 FMaj7
,!- ,"- ,#- $
,!- ,"- ,#- $
BB B B B B B B B B B B BB B B B B B B B B B B B
# # " " ! ! " " # # E/G# E/G#
BB BB
""
* *
""
* *
BB BB
""
* *
""
* *
BB BB BB BB
""
* *
""
* *
""
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""
* *
BB BB
B
* * * !
* * * !
$ $ # # " " ! ! " " B $ $ A/C# A/C#
BB BB
"! *
""
"! *
"" * "! * "! *
B B
*
B B B B
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B B
"!
B B
*
Page 1/1 Page 1/1
B B
* *
Am Am BB
Am/C
,!- ,"- ,#- ,#- !
,!- ,"- ,#- ,#- !
BB B B B B B A BBB B B B B B A
! # # # ! # " "
AA A
# #
! " # # $
! " # # $
Am/C
Inversion
Inversion
OriginalOriginal
Inversion
Inversion
Original
Original
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