Inverted chords

Inverted chord illustrationInverted chords consist of chords in which the notes have changed order and the tonic (the root of the chord) is no longer the bass note. Some get confused when they see a chord written out like C/E. What it means is that the E note has changed position in the chord to become the bass note and the chord is played inverted. The C chord with the notes C, E and G is instead played in order as E, G and C.

The inverted chords are especially common for piano players: changing the order of notes in a chord can minimize the distance of movement over the keyboard then switching from one chord to another. For guitarists, the inverted chord has not this function, but gives possibilities to enrich the sound and make smooth transitions in chord progressions. They are also similar to slash chords.

Common inverted chords

C/E

  • C/E chord diagram

D/F#

  • D/F# chord diagram

E/B

  • E/B chord diagram

F/C

  • F/C chord diagram

G/B

  • G/B chord diagram

A/C#

  • A/C# chord diagram

Dm/A

  • Dm/A chord diagram

Em/B

  • Em/B chord diagram

Gm/D

  • Gm/D chord diagram

Chord progressions with inverted chords

The following sequences includes inverted chords and gives you a sense of important applications of these chords:


G - D/F# - Em

(Instead of the usual D we are positioning the F# as the bass note between G and E.)


A - A/C# - D

(This time we switch the bass note of the same chord from A to a C# – that is placed between A and D in the scale – before moving on to D.)

In this third example the movement starts with the inverted chord:

E/B - Am - G

Here B, A and G form a descending bass line.

A last sequence:

C - Em/B - Am

You should be able to find other variants now as you know the method.

All inversions of major triads

Diagrams and information of first and second inversions:

C/E and C/G
D/F# and D/A
E/G# and E/B
F/A and F/C
G/B and G/D
A/C# and A/E
B/D# and B/F#

All inversions of minor triads

Diagrams and information of first and second inversions:

Cm/Eb and Cm/G
Dm/F and Dm/A
Em/G and Em/B
Fm/Ab and Fm/C
Gm/Bb and Gm/D
Am/C and Am/E
Bm/D and Bm/F#

Inverted 7th chords

C7/G

  • C7/G chord diagram

D7/F#

  • D7/F# chord diagram

E7/B

  • E7/B chord diagram

G7/B

  • G7/B chord diagram

The chords in the four diagrams are all dominant sevenths with alternative bass notes. A chord progression you can try is:


C - G7/B - Am7

Note that the bass note remains at the fifth string throughout the whole sequence (the low E-string shouldn't be played at all).

Inverted Major 7th chords

Cmaj7/G

  • Cmaj7/G chord diagram

Fmaj7/A

  • Fmaj7/A chord diagram

Gmaj7/B

  • Gmaj7/B chord diagram

Bmaj7/F#

  • Bmaj7/F# chord diagram

A less bassier version of Bmaj7/F# is 224342. Another possible version of Gmaj7/B is X20002.

The chords in the four diagrams are all major sevenths with alternative bass notes. A chord progression you can try is:


Fmaj7/A - Bb - C

Since four notes are involved in the major seventh chords there are three possible inversions for each.

Inverted Minor 7th chords

Dm7/A

  • Dm7/A chord diagram

Em7/B

  • Em7/B chord diagram

Gm7/Bb

  • Gm7/Bb chord diagram

Am7/G

  • Am7/G chord diagram

Bm7/F#

  • Bm7/F# chord diagram

Bm7/D

  • Bm7/D chord diagram

The chords in the diagrams are all minor sevenths with alternative bass notes. Chord progressions you can try are:


Cmaj7 - Em7/B - Am7

G - Bm7/F# - Em

Em7 - Am7/G - Am7 - Em7/B - Am7 - Gmaj7/B - Cadd9

Since four notes are involved in the minor seventh chords there are three possible inversions for each.

More inverted chords

Other chord categories as 9th and 6th chords can be played with alternate bass notes. To notice is that the third inversion of the 6th chord will copy the relative minor 7th chord. For example C6/A is identical with Am7.

C

C11/Bb: X10011
Cmaj13/G: 332002

D

D9/F#: 200210
D/A: X0777X

Dm11/A: X00011
Dmadd9/A: X03230

E

E11/A: X00100
Em/G: 322000
Em6/A: X02020

F

F7/Eb: XX1211
Fm7/C: X31111

F#

F#m7/A: X04220
F#m11/A: X04420

G

G6no3/D: XX0030

Gm/Bb: X10033

A

Am7/G: 302010
Am11/G: 300210

B

B7/D#: XX1202
Bsus4/F#: XX4450
B7sus4/A: X04450

Bm11/A: X04430


For pdf charts, see The Chord Reference ebook

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