Chord Inversions 101: The Basics

An **inversion** rearranges the notes of a chord (same notes, different order)

Key Takeaways

An inversion rearranges the notes of a chord (same notes, different order)
Root position: root in the bass (G-B-D)
First inversion: 3rd in the bass (B-G-G)
Second inversion: 5th in the bass (D-G-B)
Inversions create different "colors" for the same chord

Transcription

This is inversions 101. I'm going to show you how they work and how to play a basic set of inversions on the guitar.

Let's play inversions of the G major chord. All of those are versions of G major, and they're different inversions. What that means is I'm changing up the arrangement of the notes in the chord. The notes are staying the same, but the order is changing and it's creating different colors for the chord.

Root position G major: we call it root position because the root is in the bass. G, B, D.

First inversion: we call it first inversion because the third of the chord (the B) is in the bass. B, G, G.

Second inversion: we have the fifth in the bass. D, G, B.

The names are a little confusing, but the concept is we're just rearranging those notes to create more colors for the G major chord.