Triads and Inversions 3 —- Melody ‘The use of inversions was common practice in the Baroque era, and the Classical era that followed. Which is perhaps not surprising, considering the multiple harmonic functions that inversions are able to perform. Smoothing out the pitch direction of bass parts, or inner part voice leading would be two examples. On the other hand, inversions have also been employed to keep the bass part on one pitch, creating a pedal point (keeping the bass part on one tone- either the Tonic, or Dominant, underneath a changing harmony) This is a classic example of this technique from Bach, taken from the first 4 bars of the G major Prelude of the Cello Suites - demonstrating a typical key-establishing chord progression over a tonic pedal. Play through the melody part, and then play the chord reductions to hear the inversions and the voice leading that they create ~ notice the inner voice rising up the scale. G major triad ~ 2" inversion Geli Chord Iv 6 3 Sin the bass Root 3% Sh a & CE ‘ 1 y G [5% Root 3%) C/G Iv \ ¥ 243134342431 3434 2143 4141 2143 4141 = : mm Ee eae chord reduction = aa EE 4 pat i 1* inversion - 4" in the bass, implying > ~~ Chord reduction, showing the 2 4/3 suspension into chord | G major triad ‘ane simplified arpeggio intervals above ~ é Zz highlighting the rising scale inner voice leading created by the inversions Chord V7—D Ft AC 6 FRc am 3m x 234, 4343234, 4343 2431 3434 2431 9433 x ap-46-47-—at arse-41——40 49-16-1648. 46-46-1648. chord reductionTriads and Inversions In functional harmony, triads are built from a root (tonic) note, the 3% note and the 5 — (1, 3, 5, each note being a third apart, hence Tertian Harmony) ~ taken from every other note of a diatonic scale (in Western music that usually means either the Major scale, Natural minor, Harmonic minor, or Melodic minor scales) ~ triads can be constructed on each one of the 7 notes of each one of these scales ~ producing 7 triads. These three notes can be played all together at the same time ~ which creates a chord, Alternatively, these three notes can be played one at a time, up or down in pitch — creating an arpeggio (Italian for harp), also referred to as a broken chord — Experiment playing both with different rhythms The 3% note will always dictate if the triad is major or minor. The 5" is mostly perfect, but can be sharpened, which creates an augmented triad, or flattened, to create a diminished triad. ‘Which gives you 4 types of triad ~ Major ~ Constructed with a major 3"4, and a minor 3"=R35 Minor ~ Constructed with a minor 3, and a major 3°°= R43 5 Diminished — Constructed with a minor 3°, and a minor 3°°=Rb3 55. ‘Augmented — Constructed with a major 3°, and a major 3"= R 3 #5 In root position, the tonic, or root note, is regarded as being the bass, or lowest note. Inversions of these triads are created by taking the root, or bass note, and moving it up an octave in pitch, leaving the 3° note in the bass/lowest note — this is the first inversion — 1° inversion = 3", 5", Root ~ slash chord = C/E Inversions are also referred to as slash chords = C/E — the first letter is the chord, the second letter is the bass note - which the bass player will normally play, supporting the chords above. The next inversion is created by moving the 3° note up an octave, leaving the 5" note in the bass/lowest note ~ this is the second inversion ~ 24 inversion = 5'*, Root, 3" ~ slash chord = ¢/G 2 inversion— C major triad — ‘Cmajor trad 1" inversion—3in the bass | s* in the bass Upan octave c £ — Gloper) [JEG 6 c el/c & 6 Root 3% 5 3¢ 5" Root s* — Root 3% || Root 3% 5s Triad and inversion chords in “closed” | © cE c/s c position 2 fe 2 48 9 Tas 5. In figured bass, the numbers under the chord refer to the intervals above | 6 — 6 J the root note eeTriads and Inversions 2 Three note triads can be played all together at the same time — which creates a chord. Alternatively, these three notes can be played one at a time, up or down in pitch — creating an arpeggio (Italian for harp), also referred to as a broken chord - Experiment playing both with different rhythms The 3" note will always dictate if the triad is major or minor. The S* is mostly perfect, but can be sharpened, which creates an augmented triad, or flattened, to create a diminished triad. Inversions of these triads are created by taking the root, or bass note, and moving it up an octave in pitch - 1 inver "4, 5", Root 2°4 inversion = 5", Root, 3 4 types of triad — Major - Constructed with a major 3°, and a minor 3¢=R35 {© t f , } | ) ° D inversion — D/F# | 2°inversion— | D/A D 3" in the bas 5'” in the bass Minor — Constructed with a minor 3%, and a major I] e| ] pm Winversion— —|pmyp | 2%inversion— |om/A Dm 3" in the bass Min the bass Diminished ~ Constructed with a minor 3% and a minor 3°= R ¥3 55 ——— ] oo ° ° inversion = 2 inversion- |, Bim pe sinthe bass |P°/F | st inthe bass |°/AY ‘Augmented — Constructed with a major 3°, and a major 3"°=R3 #5 Sy — © 1 ] lO lO ) }_O D+ ainversion— |ps fee | 2"inversion— |e /az 0+ 3% in the bass ‘Sin the bassTriads and Inversions 4 —- Melody Inversions of triads are created by taking the root, or bass note, and moving it up an octave in pitch, leaving the 3° note in the bass/lowest note ~ this is the first inversion = 1" inversion = 3°, 5", Root ‘The next inversion is created by moving the 3” note up an octave, leaving the 5 note in the bass/lowest note — this is the second inversion — 2° inversion = 5", Root, 3"° The melody construction of “The Last Post” is centred entirely around the root, and 5" of a 8» major triad, the 2” inversion of the triad, and the triad again, up an octave — 2° inversion ~ Bb major triad — 1 inversion ~ Bb major triad — SY in the bass Upan octave 3% in the bass Bo F bp BB» Dp F DOF Bb Root 3 Root 3% | Root 3% sh a ‘ ALA 3\ | Notice how the the piece ends on the 3" of Bb major, giving an un-resolved feel to the melody. ——Triads and Inversions 5 — Bass Lines Inversions of triads are created by taking the root, or bass note, and moving it up an octave in pitch, leaving the 3 note in the bass/lowest note - this is the first inversion ~ 1* inversion = 3", 5", Root slash chord = Chord/3 The next inversion is created by moving the 3" note up an octave, leaving the 5" note in the bass/lowest note - this is the second inversion — 2" inversion = 5", Root, 3"!— slash chord = Chord/s™ Here are a few examples of bass lines that are altered to fit the chord inversions above, which leads to a smoother pitch direction ~ descending lines are common, but they also work in ascending form ~ {As this bass line shows, which uses the same chords from Bach’s Prelude, it also uses the same pitches as the inner voice from that piece, 2 inversion first bar, 1" inversion bar 2 and 3 ~ 0 op ce byt G ‘The inversions in the first two bars of Like Someone in Love create a smooth descending walking line under the melody (Cm7/B» in the second bar is a 3° inversion, which is constructed Chord/7*") — The classic descending line by Jack Bruce from White Room, by Cream — the inversion in the second bar creates ‘a chromatic passing tone between the C and the Bb - this bass line has been used for quite a few other tunes ~ Terai ReaD co GB me ‘The short turn around section of Something, by the Beatles — again, the 2” inversion creates a smooth, scalic descending bass line, as played by Paul McCartney — 0 fF Bop CcTriads and Inversions 6 — Open Position Chords ‘Three note triads can be played all together at the same time — which creates a chord. Alternatively, these three notes can be played one ata time, up or down in pitch ~ creating an arpeggio ‘These three notes can also be re-arranged with a wider spacing between them to create “open” position triad chords @= Root, or Tonic note 4 types of triad — Major=R35 Minor = R135 ° e| oe er eo 1" inversion - 2° inversion - version — 24 inversion — 34 in the bass 5" in the bass the bass ‘5! in the bass D Dr D/A Dm Dm/F Dm/A Diminished = R +3 55 10 2 10 a4 (o10%) sm R Augmented = R 338 SCT T*inversion — 2" inversion = 1" inversion — 2" inversion — 3 in the bass ‘S® in the bass 3° in the bass 5" in the bass pe DF ey D+ D+F D+/A* a a a Je Ue 2 = 40. " 10 se (10 bs R " 8 %0 3 uut0%) #s™ R