The chords you use will often be chosen first for their harmonic function, which changes the way our melodies and harmonies interact. However, there’s more subtle choices we can make that purely add colour to our music. These chords won’t necessarily change the harmonic function, but can be incredibly effective nonetheless in adding colour to your music and helping you break away from the same old choices.

In this blog we’re looking at using chord inversions, with a freeform scoring demonstration at the end that shows how you can use inversions when writing your own music. These videos and texts have been taken and adapted from our course Practical Harmony 1, so if you’re looking for a more in-depth look at inversions, as well as a host of other harmonic techniques, we recommend checking it out.

First, let’s look at Inversions and how they can be used to smooth transitions between chords.

One of the reasons we use inversions is to create smooth transitions between the individual notes of adjacent chords. This is known as voice leading, or part writing, and as a general rule it means that the notes of the chord take the fewest amount of steps when changing to the next chord (there is a lot to it but this definition will do for now).

For those of you who want a quick refresh of what a 1st inversion major chord looks like, see the images below:

In regards to voice leading and smooth movement between chords, there are a couple of contexts in which 2nd inversion chords are likely to come up.

One such case is movement between I and IV; in the key of C major these are the chords C and F. A root position C major will have C in the bass, and as the note C is part of an F major triad, its 5th, this note can stay put when the harmony changes. This puts the 5th of the chord in the bass, meaning that the F chord is in 2nd inversion.

As Roman numerals: IVc - I

As chords in C major: F/C - C.

Another common case you might encounter, especially in a classical/traditional context, is the use of a 2nd inversion tonic chord immediately preceding the V chord, the dominant, at the end of a musical phrase. This requires a little more explanation.

The movement from V to I that concludes a musical phrase is known as a perfect cadence, and it has a very final and definitive quality to it. In a cadential progression that ultimately concludes with the chords V - I, the harmony preceding the V is often a 2nd inversion I chord. By having it in 2nd inversion, the same note can stay in the bass when the harmony changes to the V chord. 

As Roman numerals: Ic - V - I

As chords in C major: C/G - G - C

In this video, Guy scores a complete piece of music using a wide range of harmonic techniques. You’ll find inversions used throughout here, but also a bunch of other harmonic colouring and functional techniques discussed throughout the full course.

Take a listen and see which ones you can hear as he writes. He will draw attention to them as he uses them, but being able to hear them yourself is crucial, so you know how to translate the music you hear in your head into the DAW, or into the score editor.