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Note: that the only difference between this chord and a
major triad is that it has a minor third instead of a major third.
Note: that these intervals are reversed from the major triad.
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The voicings (order of tones) of the above examples
are all root position voicings of the chords. That
means the root is the lowest tone, followed by the 3rd as the
next highest, and then the 5th. These tones don't always have
to be played in that (tonal) order.
If we play the 3rd as lowest note in the triad, then the 5th, and then the root, we call the voicing the first inversion.
If we play the 5th as the lowest note, then the root, then the 3rd, the voicing is called the second inversion You should know all the inversions for each chord. Here is how they are played on the melody strings:
These definitions are simplifications of inversions as this lesson is sticking to the basics and how they relate to the free hands fretboard geometry and playing methods.
There should be another lesson really on some more advanced discussions on the uses of inversions. For now, one can get into more complete definitions of inversions by checking out wikipedia's definitions for
Root position , 1st inversion , and 2nd inversion
The fingerings used here are Greg Howard style
fingerings that can be found in
Greg Howard's Chord Compendia .
Note: Greg employ's double stop fingering for
chords quite a bit. So the fingerings for arpeggations of these
chords will be different in those cases
.
These inversion diagrams are laid out to save space. Additionally,
they point out some interesting relationships geometrically
between inversions of the same chord on the melody side of the
fretboard.
In this arrangement, you will notice, as you progress from
left to right, that the root note of each triad moves on octave up
(two frets to the right, and up two strings) and the other notes
fall around that position (string-wise) in a consistent manner.
(Note that all augmented triad inversions have the same shape!)
Because the bass strings of the stick are usually tuned in the wider
perfect 5th interval, it is not easy to play the above triads on the bass
strings. Two ways around this are a) use both hands, and b) use the "B.C."
(Bob Culbertson) method, which involves using the thumb of your left hand
to play notes. However, because of the relationships of the melody strings
to the bass strings, these aren't really necessary. As we learned in the
previous lesson, a perfect 4th is the inversion of a perfect 5th, and
vice-versa. What this means for the stick is that you can move a chord
pattern from the melody strings to the bass strings, but keep the same note
as the root. The chord will have the same quality, but all the notes
will be inverted! It will sound very similar, but the spacing between the
actual notes played is greater.
(Note: in Classic theory, these voicings are called open structure voicings, which means that The lowest and highest tones are more than one octave apart. The all the chords shown above are close structure chords, meaning that the lowest and highest tones fall within one octave.)
Here is a table for that shows how the bass chords are transmogrified when you "warp" them over from the melody side (keeping the geometric shape as-is)
Melody strings | Bass strings |
---|---|
closed root position (R-3-5) | open 2nd inversion (5-3-R) |
closed 1st inversion (3-5-R) | open root position (R-5-3) |
closed 2nd inversion (5-R-3) | open first inversion (3-R-5) |
Try playing all the melody string patterns chord patterns on the bass
strings. Listen for the similarities and differences of the chords. (Note:
chords generally sound better in higher registers, so try to stick to the
higher bass stings.)
You should always learn to associate three things in your head: a name, a
symbol, and a sound. The sound is, of course, what we're after. The name is
for our convenience - it lets us communicate what we are doing to each
other. The symbol serves the same purpose, but on paper (or in this case,
on your computer screen).
Make sure you can identify all the chords above when you hear them. This
takes practice. Play them frequently, and maybe record them in random order
and listen to the tape a week later to see if you can identify them. Again,
there are some excellent ear training tapes and software available to help
you.
Next lesson: Will Pirkle will teach us about the major scale and it's modes.