Grade 5: Inversions
Look at the chord below. It is a D minor triad in its basic form. We call this a D minor chord in root position.
Root position is also called 5/3 because there is an interval of a 5th and a 3rd from the bottom note.
If the D at the bottom is moved up an octave, the chord looks like this:
It still uses the notes of the D minor triad, but they have been inverted, so that the note that used to form the third of the triad (F) is at the bottom.
We call this D minor in the first inversion. A first inversion chord is called 6/3, because there is the interval of a 6th and a 3rd from the bottom.
If the F at the bottom is further moved up an octave, the chord looks like this:
It still uses the notes of the D minor triad, but they have been inverted, so that the note that used to form the 5th of the triad is at the bottom.
We call this D minor in the second inversion. A first inversion chord is called 6/4, because there is the interval of a 6th and a 4th from the bottom.
In each example, identify the chord in root position, first inversion, and second inversion.
Look at the C major scale below. Some notes have chords written on them.
The chord that is built on the supertonic (second note) of the scale is D-F-A.
In its root position, we call this chord II.
If chord II is inverted, we call this chord IIb (to show first inversion).
If chord II is inverted, we call this chord IIc (to show second inversion).
Based on the C major scale, can you write down the notes for the following chords:
IV, IVb, IVc, V, Vb, Vc
The extract below is written in F major. Here are some chords based on the F major scale.
In the extract below, can you identify (using the correct inversions), what chords are marked at * ?
