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Summary: Learn how to read piano chord inversions in piano sheet music in this free video on music instruction and piano techniques.
Views: 7,470 | Tags: chords, piano, how-to, play, learn, key, read, sheet, signatures, notes, reading music
About the Expert
Annie Brunson Annie Brunson has a degree in Music and Theater from Bretton Hall (part of Leeds University, England). She has taught piano, oboe, and middle school band. S... read more
Hello! I am Annie Brunson on behalf of Expert Village. Today we’re going to learn about chord inversions. In a previous lesson, we learned about triads, the C chord. But you can play the C chord in many different ways. The first way we are going to learn is the first inversion C. This time instead of starting on the C, we’re going to start the chord on the E. Still the same notes, E, G and C. So this is the C chord in the first inversion. The second inversion, you guessed it, it starts on the G. G, C and E. So these 3 chords have a different sound, the root, first inversion, second inversion. Let us take the G chord. G, first inversion will start on the B. Second inversion would start on the D. Now this is useful because sometimes it makes it easier to play. This makes it easier on the your hands. Say you start with a C chord, if you jump to a G chord, it sounds a bit clumsy. But what if you went to the first inversion of the G chord. So you start with your C chord and now all you have to do is just move 2 fingers and you have the first inversion of the G chord. That’s a lot easier. So this time practice “Mary had a little lamb” with the first inversion of the G chords. It sounded better too, didn’t it?