Learn Chord Inversions and Chord Formulas

All of us learn the open chord shapes and after a few months feel stuck. It kind of starts feeling mundane and boring after a point. There is a lot more to playing chords than just the open chord shapes. How to grow past the open chords? The answer is—explore and learn more chord shapes. 

In this lesson, learn about chord inversions and chord formulas and start exploring the guitar fretboard like a pro.

Chord Formulas

All chords are built using different interval combinations. By picking out any particular interval combination, one can play a particular chord. These interval combinations are called chord formulas. E.g. to play a major chord in any major key, pick out the 1,3,5 intervals from the major scale of that key. If you break down, the notes for C Major chord - C (1st Interval Of C Major) - E (3rd Interval Of C Major) - G (5th Interval Of C Major).

Altering a single interval in a chord alters how it sounds. For example, if you play 1-3-5 from a C major interval, it is a C Major Chord. But if you flatten just the third interval in the above formula, 1-b3-5, it changes how the chord sounds completely. Now the chord sounds different and is called a C minor Chord.

Similarly, all chords have a formula that can be related to intervals. In any key, use the formula to find out notes from the major scale and build the chord.

The notes of the major scale can be identified by number, according to their place in the scale. Their location in the scale is called their scale degree. For example, D is the second note of the C major scale, and is called the “second scale degree,” “scale degree 2,” or just “2.” If you do not understand intervals or scale degree or any other music theory jargon, make sure you check out the basic music theory lesson here before proceeding.

Chords can be of two notes, three notes, four notes or even more. Below is a table for all chord formulas. Using it, you can build different chords in any key.

Chord type	Formula	Example in Key Of C
Major	1 3 5	C E G
Minor	1 b3 5	C Eb G
7th(Also called Dominant 7th)	1 3 5 b7	C E G Bb
Major 7th	1 3 5 7	C E G B
Minor 7th	1 b3 5 b7	C Eb G Bb
6th	1 3 5 6	C E G A
Minor 6th	1 b3 5 6	C Eb G A
Diminished	1 b3 b5	C Eb Gb
Diminished 7th	1 b3 b5 bb7	C Eb Gb Bbb
Half diminished 7th	1 b3 b5 b7	C Eb Gb Bb
Augmented	1 3 #5	C E G#
7th #5	1 3 #5 b7	C E G# Bb
9th	1 3 5 b7 9	C E G Bb D
7th #9	1 3 5 b7 #9	C E G Bb D#
Major 9th	1 3 5 7 9	C E G B D
Added 9th(Chords extended beyond the octave are called 'added' when the 7th is not present.)	1 3 5 9	C E G D
Minor 9th	1 b3 5 b7 9	C Eb G Bb D
Minor add 9th	1 b3 5 9	C Eb G D
11th	1 (3) 5 b7 9 11	C E G Bb D F
Minor 11th	1 b3 5 b7 9 11	C Eb G Bb D F
7th #11	1 3 5 b7 #11	C E G Bb D F#
Major 7th #11	1 3 5 7 9 #11	C E G B D F#
13th	1 3 5 b7 9 (11) 13	C E G Bb D (F) A
Major 13th	1 3 5 7 9 (11) 13	C E G B D (F) A
Minor 13th	1 b3 5 b7 9 11 13	C Eb G B D F A
Suspended 4th (sus, sus4)	1 4 5	C F G
Suspended 2nd (sus2)	1 2 5	C D G
5th (power chord)	1 5	C G

 

All the chords listed above are not of much use to beginners. Some are advanced chords used for phrasing by advanced players. For beginners, knowing just the below-mentioned chord formulas are sufficient.

• Major - 1-3-5
• Minor- 1-b3-5
• Augmented - 1-3-#5
• Diminished - 1-b3-b5
• Major 7th - 1-3-5-7
• Suspended chords - 1-2-5 and 1-4-5
• Power chords - 1-5

Triads in Music

A triad, as the name implies, is a type of chord made up of three unique pitch classes. A triad consists of Unison, Third and Fifth intervals — three notes stacked in thirds.

Not all three-note chords are triads, however. For a chord to be a triad, the pitches contained therein must combine to create specific intervals.

As with intervals, triads come in different qualities/characteristics. Triads may be major, minor, diminished, or augmented.

To determine the quality of a triad, one must consider the characteristics of the intervals contained therein.

Understanding triads is important, as one can easily move around the triads all across the fretboard and play the same chord all across the guitar neck.

Chord Inversions

Moving around chord shapes, while rearranging their notes, is called a chord inversion. For example, if you pick out the notes C-E-G in any order and any position on the guitar neck or a piano or any other instrument, you will be playing an inversion of the C Major chord.

Here is a chart displaying different inversions of the C Major chord all across the guitar fretboard.

Similarly, you can invert any chord in any key by just understanding its notes, formulas and locating those notes on the fretboard. Whether it is a major triad, minor triad, 7th chord, diminished chord etc. Different names are used for chord inversions, let us understand the names.

First Chord Inversion

Any chord with the 3rd scale degree in the bass is called the first inversion. For example, in a C Major triad, C-E-G is the root position with C as the root. If you play E-G-C or E-C-G Voicing of the chord, it is called the first inversion. Here, the note E (3rd degree or 3rd interval) is in the bass position.  The alter between E-C-G and E-G-C is called Voice Exchange. 

Below is a table of a few other chord examples and their first inversion to help you better understand.

Chord In Root Position	First Inversion and Voice Exchange	Third Degree
C Major Triad ( C-E-G / 1-3-5)	(E-C-G / 3-1-5) and (E-G-C / 3-5-1)	E
D Major Triad (D-F#-A / 1-3-5)	(F#-D-A / 3-1-5) and (F#-A-D / 3-5-1)	F#
C Minor Triad (C-Db-G / 1-b3-5)	(Db-C-G /b3-1-5) and (Db-G-C / b3-5-1)	Db
D Diminished (D-F-Ab / 1-b3-b5)	(F-D-Ab / b3-1-b5) and (F-Ab-D /b3-b5-1)	F

Second Chord Inversion

Any chord with the 5th scale degree in the bass is called the second inversion. For example, in a C Major triad, C-E-G is the root position with C as the root. If you play G-C-E or G-E-C voicing of the chord, it is called the second inversion. Here, the note G (5th degree or 5th interval) is in the bass position.  The alter between G-C-E and G-E-C is called Voice Exchange. 

Below is a table of a few other chord examples and their second inversion to help you better understand.

Chord In Root Position	Second Inversion and Voice Exchange	Fifth Degree
C Major Triad ( C-E-G / 1-3-5)	(G-C-E / 5-1-3) and (G-E-C / 5-3-1)	G
D Major Triad (D-F#-A / 1-3-5)	(A-D-F# / 5-1-3) and (A-F#-D / 5-3-1)	A
C Minor Triad (C-Db-G / 1-b3-5)	(G-C-Db /5-1-b3) and (G-Db-C / 5-b3-1)	G
D Diminished (D-F-Ab / 1-b3-b5)	(Ab-D-F / b5-1-b3) and (Ab-F-D /b5-b3-1)	Ab

Why Are Chord Inversions Important

When you use chord inversion, it gives the chord a different voicing. Each inversion will sound a little different from the root position chord. This is known as chord voicing. Chords voicing are used in music to add interest and break linearity. Using different voicing, it gets easy to harmonise the music. Here are a few advantages of using chord inversions: -

• Using any chord inversion in addition to root position gives more variety to a piece of music
• Using any chord inversion allows for a more melodic baseline
• Adds a sense of movement
• Breaks the linearity and monotonous nature of a piece of music.

So next time you are jamming with another musician, try using chord inversions and different voicing in the music to see how it adds to the texture and feel.

In the next lesson, learn how to know chords on a major scale.

Beginner Guitar Lessons

• Lesson 1 — Parts Of Acoustic Guitar and Electric Guitar
• Lesson 2 — How To Hold The Guitar and Guitar Pick
• Lesson 3 — How To Tune The Guitar
• Lesson 4 — How To Read Guitar Tabs and Chord Diagram
• Lesson 5 — Easy Guitar Chords For Beginners
• Lesson 6 — D Major And G Major Chords
• Lesson 7 — A Major, B Major and E Major Chords
• Lesson 8 — E Minor & D Minor Chords
• Lesson 9 — Guitar Strumming Basics For Beginners
• Lesson 10 — How To Play F Major Chord On Guitar
• Lesson 11 — Music Theory Basics For Beginner Guitarist
• Lesson 12 — How To Play Barre Chords On Guitar
• Lesson 13 — How To Palm Mute A Guitar
• Lesson 14 — How To Learn Scales On Guitar For Beginners
• Lesson 15 – Learn Chord Formulas And Chord Inversions
• Lesson 16 – How To Know Chords In A Major Scale And Chord Progression
• Lesson 17 – Parts Of A Song And Song Structure
• Bonus Lesson – How To Write Your First Song On Acoustic Guitar