Inversions are a class of voicings.
Though Nuffink edited out his post I can see from the quote that he's right on track.
Voicings are highly important to the tonal quality of the chord in question. Inversions are a special class of voicings which we set aside because they can potentially alter the function of the harmony in functional analysis.
Im ConfuseD!! Chords identification
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- KVRAF
- 6519 posts since 13 Mar, 2002 from UK
Ok since you quoted my brain dump...fmr wrote:Voicing is the way you fill your chord (AFAIK). That's nothing to do with inversions. Inversions are defined by the note that is place in the bass. That's it. A seventh chord with the seventh in the bass will always be the third onversion, no matter what notes you fill it with. Problem here is that, when jazz came up, jazz players started to use chords in different ways, and no longer treated as chords "strictu sensu" (as in structural harmony) - added sevenths, added ninths, fourths in place of thirds, etc.nuffink wrote:Inversions are a bit of a hangover from pre 20th century theory. Inversion only really makes sense with triads. Any order of three notes can be fully described using inversion. This isn't the case once you start using 4 or more notes.
Take the example of a C major triad
C, E, G Normal Form
E, G, C 1st Inversion
G, E, C 2nd Inversion
That's it. Every possible order catered for.
Now lets look at C Major 7
C, E, G, B Normal Form
E, G, B, C 1st Inversion
G, B, C, E 2nd Inversion
B, C, E, G 3rd Inversion
But what about
C, E, B, G
C, B, G, E
G, C, E, B etc
These (and all the other missing combinations) are all equally valid but aren't considered inversions.
They're voicings. Inversions are just a special case.
Learn about voicings not inversions.
That's the way i see it, anyway.
Even with triads, inversions don't accurately define the order
E, C, G (for instance).
Now I'm happy for that to be called an inversion but most books don't.
Now with improved MIDI jitter!
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- KVRAF
- 4143 posts since 7 Sep, 2001 from Melbourne, Australia
Yeah - this is the kind of forum where you start with something simple and end up with much more than you bargained for.
The conversation quickly got beyond my knowledge.
Regards
Caleb
The conversation quickly got beyond my knowledge.
Regards
Caleb
Happiness is the hidden behind the obvious.
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- KVRAF
- 2217 posts since 15 Jul, 2003
it's easy to get wrapped arounds the axle with inversions, but for me it's mostly a matter of where my fingers can get to easily from one form to another
it's not like it's a purely theoretical piano roll exercise
and then there are clever forms that get passed down like the right hand major 7th forms with the 7th on the bottom that sound good and are easy to play
I think these are referred to as forms that fit well on the keyboard -- just like guitar chords aren't exactly purely theoretical shapes -- and a lot of the forms have to do with the smooth voice leading transition to other common forms
a good teacher will share these
teaching yourself -- books have gotten much better at this sort of thing in the last few years -- I would look to 'instruction' books by John Valerio or Mark Harrison for practical forms
it's not like it's a purely theoretical piano roll exercise
and then there are clever forms that get passed down like the right hand major 7th forms with the 7th on the bottom that sound good and are easy to play
I think these are referred to as forms that fit well on the keyboard -- just like guitar chords aren't exactly purely theoretical shapes -- and a lot of the forms have to do with the smooth voice leading transition to other common forms
a good teacher will share these
teaching yourself -- books have gotten much better at this sort of thing in the last few years -- I would look to 'instruction' books by John Valerio or Mark Harrison for practical forms