It can be confusing certainly. - In classical theory, in the grand scheme of things, traditionally chord inversion depend exclusively on which note is lowest.Toxikator wrote:Hm. Actually I like the approach, since it gives more credence to the voicing of the chord, but I always learned inversions by bass note.
However, when (as with Sascha's examples) you are dealing purely with one group of instruments where you know that a bass is always going to be playing below, then you might talk about inversions purely in relation to that group. For example, you might have a horn section playing G-C-E, which on its own is obviously C major in second inversion. However, if you know you have a tuba (or something) beneath the horns playing a C, then overall the chord is in root position.
