Some tips on using chord inversions to expand your jazz playing.

Hi, guitarists! I've gone through the jazz link in the sidebar and found it extremely helpful. One thing I would add to it is chord inversions, so I thought I'd write a little something on them for you.

(Throughout, I'll be playing a bass note on the sixth string, muting the fifth string, playing the fourth, third, and second string, and muting the first. An easy way to do this is to use your right thumb on the sixth string and your right index, middle, and ring fingers to pluck the fourth, third, and second strings, respectively. Or you could use a pick on the sixth string and use your middle, ring, and pinky fingers to pluck the fourth, third, and second strings. Of course, strumming while muting works too.)

Let's take a ii-V-I in F major:

    Gm7  C7/G Fmaj7
e|---x----x----x---|

B|---3----1----1---|

G|---3----3----2---|

D|---3----2----2---|

A|---x----x----x---|

E|---3----3----1---|

You'll notice that our V chord looks like a standard C7

    C7
e|---x---|

B|---1---|

G|---3---|

D|---2---|

A|---3---|

E|---x---|

but we've moved our ring finger up to the sixth string to hit the G. Since the G on the bottom is the five of C, this chord is a second inversion of C7 (C7/G is the way you would write it). When the third of a chord is on the bottom, it's called a first inversion. When the fifth of a chord is on the bottom, it's called a second inversion. And when the seventh of a chord is on the bottom, it's called a third inversion.

Now, we can move this ii-V-I (Gm7-C7-Fmaj7) pattern around the neck (keeping the notes only on the sixth, fourth, third, and second strings), using chord inversions.

So, we can move all our root notes up an octave here:

e|-----------------|

B|-----------------|

G|--------5--------|

D|---5---------3---|

A|-----------------|

E|-----------------|

We have a G note (the two), then a C note (the five), then an F note (the one). Those are the root notes of the chords in our ii-V-I progression. Using inversions, we can build chords around them.

So lets build a minor seven chord around that G note (D|---5---|). We can do that like this:

   Gm7/A#
e|---x---|

B|---6---| This is the seventh of the chord.

G|---7---| This is the fifth of the chord.

D|---5---| This is the root note of the chord.

A|---x---|

E|---6---| This is the minor third of the chord.

Since the bottom note is the third of the chord, this is first inversion Gm7.

Now lets build a dominant seven chord around that C note (G|---5---|):

   C7/A#
e|---x---|

B|---5---| This is the third of the chord.

G|---5---| This is the root note of the chord.

D|---5---| This is the fifth of the chord.

A|---x---|

E|---6---| This is the seventh of the chord.

Since the seventh is on the bottom, this is a third inversion C7 chord.

Finally, lets build a major seven chord on that F note (D|---3---|):

  Fmaj7/A
e|---x---|

B|---5---| This is the major seven of the chord.

G|---5---| This is the fifth of the chord.

D|---3---| This is the root note of the chord.

A|---x---|

E|---5---| This is the third of the chord.

Since the third is on the bottom, this is a first inversion Fmaj7 chord. It's unsurprising that our Fmaj/A and our Gm7/A# are both first inversions since both of their root notes are on the fourth string. That will tend to be the case when constructing chords this way (i.e. when you're only playing the sixth, fourth, third, and second strings). When the root is on the fourth string, it will be a first inversion chord. When the root is on the third string, it will be a third inversion chord. And when the root is on the second string it will be a second inversion chord (such as our very first C7/G).

Putting it all together, we get our new ii-V-I progression:

 Gm7/A# C7/A# Fmaj7/A 
e|---x----x----x---|

B|---6----5----5---| 

G|---7----5----5---| 

D|---5----5----3---| 

A|---x----x----x---|

E|---6----6----5---| 

Using inversions is a great way to move yourself around the neck. I remember playing ii-V-I's and feeling very restricted to that little box of the neck.

Try moving up another octave to

e|--------8--------|

B|---8---------6---|

G|-----------------|

D|-----------------|

A|-----------------|

E|-----------------|

and building the kinds of chords we've been using (muting the fifth and first strings) around those notes!

Enjoy!