View source for First inversion

{{Short description|Relative chord placement}}
{{F major chord inversions}}

The '''first [[Inverted chord|inversion]]''' of a [[chord (music)|chord]] is the [[Voicing (music)|voicing]] of a [[Triad (music)|triad]], [[seventh chord]], or [[ninth chord]] in which the [[third (chord)|third]] of the chord is the [[bass note]] and the [[root (chord)|root]] a [[Interval (music)|sixth]] above it.<ref>[[Walter Piston]], ''Harmony'', fifth edition, revised and expanded by Mark DeVoto (New York: W. W. Norton, 1987): p.&nbsp;66. {{ISBN|978-0-393-95480-7}}.</ref> In the first inversion of a C-[[major triad]], the bass is E — the third of the triad — with the fifth and the root stacked above it (the root now shifted an octave higher), forming the intervals of a minor third and a minor sixth above the inverted bass of E, respectively.

:<score lang="lilypond" vorbis="1">
{
\override Score.TimeSignature
#'stencil = ##f
\override Score.SpacingSpanner.strict-note-spacing = ##t
\set Score.proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1/4)
\time 4/4 
\relative c' { 
   <c e g>1^\markup { \column { "Root" "position" } }
   \once \override NoteHead.color = #blue <e g c>1^\markup { \column { "First" "inversion" } }
   <g c e>1^\markup { \column { "Second" "inversion" } }
   }
}
</score>

In the first inversion of G-[[dominant seventh chord]], the bass note is B, the third of the seventh chord.

:<score lang="lilypond" vorbis="1">
{
\override Score.TimeSignature
#'stencil = ##f
\override Score.SpacingSpanner.strict-note-spacing = ##t
\set Score.proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1/4)
\time 4/4 
\relative c' { 
   <g b d f>1^\markup { \column { "Root" "position" } }
   \once \override NoteHead.color = #blue <b d f g>1^\markup { \column { "First" "inversion" } }
   <d f g b>1^\markup { \column { "Second" "inversion" } }
   <f g b d>1^\markup { \column { "Third" "inversion" } }
   }
}
</score>
In [[figured bass]], a first-inversion triad is a {{music|6 chord}} chord (not to be confused with an [[Sixth chord|added sixth chord]]), while a first-inversion seventh chord is a {{music|65 chord}} chord.

According to ''The American History and Encyclopedia of Music:''{{Quote|Inversions are not restricted to the same number of tones as the original chord, nor to any fixed order of tones except with regard to the interval between the root, or its octave, and the bass note, hence, great variety results.<ref>Hubbard, William Lines (1908). The American History and Encyclopedia of Music, Vol. 10: ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=cfgg5POKoNsC&pg=PA103 Musical Dictionary]'', p.103. Irving Squire: London. {{pre-ISBN}}. {{HathiTrust |htid=ucw.ark:/13960/t7fr0b61n |title=Also}}</ref>}}

Note that any voicing above the bass is allowed. A first inversion chord must have the third [[chord factor]] in the bass, but it may have any arrangement of the root and fifth above that, including doubled notes, compound intervals, and omission (E-G-C, E-G-C-G', E-C'-G<nowiki>''</nowiki>, etc.)

==See also==
{{div col}}
*[[Figured bass]]
*[[Inversion (music)]]
*[[Root position]]
*[[Second inversion]]
*[[Third inversion]]
*[[Fourth inversion]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
<references/>
{{Chords}}
{{Voicing (music)}}

[[Category:Chord factors]]
[[Category:Chords]]
[[Category:Voicing (music)]]
{{Music-theory-stub}}