All right. Let’s talk about inversions, inversions, inversions. Chord inversions are what will make aaaaaaaall the difference in your playing.
What is a chord inversion?
What are inversions? It’s when you take a chord, move the bottom note up an octave and play the new notes. In a C chord (C, E, G) you would move the C up an octave and play E, G, C. You’re literally inverting it, or flipping it upside down.
Same chord, COMPLETELY different sound.
When you keep inverting the chord, you create more inversions until you arrive back at root position, an octave higher.
So many worship keys players know that there’s a disconnect between what they’re playing and what they hear on recordings. They want to know, “How do I make it sound like the recording? I’m playing the right chords but it doesn’t sound like what I’m hearing.”
The answer is simple. It’s always going to be inversions.
Why are inversions so important?
Inversions are the foundation for chord voicings, which is just the official way of saying the different ways to play the same chord. And the foundation of Inversions is ear training and intervals, which we talked about last week.
If you need more help understanding inversions, I really recommend that you join our Worship Community or a round of Coaching! We’ll also be doing a free Masterclass series on Color Chords, Inversions + Voicings in the next few months so join the waitlist for that. Those are some great ways for beginners to get up to speed on the basics.
Looking forward
Next week I want to talk about why chord inversions so important and how they’re the key to bridge the gap between basic chording and playing the correct voicing (like the professionals do).
But this week the major thing I want you to take away from this is how important that little flip, or inversion is for your chording. Chord voicings are a very large topic, especially when you start building color chords and complex chords and inverting them.
But the first step down that path is inversions!
So don’t skip inversion practice! If you’re a Coaching student I incorporate those into every weekly practice checklist. So don’t skip ‘em! 🙂
Drill of the Week! 🎶
This week’s DOTW is a hand independence drill that alternates between playing loudly and softly!
CLICK HERE to view the demonstration
This exercise will help rewire your brain by requiring you to play loudly with one hand and softly with the other, all while playing together in unison. The notes are simple, but playing it is not. 🙂
Be sure to play slowly and steadily in the beginning. Don’t pick up the speed until you can feel yourself being able to focus on one hand at a time. Even if it takes days (or longer!)
Practice this exercise 10x daily.
Weekly Challenge 💪🏻
In the key of C take the C chord and play root position (C,E,G) then first inversion (E,G,C) then second inversion (G,E,C), then root position an octave higher than where you started (C,E.G).
Then go back down, reversing the process (high root, second inversion, first inversion, low root). If you can play it in more keys, do it! Practice that this week and then post a video of your success in Tuesday’s Brag Box.
For my players with prior experience, arpeggiate the chord so you’re playing one note at a time instead of the block chord.
Where are my uber overachievers? Use both hands! Start blocking with both hands and if you’ve got that, arpeggiate both hands in unison.
LOOKING AHEAD
I’m in the process of planning the next free Masterclass and would really love YOUR input! What would you like to see offered next?
If you would take a second and fill out this quick questionnaire, I’d be really grateful. 🙂 If you have a topic you’d love to see covered that isn’t on the questionnaire, just hit reply and let me know!
And don’t forget to join our Worship Community group. We’re going to be learning a lot together in the coming weeks!
