1 00:00:05,300 --> 00:00:06,278 Hi there. 2 00:00:06,278 --> 00:00:09,651 We've already considered the most important chords, but 3 00:00:09,651 --> 00:00:12,290 so far we've used them only in root position. 4 00:00:13,380 --> 00:00:16,360 As you heard then, we use a single note 5 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:20,920 name to identify chords, such as a triad of C-major. 6 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:21,622 Here we are. 7 00:00:21,622 --> 00:00:25,361 [MUSIC] 8 00:00:25,361 --> 00:00:28,620 And now's the time to consider their inversions. 9 00:00:28,620 --> 00:00:34,510 If you take a triad of C-major, obviously it has three possible positions. 10 00:00:34,510 --> 00:00:36,010 What we call root position. 11 00:00:36,010 --> 00:00:37,816 [MUSIC] 12 00:00:37,816 --> 00:00:39,209 First inversion. 13 00:00:39,209 --> 00:00:40,535 [MUSIC] 14 00:00:40,535 --> 00:00:41,810 And second inversion. 15 00:00:41,810 --> 00:00:44,121 [MUSIC] 16 00:00:44,121 --> 00:00:48,670 So we're using the same three notes, but we're stacking them up differently. 17 00:00:48,670 --> 00:00:52,470 We're switching around the order of the, the same notes. 18 00:00:52,470 --> 00:00:55,453 And the, these chords have a slightly different feel to them. 19 00:00:55,453 --> 00:00:58,692 The root position feels firm and definite. 20 00:00:58,692 --> 00:00:59,955 [MUSIC] 21 00:00:59,955 --> 00:01:01,595 The first inversion perhaps 22 00:01:01,595 --> 00:01:02,500 [MUSIC] 23 00:01:02,500 --> 00:01:04,947 less so and needs to move on. 24 00:01:04,947 --> 00:01:07,311 And the second inversion 25 00:01:07,311 --> 00:01:08,305 [MUSIC] 26 00:01:08,305 --> 00:01:11,483 demands to move on somewhere else. 27 00:01:11,483 --> 00:01:16,540 We'll be considering second inversions in more detail later. 28 00:01:16,540 --> 00:01:21,467 But for the meantime, let's consider a few more chords and their inversions. 29 00:01:21,467 --> 00:01:27,455 Let's take A-minor, because of course this applies to minor triads as well as major. 30 00:01:27,455 --> 00:01:29,384 A minor, root position. 31 00:01:29,384 --> 00:01:31,968 [MUSIC] 32 00:01:31,968 --> 00:01:33,699 A minor, first inversion. 33 00:01:33,699 --> 00:01:35,640 [MUSIC] 34 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,063 And A-minor, second inversion. 35 00:01:38,063 --> 00:01:40,722 [MUSIC] 36 00:01:40,722 --> 00:01:44,607 Let's take G-major root first and second. 37 00:01:44,607 --> 00:01:51,232 [MUSIC] 38 00:01:51,232 --> 00:01:53,297 And finally C-minor root. 39 00:01:53,297 --> 00:01:55,703 [MUSIC] 40 00:01:55,703 --> 00:01:56,229 First 41 00:01:56,229 --> 00:01:57,572 [MUSIC] 42 00:01:57,572 --> 00:01:58,441 and second. 43 00:01:58,441 --> 00:02:02,548 [MUSIC] 44 00:02:02,548 --> 00:02:06,903 You've also heard about some chords which have four notes one 45 00:02:06,903 --> 00:02:11,360 of the main ones being the dominant seventh, which has four notes. 46 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:14,660 And obviously a chord with four notes will 47 00:02:14,660 --> 00:02:18,080 have three inversions, as well as the root position. 48 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:22,700 So let's consider a dominant seventh in the key of C-major. 49 00:02:22,700 --> 00:02:23,787 Here's C-major. 50 00:02:23,787 --> 00:02:26,000 [MUSIC] 51 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,344 And it's dominant seventh will sound like this in root position. 52 00:02:29,344 --> 00:02:32,117 [MUSIC] 53 00:02:32,117 --> 00:02:33,643 And then in first inversion. 54 00:02:33,643 --> 00:02:35,524 [MUSIC] 55 00:02:35,524 --> 00:02:36,684 Second inversion. 56 00:02:36,684 --> 00:02:38,259 [MUSIC] 57 00:02:38,259 --> 00:02:40,151 But also third inversion. 58 00:02:40,151 --> 00:02:43,375 [MUSIC] 59 00:02:43,375 --> 00:02:44,839 Three inversions. 60 00:02:44,839 --> 00:02:47,519 And here is another one, key of E-flat. 61 00:02:47,519 --> 00:02:50,671 [MUSIC] 62 00:02:50,671 --> 00:02:52,503 Dominant seventh in root. 63 00:02:52,503 --> 00:02:54,940 [MUSIC] 64 00:02:54,940 --> 00:02:55,919 In first inversion. 65 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:57,831 [MUSIC] 66 00:02:57,831 --> 00:02:58,951 In second inversion. 67 00:02:58,951 --> 00:03:00,671 [MUSIC] 68 00:03:00,671 --> 00:03:02,320 And in third inversion. 69 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:06,735 [MUSIC] 70 00:03:06,735 --> 00:03:10,127 Variety in music can be obtained by using the same 71 00:03:10,127 --> 00:03:14,690 chord in its various inversions, because each has its own feel. 72 00:03:16,044 --> 00:03:19,468 For example, the finality of a root position means that you 73 00:03:19,468 --> 00:03:23,465 nearly always find a root position at the end of a piece. 74 00:03:23,465 --> 00:03:26,350 And you feel the music has come to rest. 75 00:03:26,350 --> 00:03:27,098 Let's have an example. 76 00:03:27,098 --> 00:03:31,192 If you take simple song like Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and 77 00:03:31,192 --> 00:03:35,298 end it on a first inversion, it wouldn't sound quite right. 78 00:03:35,298 --> 00:03:45,003 [MUSIC] 79 00:03:45,003 --> 00:03:48,720 It's the correct chord, but it's the wrong inversion. 80 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:50,816 If we ended the piece on the 81 00:03:50,816 --> 00:03:55,303 second inversion, it would sound even more peculiar. 82 00:03:55,303 --> 00:04:05,319 [MUSIC] 83 00:04:05,319 --> 00:04:08,016 And we certainly feel we had not arrived home. 84 00:04:08,016 --> 00:04:10,337 If however you play it the correct way with 85 00:04:10,337 --> 00:04:12,999 root position at the end, it sounds like this. 86 00:04:12,999 --> 00:04:21,511 [MUSIC] 87 00:04:21,511 --> 00:04:23,600 With a feeling of finality. 88 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:28,040 So it's important to get the right inversion, not just at the end of 89 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:30,110 a piece as we've heard there, but 90 00:04:30,110 --> 00:04:32,860 throughout the music, throughout any piece of music. 91 00:04:32,860 --> 00:04:37,780 So that we call the progression of the harmony sounds pleasing and sounds smooth. 92 00:04:39,402 --> 00:04:43,432 There are many progressions we could consider, but one 93 00:04:43,432 --> 00:04:47,033 very common one that you find again towards the end 94 00:04:47,033 --> 00:04:51,851 of a piece, or the end of a section of a piece, is what we call Ic V I. 95 00:04:51,851 --> 00:04:53,900 Let's stick to F-major at the moment. 96 00:04:53,900 --> 00:04:58,435 Ic is the second inversion of the tonic. 97 00:04:58,435 --> 00:04:59,700 [MUSIC] 98 00:04:59,700 --> 00:05:00,883 Followed by the dominant 99 00:05:00,883 --> 00:05:02,091 [MUSIC] 100 00:05:02,091 --> 00:05:04,186 Followed by root position of the tonic. 101 00:05:04,186 --> 00:05:05,235 [MUSIC] 102 00:05:05,235 --> 00:05:08,435 So that's Ic V I in F. 103 00:05:08,435 --> 00:05:11,285 [MUSIC] 104 00:05:11,285 --> 00:05:16,419 Now here the second inversion really wants to move on. 105 00:05:16,419 --> 00:05:19,203 [MUSIC] 106 00:05:19,203 --> 00:05:21,379 And this helps the harmony to progress 107 00:05:21,379 --> 00:05:24,910 strongly towards the final chord of the piece. 108 00:05:24,910 --> 00:05:28,960 Second inversion is a chord which has to be used very carefully. 109 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:33,265 There are only really two main situations when you find 110 00:05:33,265 --> 00:05:37,852 it, one being the cadences just described, and the other 111 00:05:37,852 --> 00:05:42,250 is what we call a passing second inversion, where three 112 00:05:42,250 --> 00:05:47,041 chords move very smoothly with the base in conjunct motion. 113 00:05:47,041 --> 00:05:51,281 So the baseline was going to move by step, like this. 114 00:05:51,281 --> 00:05:54,888 [MUSIC] 115 00:05:54,888 --> 00:05:58,585 So the middle of these three chords is a passing second inversion. 116 00:05:58,585 --> 00:05:59,721 I'll play it again. 117 00:05:59,721 --> 00:06:04,377 [MUSIC] 118 00:06:04,377 --> 00:06:08,729 So the chord is, as it were, protected by the ones on either side. 119 00:06:08,729 --> 00:06:13,027 So that is a correct way to use the second inversion, 120 00:06:13,027 --> 00:06:17,339 and the other one, to repeat, is the Ic V I cadence. 121 00:06:17,339 --> 00:06:27,339 [MUSIC]