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Lesson Fifteen: More New Notes and Chords

Triads

A triad is a 3-note chord. A triad can be built on any note, on any scale.

Inverted Chords

Any chord can be inverted by moving the bottom note (the root note) to the top of the chord.

When the root note is placed on top, that chord would then be in its "First Inversion."

In the above example, the first chord is a C Chord. The second picture of the chord shows that same C chord in its first inversion, because the root note, the C, has been moved to the top.

You can then invert a "1st inversion" chord to a "2nd inversion" chord by again moving the bottom note to the top. This time, you're moving what would have originally been the middle note of the chord. This is shown in the third picture of the chord.

As you'll notice, if you invert the chord one more time, you will return it to its root position.

Remember:
If the root note is the bottom note, the chord is in its root position.
If the root note is on top, the chord is in the "1st inversion."
If the root note is in the middle, the chord is in its "2nd inversion."

Sixteenth Notes

This is a sixteenth note written by itself. 4 sixteenth notes equal 1 quarter note, and two sixteenth notes equal an eighth note.

Sixteenth notes are usually written in groups of twos and fours:

In the last example, the sixteenth notes would be counted 1-six-teenth-note, 2 six-teenth-note, etc.

Lesson Sixteen: A Last Word!

Emily Sigers
emily@thepianopages.com