Tag: Chord voicing

B17. Chord Voicing: Doubling And Note Distribution

This post is one of a 2-part series of free basic music theory lessons on my blog, musictheoryde-mystified.com. You can see the complete list here. Please feel welcome to make a comment or ask a question.

A chord’s inversion is the most significant aspect of chord voicing. However, the pitch order and distribution of the other notes still have some bearing on the chord’s overall sound as well as on how the music flows from one chord to the next.

In many genres, the exact details of chord voicing are left up to the player. To do this well, players should be aware of the effects of different voicing options. 

The approach to voicing in the context of a piece is highly dependent on genre and beyond the scope of this beginner course. However, being aware of the parameters goes a long way towards developing a sense of flow in a chord progression.

Inversions are certainly the best place to start: the bass notes of chords are easily felt as a coherent part. When you’re ready, you can add more finesse by tweaking the pitch order of the other chord notes.

Doubling: More Is More

Doubling means to have more than one note of the same name. Usually notes are doubled at a higher or lower octave. If your instrument permits (or if the chord is played by an ensemble) you can also double a note in unison.

Like inversions, doubling a note makes it a more prominent part of the chord, although the effect is less powerful than the chord’s inversion.

  • Doubling the root note makes the chord more stable and helps it to represent the key.
  • Doubling the 3rd highlights the major or minor tonality.
  • Doubling the 5th creates ambiguity, highlighting the potential for a chord change where the 5th becomes the root note of the next chord. This chord change doesn’t need to follow: the sense of ambiguity can also be maintained as part of the chord’s character.

Try This…

The following C major chords are all in root position, with each chord featuring a different doubled note.

  1. Listen for the root note in each chord and sing or play the root note along with each chord, in an octave you can manage. It’s the same note for all three; the lowest note, C
  2. Now listen for the strongest note in each chord and sing that note. This time it’s not the same for all three chords. Is it the note that’s doubled?

Doubled, most doubled

If more than one note is doubled, the note with the most representatives, either in other octaves or in unison, will contribute most to the chord’s character.

The Distribution Of Notes In A Chord

Although less significant, there are other factors that affect chord voicing, such as:

  • Pitch: is the whole chord high or low?
  • Range: does the chord cover several octaves or just one?
  • Density: are there close intervals between some chord notes or are all the notes spread apart?

Try This…

If you play a chord instrument, experiment with different ways of playing the same chord. Test out the effects of inversions, doubling and note distribution for yourself.

You can do this on a melody instrument, too.

On a melody instrument you can create an effect similar to a chord by playing an arpeggio, as we saw in B15. The faster the arpeggio is played, the more chord-like the result.

Arpeggios sound even more chord-like if you play in a reverberant room. If you’re amplified, you can add some reverb instead.

Any pitch order within the instrument’s range can be played as an arpeggio, including doubled notes.

Here are a couple of generalised observations you can test…

Low is strong: 

  • A high chord is weaker than a low chord
  • Lowering the bass note by an octave makes a chord stronger

Separation equals clarity: 

  • The clearest chords have their notes widely spaced in pitch 
  • Close intervals can clash or muddy the sound, especially at lower octaves (Note: this could be a desired effect. It’s not a critique, just an observation)

If you found this post helpful, please feel welcome to like, share or leave a comment. If you have any questions, leave them as a comment and I’ll respond as soon as I can. To stay up to date with new posts, please subscribe.

NEXT LESSON: B18. Listen And Sing: Learn To Recognise The Notes Of A Major/Minor Chord 

PART 2 CONTENTS: Basic Music Theory Course Contents

B15. Chord Voicing: Inversions Of Triads

This post is one of a 2-part series of free basic music theory lessons on my blog, musictheoryde-mystified.com. You can see the complete list here. Please feel welcome to make a comment or ask a question.

Voicing

The notes of a chord can be used more than once, at different octaves or in unison. They can also be played in any pitch order, not just as listed in the content.

The following are all a C major chord:

Arranging the notes of chords into a specific pitch order is called voicing.

There are many possible ways to voice a chord but the difference in character is often minimal. It’s not uncommon for chord parts to leave much of that detail up to the player, rather than write down the exact order of the notes. Chord charts are a good example of this approach.

However, there is one aspect of voicing that has an obvious impact on how the chord sounds, and that is the lowest note. It’s one detail that we should be able to describe, even in a chord chart.

Inversions Of Triads

The most significant note in how a chord is voiced is the lowest note. The lowest note in a chord is called the bass note, even if it’s not particularly low.

The bass note has more influence in the character of the chord than the higher notes. 

  • When the root note is lowest, we say the chord is in root position
  • When the 3rd is lowest, the chord is in 1st inversion 
  • When the 5th is lowest, the chord is in 2nd inversion

Note: More complex chords also have a 3rd inversion. We’ll look at 3rd inversion chords in B21. Dominant 7th Chords/inversions.

Inversions of Major Triads

The easiest way to change the inversion of a triad is to take the lowest note and put it up an octave.

Let’s look at a major triad, C major. 

You can spot which inversion a triad is in by looking at the intervals from note to note.

  • in root position we have a Major 3rd, then a minor 3rd
  • In 1st inversion we have a minor 3rd, then a perfect 4th
  • In 2nd inversion we have a perfect 4th then a major 3rd

Inversions of Minor Triads

Now let’s look at a minor triad, for example C minor.

The degrees are the same as the inversions of a major triad. Only the quality of the 3rds is different.

  • in root position we have a minor 3rd, then a Major 3rd
  • In 1st inversion we have a Major 3rd, then a perfect 4th
  • In 2nd inversion we have a perfect 4th then a minor 3rd

If the notes are written on a stave, you can spot the inversion for both major and minor triads by just counting scale notes (degrees).

Here are the same inversions as notes on a stave.

In the above examples the notes were written in their default pitch order, as consecutive notes in the triad. Often, the notes will be in a different order: the notes of a chord can be in any pitch order. Notes can be in different octaves, even multiple octaves. 

For inversions, we ignore all of that detail. The only thing that affects the inversion is the bass note. If the bass note is the same then the chord is in the same inversion.

The bass note determines the inversion, regardless of the order of the higher notes. 

The following C major chords are all in 1st inversion:

How To Name A Chord And Its Inversion 

You can work out the name and inversion of a triad by its content. That is, by removing any extra octaves and listing the notes in triad order. Once the content is listed in order, the inversion is easily seen by looking at the intervals from note to note.

Method:

  1. Name each note in the chord, excluding octaves
  2. Write the content in triad order, lowest note first
  3. Name the intervals between consecutive notes in the content
  4. Match the order of the intervals to a chord inversion; either root position, 1st inversion or 2nd inversion
  5. Name the root note, based on the pattern of intervals in the previous step
  6. Name the chord and it’s inversion

Example:

The notes in the example and exercises below are played slightly arpeggiated so you can hear the individual notes more clearly.

  1. From low to high, the notes are E C# A E A
  2. The content, from the lowest note up and in triad order, is E A C#
  3. E-A = perfect 4th, A-C# = Major 3rd
  4. perfect 4th + Major 3rd is the pattern of a major chord in 2nd inversion
  5. In 2nd inversion, the root note is the middle note (the upper note of the perfect 4th) = A
  6. A major 2nd inversion

Try These … 1

The following chords are major or minor triads. There are no key signatures so you can’t assume they’re C major or A minor chords…

Name each chord and state its inversion (root position, 1st inversion or 2nd inversion).

a)

b)

c)

d)

e)

f)

Answers at the end of this post.

TIP: Shortcut For Finding the Root Note of a Triad

  • If you see two chord notes that are a perfect 5th apart, the lower note is the root note.
  • If you see two chord notes a perfect 4th apart, the upper note is the root note.

Inversions and Chord Symbols: Slash Notation

For chord charts, there’s an easy, concise way to describe the inversion of a chord in a chord symbol, called slash notation.

In slash notation, we write the chord name, then a forward slash followed by the name of the bass note. 

For example, a C minor chord in 1st inversion has an Eb bass.
This would be written as Cm/Eb

In a chord chart, it’s like having a bass line as well as the chords rolled into one part.

Note: When the chord is in root position we don’t use a slash note, as the bass note is already in the chord name.

Try These… 2

Write the following chords in slash notation:

  • Work out the name of the bass note
  • Write the chord symbol, then a forward slash, then the name of the bass note
  1. A major chord in 1st inversion 
  2. E minor chord in 1st inversion 
  3. D major chord in 2nd inversion
  4. F minor chord in 2nd inversion 

If you found this post helpful, please feel welcome to like, share or leave a comment. If you have any questions, leave them as a comment and I’ll respond as soon as I can. To stay up to date with new posts, please subscribe.

NEXT LESSON: B16. Listen And Sing: Learn To Sing Major And Minor Triads

PART 2 CONTENTS: Basic Music Theory Course Contents

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Answers to Try These…

1

a)

  1. From low to high, the notes are F C A
  2. The content in triad order, from the lowest note up, is F A C
  3. F-A = Major 3rd, A-C = minor 3rd
  4. Major 3rd + minor 3rd is the pattern of a major chord in root position
  5. In root position, the root note is the lowest note = F
  6. F major root position

b)

  1. From low to high, the notes are B E G E
  2. The content in triad order, from the lowest note up, is B E G
  3. B-E = perfect 4th, E-G = minor 3rd
  4. perfect 4th + minor 3rd is the pattern of a minor chord in 2nd inversion
  5. In 2nd inversion, the root note is the middle note (the upper note of the perfect 4th) = E
  6. E minor 2nd inversion

c)

  1. From low to high, the notes are D A D F
  2. The content in triad order, from the lowest note up, is D F A
  3. D-F = minor 3rd, F-A = Major 3rd
  4. minor 3rd + Major 3rd is the pattern of a minor chord in root position
  5. In root position, the root note is the lowest note = D
  6. D minor root position

d)

  1. From low to high, the notes are B E G# B E
  2. The content in triad order, from the lowest note up, is B E G#
  3. B-E = perfect 4th, E-G# = Major 3rd
  4. perfect 4th + Major 3rd is the pattern of a major chord in 2nd inversion
  5. In 2nd inversion, the root note is the middle note (the upper note of the perfect 4th) = E
  6. E major 2nd inversion

e)

  1. From low to high, the notes are Bb G D Bb
  2. The content in triad order, from the lowest note up, is Bb D G
  3. Bb-D = Major 3rd, D-G = perfect 4th
  4. Major 3rd + perfect 4th is the pattern of a minor chord in 1st inversion
  5. In 1st inversion, the root note is the top note (the upper note of the perfect 4th) = G
  6. G minor 1st inversion

f)

  1. From low to high, the notes are E C# A E A
  2. The content in triad order, from the lowest note up, is E A C#
  3. E-A = perfect 4th, A-C# = Major 3rd
  4. perfect 4th + Major 3rd is the pattern of a major chord in 2nd inversion
  5. In 2nd inversion, the root note is the middle note (the upper note of the perfect 4th) = A
  6. A major 2nd inversion

2

  1. A/C#
  2. E/G
  3. D/A
  4. Fm/C