Triad inversions

- So far we've only looked at triads in a root position,…which means the root is the bottom or base note.…Since there three notes in a triad, they can have three…possible bottom or base notes.…Not only the root, but the the third and the fifth as well.…We call the triad with the third in the base the…first inversion.…The triad with the fifth in the base is the…second inversion.…All three of these have distinct sounds while retaining…the quality, major, minor, diminished or augmented,…of the triad.…

Let's discuss first and second inversions.…In the first inversion of a triad we play the chord with…a third as the bottom note, the root at the top and the…fifth is tucked in the middle.…Let's use a C major triad as the example, for clarity.…Root position of the C major triad is C E G.…(piano music)…The first inversion of a C major triad has an E…on the bottom, followed by a G…and then a C on the top.…

You'll notice when we play the first inversion, the triad…has a distinctly different sound than when in root position.…