3.1 Enrichment | Inversions

Another way to change how a progression sounds is by moving notes within some of the chords up or down an octave. This can make the chords blend together more smoothly.

Terms
Octave: Notes that share the same letter name that are a scale length away from each other. C4 is one octave above C3
Inversion: A rearrangement of a chord where a note is moved up or down by an octave.
Voice Leading: The practice of moving notes in a chord (top, middle, bottom) up or down by an octave to ensure that the voices remain close to each other when transitioning from one chord to another.
Open Voicing: A chord voicing where the notes are spaced more than an octave apart.

1 | Inversions

Create smooth movement between chords by changing the octave of either the top or bottom voice in a choard.

2 | Open Voicings

Move the notes in the middle voice of a chord progression up an octave to create a more open sound.

3 | Inverting Complex Voicings

Create smooth voice leading with complex chord voicings the same way you would with simple 3-note chords.