Chord anatomy
Build a chord, hear its voicing and compare what changes when a different chord member becomes the bass.
WORKING TOOLStart here
Use this workbench to connect a chord symbol to actual notes. Start with a triad before trying extended chords or moving individual voices by octaves.
By the end: Name the notes and bass of a voicing, compare two versions and explain what inversion preserves.
What you need: The built-in synthesizer and a comfortable playback level. Read the major-scale and triad foundations if chord names are unfamiliar.
Before you begin: Review major scales and triads in Music foundations. The workbench supplies note names and playback; a separate keyboard or piano roll is optional.
How to use this tool
- Choose a root and a major or minor triad. Read its note names, then play the chord and arpeggio.
- Change the inversion while keeping root and quality fixed. Compare the lowest note and confirm that the same note classes remain.
- Save a comparison, try per-note octave changes if useful and export your study. Use the worked G-major example below as a reference.
WORKING LAB · CONSTRUCT / INVERT / COMPARE
Keep track of each chord member
A semitone is one adjacent key on a piano, including black keys. Build a major triad at 0, 4 and 7 semitones from its root; a minor triad changes the middle distance to 3. An inversion changes the lowest member while retaining the chord’s notes.
C
Low to high: C3 · E3 · G3
Construction from the root: 0, 4, 7 semitones. Lowest pitch: C. Accidentals follow chord spelling rather than substituting unrelated letter names.
Ready. Playback uses quiet synthesized tones.
First comparison: change the third
Start at C major in root position and keep it as B. Switch only quality to Minor. C–E–G becomes C–E♭–G. Play A and B at the same level. You changed a chord member; you did not change the tonic, tempo or instrument to manufacture a different impression.
Check yourself
Build F major, then F minor. Which note changes? Explain the change in semitones, not just as ‘sad’.
Answer and reasoning
F–A–C becomes F–A♭–C. The third moves from four semitones above F to three; F and C remain. Emotional interpretation depends on context and listener, so it is not a substitute for identifying the note change.
Second comparison: change the bass
With C major, first inversion is E–G–C; second inversion is G–C–E. The slash in C/E names the bass. C/E still contains C, E and G. A seventh chord adds a fourth member and therefore has a third inversion too.
Check yourself
Choose C major seventh and third inversion. Which note is lowest? How does switching to dominant seventh change the pitch set?
Answer and reasoning
Cmaj7 has C, E, G and B; third inversion puts B below the others. C7 lowers that seventh to B♭. The inversion reorders members; the quality change changes a member.
Playback is a short equal-tempered sine-tone demonstration, not a sampled performance. B lasts only until you leave the page; export your study to retain it. Extended chords are spelled in full rather than automatically omitting voices. Voice-leading optimization belongs to Cadence; recognition practice is available in Ear Gym.
References: Ableton: inversions · Seventh chords. Next: put the chord into a progression in Cadence.
Keep the chord, move the bass
A triad contains three pitch classes. Its inversion describes which chord member is lowest, not which note is most prominent. Root position puts the root in the bass; first inversion puts the third there; second inversion puts the fifth there.
Octave placement can change while chord identity stays the same. Voicing describes how the notes are distributed; inversion describes the bass relationship. A wide voicing is not automatically an inversion.
Worked example
Original G-major comparison: G3–B3–D4 is root position. B2–D3–G3 is first inversion. D3–G3–B3 is second inversion. Play each slowly and then together, keeping the level similar. The note classes G, B and D remain; the lowest note changes.
Try it yourself
Write your answer before opening the explanation. Use the worked example if you get stuck.
Question 1
Classify E3–A3–C4, and rewrite it in root position without adding a new pitch class.
Show answer and reasoning
It is A minor in second inversion because E, its fifth, is lowest. A2–C3–E3 is one root-position answer. A different octave is fine if A is the lowest chord member.
Watch for: Naming the chord after its lowest note would turn every inversion into a different chord. Identify the pitch-class set and chord quality first.
Summary + next step
Name the notes and bass of a voicing, compare two versions and explain what inversion preserves.
Keep the result: Export the voiced notes and A/B study; a musical impression is your observation, not a universal emotional rule.
Sources and further reading
Read these references for the concepts used in the lesson.
Lesson updated 2026-10-22 · Guidance updated 2026-10-22
Coverage and further development
Construct and hear triads through thirteenth chords, reorder inversions, place individual voices in octaves, compare A/B and export.