The first inversion of a chord is the voicing of a triad,

seventh chord A seventh chord is a chord (music), chord consisting of a triad (music), triad plus a note forming an interval (music), interval of a Interval (music), seventh above the chord's root (chord), root. When not otherwise specified, a "seventh chord" ...

, or ninth chord in which the third of the chord is the bass note and the

root In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often bel ...

a sixth above it. Walter Piston, ''Harmony'', fifth edition, revised and expanded by Mark DeVoto (New York: W. W. Norton, 1987): p. 66. . In the first inversion of a C- major triad, the bass is E — the third of the triad — with the fifth and the root stacked above it (the root now shifted an octave higher), forming the intervals of a minor third and a minor sixth above the inverted bass of E, respectively. : In the first inversion of G- dominant seventh chord, the bass note is B, the third of the seventh chord. : In

figured bass Figured bass is musical notation in which numerals and symbols appear above or below (or next to) a bass note. The numerals and symbols (often accidental (music), accidentals) indicate interval (music), intervals, chord (music), chords, and non- ...

, a first-inversion triad is a chord (not to be confused with an added sixth chord), while a first-inversion seventh chord is a chord. According to ''The American History and Encyclopedia of Music:'' Note that any voicing above the bass is allowed. A first inversion chord must have the third chord factor in the bass, but it may have any arrangement of the root and fifth above that, including doubled notes, compound intervals, and omission (E-G-C, E-G-C-G', E-C'-G'', etc.)

References

Chord factors Chords Voicing (music) {{Music-theory-stub

See also

References