How to Play a 1625 1st Inversion Chord for Voicing

Using chord inversions in your songs can make them sound balanced and fresh. With the right voicing, you can seamlessly stitch together these inversions, grounding your melodies and background instruments in a solid harmonic progression. The I-vi-ii-V chord progression's one of the most basic progression in contemporary music. To spice it up, try starting the sequence in first inversion.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Pick a key for your progression. For simplicity's sake, use the white-note chords of C-Major.

2. Place your fingers on the I chord, which in this case is C-Major (C, E and G).

3. Shift your fingers up to play the chord in first inversion. Instead of starting on C, the new chord starts on E, followed by G and then the C an octave higher than before.

4. Move onto the vi chord, which in the key of C is A-minor. For the best voice leading, play the chord in second inversion (E, A and then C).

5. Adjust your fingers once more to play the next-to-last chord in the sequence, the ii chord. For the right voicing, play this chord in first inversion. Because we're still in the key of C, this is the D-minor chord, which goes F, A and then D.

6. Strike the last chord in the progression, which is the V chord. This is G-Major in our chosen key, and we can leave it in root position. So the final order of notes is G, B and then D.

7. Return to your original chord, which was the first inversion I chord. Your fingers should once again be on E, G and C.