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Inversion and Voicing
Inversion:
An inversion is a reordering of the notes in a chord.
For example, a C major 7th chord contains its Root (C), a major third
(E), a perfect fifth (G) and a major seventh (B).
As this chord is inverted, the lowest note in the voicing is moved up
an octave.
The chord tones remain the same but the tonal character will change as
the notes are reordered.
Voicing:
Voicings determine how close or spread out the notes are
within a chord.
The
Close Position
voicing is the most condensed voicing, where all the
notes in the current chord will be within the span of an octave.
The
Drop 2
and
Drop 3
voicings may be most familiar to guitar and
piano players (The voicings themselves will be familiar, although the
terminology may differ). Both
Drop
voicings are derived from the
Close
Position
voicing.
In the
Drop 2
voicing, the second highest note in the voicing is dropped
down an octave.
