Chord Inversions

[YammyFan]

Often ,when I'm playing the chords of a song with my left hand on my PSR 970 or my  PSR 750 the Sheet Music calls for a C7 1st  inversion or a C7 2nd inversion. I know how to do that but it doesn't sound any different to my ears, so i have been substituting the ordinary C which has a root of C
Pianists tell me that it sounds much better when the correct inversion is played on the piano. I'm wondering if,  unlike the piano, my keyboard is not set up to discriminate between the different inversions.Maybe, it is just that my hearing skills need to be sharpened. Maybe there is a you tube program to train the ear to pick up the differences in chord inversions. Looking forward to members comments.

[Robert van Weersch]

In the "normal" fingering mode, on most arranger keyboards all inversions will sound exactly the same for a chord, when the ACMP is playing. When the ACMP is in "pause", you'll hear the chord inversions more or less like you would expect them.

[mikf]

set  it to 'fingered on bass'

[jwyvern]

If you want to hear how the inversions sound directly you need to turn on the left voice (with a suitably chosen voice and settings to match what the music requires).

John

[Robert van Weersch]

set  it to 'fingered on bass'

Yeah, but "fingered on bass" will more likely result in e.g. C/G chords, where the lower part is the main bass, and not a "clean" inversion, where the e.g. second inversion is the lower fifth of the main tone. The middle and high parts in a style will not be played inverted. E.g. if a guitar is strumming C-E-G in octave 4 when a C chord is played, it will still play C-E-G when C/G is played.

[Janus]

A slash chord is only usefull in the left section of a keyboard
The slash must be a bass note

[DerekA]

I think the main reason that pianists would say the inversion matters is because it changes the lowest note.

So 'fingered on bass' mode is a good option. The bass channel will play the lowest note. The rest of the chord may still sound the same as in standard fingered mode, but I think that's OK because it's the bass note that gives the character of the inversion.

I'm a big fan of fingered on bass, I do enjoy playing slashed chords.

[Janus]

I think the main reason that pianists would say the inversion matters is because it changes the lowest note.

So 'fingered on bass' mode is a good option. The bass channel will play the lowest note. The rest of the chord may still sound the same as in standard fingered mode, but I think that's OK because it's the bass note that gives the character of the inversion.

I'm a big fan of fingered on bass, I do enjoy playing slashed chords.

A Whiter Shade Of Pale is a good example
But the master is Bach he used it a lot

[panos]

Pianists are right but they don't play with a style, right?
Of course inversions and every "weird" combination of notes(chords) are giving a slightly (less or more) different sound to the whole harmony otherwise nobody would have used them. 

You could add a left voice to the song and you could play the inversion that you like to add this difference in the harmony.

Another option would be to go inside the style creator and "tell" each instrument which note will be the lower note and if it plays the inversion that you are playing or not.
I don't recommend it for obvious reasons.  

And as our friends already said, try the other finger mode options to see if they suit you to a specific song or not.

[andyg]

Musically, a C chord (regardless of the instruments playing it) over an E bass (regardless of the instrument playing it) is a C in its first inversion. Makes no difference what notes the guitarist is playing ie. what inversion of the chord he's physically playing (or indeed what notes the strings, brass or winds in an orchestra are playing) - it's the bass note that determines the inversion.

And AI Fingered Mode, if you take the time to really understand how it works and just what it can do, is a lot more useful than On Bass Mode. There are a few chords that are easier in On Bass, but that mode will have you hopping around the keys like crazy to get all your basic chords in root position. AI is 'transparent' to normal chords, and only does something when needed!

[YammyFan]

I'm wondering if another name for Chord inversions is Slash Chords.

[Janus]

There is a different
A inversion use the chord notes
A slash chord has a free bass note it can be every note
it is a extra note

[mikf]

Slash chord is just the descriptive term that describes the way inversions are generally written ie  X slash Y ....X/Y. Chord inversions as written are intended as Andy said to change the bass rather than all the other chord notes. Guitar players seldom play chords in the 'correct ' note order. They use chord shapes which form the chord in different ways, and would not necessarily change this when shown an inversion if the bass player or keyboard player is covering it.   
Every note you play affects the harmony, that is why piano payers are so keen on not only inversions, but all the other notes that change the sound and feel of the harmony - 9ths, 6ths flattened 5ths etc etc. but they don't have to be added to the lh chord, they are often added via the rh. It is precisely this kind of two handed full harmony playing that makes good keyboard players sound very sophisticated. When you adopt the simple lh chord, rh single note melody that many arranger players use you really cannot create this.
Mike   

[Denn]

Hello, As AndyG says

And AI Fingered Mode, if you take the time to really understand how it works and just what it can do, is a lot more useful than On Bass Mode

Told you this lots of times. Don't bother understanding it, just do it. AI takes care of your left hand chords. Regards, Den.

[YammyFan]

Hello, As AndyG says Told you this lots of times. Don't bother understanding it, just do it. AI takes care of your left hand chords. Regards, Den.

OK . That's two onto one  {ie AG and DEN] I will have another crack at AI to-night. I did try AI a couple of times in the past, but after 70 years of playing a piano almost daily , it pretty hard  to stop your hand muscles going where they want to go.

[YammyFan]

AI  Fingering Mode--I tried it to-day, and I would like to know what happens when I turn my PSR 970  off to-night when I go to bed. Will it stay on AI fingering over night or will I have to set it up with AI Fingering tomorrow when I switch  my PSR 970 on in the morning.

[alanclare]

Has anyone noticed the enormous number of visits that have been made to this thread? I wonder why.

Alan

[Kenneve]

Hi Guys

Have just come across this section of the forum, having recently purchased a 770 for my daughter (I'm a CVP man myself!)
I'm not surprised there are so many views. I think the basic question is, why play inversions anyway?

When i was learning to play keyboard probably 50+ years ago, my teacher, rightly or wrongly, taught me to use inversions, simply to give the minimum change of finger position, when moving through a particular chord sequence. so for me 'C' is always played GCE and using fingered chords the bass note will always be C regardless of inversion.

Using this technique, in most chord changes, at least 1 finger, maybe 2 don't move, which during the early years of playing, provides a location 'anchor' for the left hand. An example would be Am7 (GACE) to D7 (F#ACD)  A & C don't change.

There is the odd occasion when this technique fails, for example Em7 (GBDE) gets played as G6, but I can live with that.

A merry xmas to you all.

[Janus]

I t is not only the easiest finger setting
You can make a bass contra melodie
Listen to a whiter shade of pale it got a nice bass line