How to Invert Chords & Identify Them

You won't always be able to identify a chord by looking at its lowest note. Take the C major chord: C - E - G. Suppose you change just one of those note-letters (for example, let's use the notes C - E - A) -- could this still be a C major chord? The answer is no.*

Or, let's jumble up the notes of the real C major chord. Do the notes G - C - E still make a C major chord? Yes!

A triad chord has three building blocks: a root, a third, and a fifth; and the name of the chord itself does not change if its notes are merely ordered differently (continue reading)

* ^{_{(The notes C - E - A create the 1st inversion of the A minor chord).}}

_{Image © Brandy Kraemer}