Keeping the same logic that we started in our last lesson, the next set of melodic words are based on the inversion of our original chords. So what is an inversion of the chord? When a note other than 1 starts the chord and the other 2 notes follow in succession, that is the chord inverted. It is easier to show a picture so click here to see what I'm talking about. In first inversion, the chord starts on the 3rd of the chord, followed by the 5th and then the 1 an octave higher.

When a note is said to be an octave higher or lower, it means that it is the same note either twice as high, or 1/2 as low. Click here to see the C in middle position, the same C up higher is an octave higher, the C below middle C is an octave lower. You can see that the same pattern of keys repeats up and down the keyboard. When the same key repeats higher or lower, it's an octave higher or lower.

So, even though were playing our F chord and G chords inversions higher, if we played them at the lower octaves, it would still be the same word. Click here to see the same inversion played at different octaves. This is important when combining different melodic words, it doesn't matter what octave they appear in.

Like before, these are the links with the C, F and G chord and their respective variations in first inversion. . As you play these I'm sure that some of you will recognize some as beginning of some melodies. To to stop the animation that plays the melodic word, close the box that opens up .

Here are a couple of examples with melodic words based on inversions that you might recognize.

Example 1 All of Me

Example 2 When You're Smiling

Once again, we have just the same melodic word, with different rhythms and they sound unique

Putting it all Together:

We are going to use 4 different melodic words for our next example, based on the first inversion. Once again, bear in mind that these melodies at the beginning of the course are not going to sound great, cause we still haven't gotten into scale segments and color tones. That combined with chord scales, 6th chords and 7th chords are going to give us an amazing array of melodic words to create great melodies with. View these exercises with the basic chords as the basic building blocks that later will be modified to create more elegant structures.

Click here to listen to our new example.

This example is made up of 4 of our new melodic words.

C Chord Variation 6, F Chord Variation 3 , G Chord Variation 1, C Chord Variation 4

We are following all the nearest note and common note rules that I outlined previously. For a review click here.