Inversions, and the Bass

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A couple of posts ago, I was trying to explain the basics of traditional Western harmony.  Harmony is, on the one hand, the chords that go with the tunes that most people notice immediately.  But Harmony is also how the succession of chords, one after the other, creates tunes in the so-called inner parts, or at least the lower voices, which ---even if they're not easily heard as individual melodies--- nevertheless provide a certain texture that contributes to what is called good part-writing, or good counterpoint.

In popular music, for instance, music played on (pop, or non-classical) guitars, at any rate, the harmony is divorced from concerns about good counterpoint, and lovers of pop music are able to enjoy the pure satisfaction of the chords in the abstract, unconcerned about whether the notes played on, say, the second string of the rhythm guitar, taken as a "tune", which it probably isn't, is a good tune.

Anyway, the lower voices in classical music are written carefully to make melodies whenever possible.  Make no mistake: these inner melodies are in no way competitors for melodious excellence with the main melodies of the pieces, generally speaking; it is only rarely that the inner voices get really fabulous melodies, even with a composer like Bach.  (In Sousa, though, you can often hear a middle voice playing a really good counter-melody in a march, for instance.  But that's the exception.)

Most of all, the bass line is written carefully, especially in 18th and 19th century music, to contribute strongly to the overall quality of the piece.  This means that often the bass note of a chord is not the root note.  By root note we mean the note that gives its name to the chord.

The chord I, you will recall, consists of the notes 1-3-5.  Of these, it is the note 1 for which the chord is named.  For instance, in the key of C major, the chord 1-3-5, which is C-E-G in C major, is called the Chord of C (or the chord of C major), especially by guitar players, and others who play block chords.  The chord IV is 4-6-8, which is F-A-C, and is called the chord of F.  The root of the chord is the note that lends its name to the chord, C in the case of C-E-G, and F in the case of F-A-C.  In popular music, the bass guitar will almost invariably play the root note.  When the bass note of a chord is the Root, we say that the chord is being played in root position.

Because some of this is far from clear without an illustration, (and since most of you readers are unlikely to go sit at a piano and try these out,) here is what a chord in root position sounds like, played on French horns, for no particular reason.  Note that this chord is perfectly satisfactory to end a piece of music.  All, or the vast majority of pieces, end with a chord in root position.

You can play that as often as you like.  The graphic I have included shows
(1) all the notes of the C chord, with the actual ones that are sounding a little darker,
(2) the letter names of every note in the chord,
(3) All the C notes colored red or pink, the E notes colored yellow or orange, and the G notes colored light green or dark green.
The lowest note in the example is in fact the lowest note on the graphic, and is in black.  I ought to have made it red, since it is a C note, and it is the Root.

The first inversion is a C chord, but with the "middle" note, E in the bass.  It is sort of traditional not to have the middle note of a major chord doubled too much, so I have taken the E out of the upper voices.  Notice that this chord has a sort of stillness that is a little unsettling, like an elephant balanced on one leg.  It is a powerful inversion, and is the second most frequently used inversion after the Root Position chord.  It is never used to end a piece, since it has a very definite quality of wanting to move onto another chord (at least, this is how this inversion is regarded by traditionalists):


Here, the bass note is E, again colored black.  Note: only the bass note determines the inversion.  There can be any of C, E or G in the upper voices (except for the general guideline of not doubling the middle note, which is called the third).  The chord is played first by French horns, then by bassoons, just so you can satisfy yourself that the instruments don't really play a part in the unique character of the first inversion.  (I apologize; I have forgotten to erase the E note from the Alto in the graphic.  It's gone from the audio; if you have good ears, you would hear that it is present only in the bass instruments.)

We could stop with these two inversions, except for the fact that you would probably wonder: why not talk about the other inversion?  So here it is, the second inversion: it has the G in the bass, or for a I chord, which consists of 1-3-5, the 5, called predictably the fifth of the chord, in the bass.  (As always, the upper voices can contain any of the notes, as long as all three notes are present, and the third is not present in too many of the voices.  Honestly, nobody really cares very much about that rule about not doubling the third.) 

So here it is, the second inversion, played by strings, then by French horns.  I just thought French horns do a good job generally of being both clear and loud:


You will probably agree that the second inversion, too, has an unfinished sound to it.  You will also, probably, not be quite able to put your finger on how you feel about the second inversion, but some things will be clear:

Both the inversions are certainly familiar.  You have heard them in classical music.  Both inversions are distinctive, and sound different from each other, and from the Root Position chord.  And their qualities are so subtle that using them in Popular music would be odd, or risky, or certainly unappreciated.

The second inversion is usually used in two contexts: just before the end of a piece, or when the bass is traveling step by step between two other chords.  It is most definitely a special-purpose chord, whereas the Root Position chord is sort of a general purpose chord.

A really interesting use of the first inversion is in the overture to Mozart's opera, The Magic Flute.  Here is a recording from Laserlight, a company that sells inexpensive recordings of popular works, played by good, but little-known, orchestras.  The opening bars of the overture consists of:
* an enormous I chord in Root Position,
* two enormous VI chord in Root Position,
* and two enormous I chords, this time in first inversion.

The fact that it is a first inversion chord is absolutely unmistakeable.  In my mind, this is the mother of all first inversion chords, and gives this opera a seriousness that it might not have otherwise.  It is claiming quite a lot to say that a single pair of chords can set the tone for an entire opera, but ... you be the judge.  Here is the whole thing: The Overture to The Magic Flute.

The fact that inversions are possible permits much more flexibility in the bass line than would otherwise be available.  In the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, those who love this music come to know just how fabulous his bass lines are.

A well-known piece by Bach, often played at weddings, is actually a piece for a choir and small string orchestra and an oboe (and a trumpet playing softly, actually): Jesu bleibet meine Freude, or Jesus is still my joy, or as it is translated metrically: Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring.

Just so see how influential the quality of the bass line is, I'm going to rewrite the bass line of this piece with mostly root position chords.  I'll post the result here as soon as I get it done, what with my busy schedule and all.  (You have no idea...)

O boy, do I ever have an example for you!

I found the sheet music for "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", or BWV 147 (10), on the internet ---it's public domain--- and painfully transcribed the first several bars of it into a music notation program.  Then I rewrote the bass line (the Cello, the Double Bass, and the bass voice), all so that every chord is in root position.  Let me warn you: those of you who are really familiar with this piece will be unhappy---anything from slightly disturbed to deeply pained--- by the vandalism that has resulted.  The sweet tune that the bass line usually sings has been destroyed, just so that all the chords have the root note in the bass.  (Unfortunately this violates other rules of harmony, such as the avoidance of parallel fifths and octaves.)  Still, it is useful to learn just how important the use of inversions was in the music of Bach.  (Instead of voices, I have four French horns.)


Well, I hope you hate that.  (You probably won't; I'm exaggerating the degree to which you're going to be overwhelmed by the "wrong" bass line.)

Here is the original, using my instrumentation.


You can hear the original bass line; if you're dissatisfied with this clip, it's because it's machine-generated, and doesn't have the smoothness and elasticity of a real performance.  To hear a fair version of the piece (which you must have heard a million times, but this performance is likely to be a lot less schmaltzy than a performance at a wedding, for instance.  It is by a Dutch group, conducted by Pieter Leusink:  Jesu bleibet meine Freude.  (In German, nouns are capitalized, hence the capital F in Freude, which means Joy.)  As a bonus, you get Bach's manuscript scrolling along with the music.  Bach's music handwriting is considered to be exceptionally beautiful, but of course standards were different in those days.  In a presentation copy, he used gorgeous musical calligraphy.

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