music theory for musicians and normal people by toby w.

rush

Part-Writing: Using Inversions

when common practice composers used inverted chords in
four-voice writing, they followed some general patterns
regarding which note of the chord should be doubled.

root position first inversion second inversion

the doubling of first inversion triads depends

on the type of the chord being written.
in root in second
position triads, in major first in minor first in diminished inversion triads,
composers usually inversion triads, inversion triads, first inversion composers usually
doubled the root, composers composers triads, they doubled the fifth,
which is in the doubled the doubled the doubled the which is in the

bass soprano bass bass bass

or
of the chord. of the chord. of the chord. of the chord.
soprano
of the chord.

heres another way to think of it: the only time you cant double the bass is
in first inversion major triads, where you should double the soprano instead.

okay, we know how to use inversions in four-part writing... but when can we use them?

the only rule regarding other than that, you can use

vii6 6
root position triads root position and first inversion
and first inversion triads essentially whenever you want!

ii
is that diminished triads are its second inversion triads that
always placed in first inversion. have the big restrictions.

6 6
the cadential 4 chord the passing 4 chord
is a tonic triad in is a chord placed in
second inversion second inversion
followed by a where the bass is
root-position treated like a
dominant chord passing tone.
at a cadence.

F: I64 V I F: I6 V64 I

6
the pedal 4 chord if you write a
is a second inversion second inversion triad and
chord where the its not one of these three situations,
bass is treated like then you are not writing in the common
a pedal tone. practice period style! the composers of
the style just didnt use these chords
willy-nilly.

F: I IV46 I
licensed under a creative commons BY-NC-ND license - visit tobyrush.com for more