Inversions & Slash Chords: Get the Bass Line Moving
Put a chord's 3rd or 5th in the lowest voice and you get an “inversion” (written as a slash chord like C/E or G/B). Its biggest payoff: a smoothly stepwise bass line that lifts the sophistication of your accompaniment and arrangements in a second.
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Root position, first inversion, second inversion
A triad is made of the root (1), the 3rd (3) and the 5th (5). Whichever is in the lowest voice decides its “position”: root 1 lowest = root position (C); 3rd lowest = first inversion (C/E); 5th lowest = second inversion (C/G).
How to read a slash chord: the left of the slash is the chord itself, the right is the lowest note to play. So C/E reads as “C on E,” meaning “a C chord, but play E in the bass.”
The killer use: a smooth bass line
Take the progression C - G - Am - Em - F - C - Dm - G: its original bass is 1-5-6-3-4-1-2-5, jumping all over. Swap a few for inversions: C - G/B - Am - Em/G - F - C/E - Dm - G, and the bass line becomes 1-7-6-5-4-3-2-(5) — descending stepwise all the way, as smooth as singing.
This “descending bass line” is exactly the secret behind why the Canon and countless love songs sound “sophisticated and effortless.” Learn it and your accompaniment is instantly different.
One bar of count-in first, then the chord changes automatically each bar. Get it smooth slowly, then speed up bit by bit.
Play along with this progression-with-inversions, C–G/B–Am–Em/G–F–C/E–Dm–G, and focus on hearing the lowest note descend stepwise all the way (1-7-6-5-4-3-2) — that's where the “sophistication” comes from.
- 💡 First play just the bass line on its own (note by note) until it sounds smooth, then add the full chords.
A few common inversion shapes
G/B: play a G chord, but with the bass on the B at the 5th string 2nd fret (don't play the 6th string) — very common in C-G/B-Am. C/E: play a C chord, with the bass on the open 6th-string E. Em/G: play Em, with the bass on the G at the 6th string 3rd fret. Get these smooth and the descending bass line falls into place.
How it relates to singing and arranging
A walking bass line is the heart of the “add connections” step in fingerstyle arranging (see the arranging lesson in Stage 9); when playing and singing, swapping plain chords for inversions instantly gives the chorus a stronger sense of forward push. This is a high-payoff move for very little effort.
⚠️ Common mistakes
- Seeing C/E and thinking it's a new chord — it's still a C chord, just with the lowest note swapped to E (the 3rd).
- Re-fretting the whole chord when you invert it — really, you only change that lowest note; the notes above stay the same.
Chords in this lesson
Tap the 🔊 under each diagram to match every chord's sound to its shape.
⏱️ Cycle this lesson's chords to a beatPractice switching without stopping (one-minute changes) — first learn each chord by ear and shape, then drill clean changes between them.Expand Collapse
Switch back and forth between this lesson's chords to the beat below.
One bar of count-in first, then the chord changes automatically each bar. Get it smooth slowly, then speed up bit by bit.
Want to count how many changes you can do in 60 seconds? Head to the one-minute changes drill.
Go play these
Songs that fit this lesson's technique and chords — pick one and practice in the library:
- Sunny Day (晴天) · Jay ChouG · D · Em · C · Am · D/F# · G/B
- Anhe Bridge (安和桥) · Song DongyeG · D/F# · Em · D · C · G/B · Am
- Chengdu (成都) · Zhao LeiC · G/B · Am · Em · F · C/E · Dm · G
- Hou Lai / Afterwards (后来) · Rene LiuC · G · Am · Em · F · Dm · G/B · Em/G · C/E
- Em–Am Two-Chord Jam · Original exerciseEm · Am
- Mary Had a Little Lamb · American traditional nursery rhyme (public domain)C · G
Practice checklist
- Play just the bass line: C(1)-B(7)-A(6)-G(5)-F(4)-E(3)-D(2)-G(5), and hear it descend stepwise.
- Add the chords and play C - G/B - Am - Em/G - F - C/E - Dm - G, feeling the smoothness.