Can anyone give me any tips for Grade 5 Theory, I'm really struggling especially on Inversions... really don't get it....

By inversions, I'm presuming you mean the bit where you have to name the chord and the inversion that it's written in.

Basically, you have to say whether the chord by the * is chord 1,2,4 or 5. I suggest first of all that by the example, you write down the chords before you start. So say if it was in C major (for ease of explaining), you would write by the example,

I - C, E,G
II - D, F, A
IV - F,A,C
V - G, B, D

you look at the chord and decide which chord the notes fit into, and then you write that number underneath. Then you have to decide the inversion. So, say you decided that it was chord I. If the note C was in teh bass, you'd write Ia underneath it, if the note E was in the bass, you'd write Ib (as E is the 2nd note in the chord), and if G was in the bass, you'd write Ic (as G is the 3rd note in the chord).

Does this help?

By the way, if you're confused about chords, it's the arpeggio but with them all played together. So chord one would start with the first note of the scale, on this case C, and have the 3rd and 5th notes above it. Chord II starts on the second note of the scale, in this case D is the second degree of the C scale, and then you add the 3rd and 5th above that etc.

Let me know if you don't understand or whether I've explained the wrong section!!!!

If you need specific help on something then please feel free to send me an email - but generally I recommend going to a music shop and having a look through a few books and buying one, because I wouldn't have got through without mine. Sometimes you just need a different perspective to the practise books!

But like I said I'm happy to help

Bex

x x x

i don't understand... could you explain it more please.

what don't you understand about it? If you're more specific then I can help more!!!!

well, like what do you mean the notein the bass is it the note on the top or something?

First, do you know what is "chord"?If you don't know it, then you should learn form that first before you can go for inversions! The chords can be any three( for normal chord) or four notes from this(in order):C,E,G,B,D,F,A,C.

If the chord is C,E,G or C,G,E...it is in root position(because C is the bass note, and it is the first note of the chord).
If the chord is A,F,C or A,C,F...it is actually F,A,C, just arraged in different order. For this chord, it is in first inversion( the second note of the chord becomes the bass, in normal style, it is always the first note['F'in this chord]for the bass). chord in first inversion is written like this :Ib (don't mind the 'I', it can be change).

If the chord is A,F,D or A,D,F...it is actually D,F,A chord.'A' which is the third note of the chord becomes the bass note, so it is in third inversion.

I don't know if you can understand it or not but good luck.

P/s I don't which country are you in but if you are in South East Asia, maybe you can find this book {A Handbook Of Music Theory} by Loh Phaik Kheng, it helps!

No, the note in the bass is the lowest note. i.e. the note bottom note of the chord, normally in the bass clef in these examples

I was looking around and this site explains it quite simply (and it doesn't apply to guitars only!)

http://www.accessrock.com/Guitar_Tips/chor...version-tip.asp

what about intervals then?

Susan, do you have a teacher going through theory with you? If you haven't, maybe you should be going through this with someone and then ask us questions. I'm more than happy to help, but having someone say 'and what about intervals then' isn't all that helpful. You need to have done more basic intervals in lower grades and understand them before you can do the hard ones in grade 5.

It'd be very helpful if you were more specific. There's a lot to say about intervals and unless we know what you already know and what you're stuck on, then it's hard to help.

You should look through your standard music text first.

This site may help: http://library.thinkquest.org/15413/theory/intervals.htm

It sound rather as though you are trying to study grade 5 requirements without having worked through previous grades. If this is right then it would be better to start from grade 1 and work up, not necessarily taking the exams, as each grade from 2 upwards expects that you also know what has come before.

i have worked through every grade, just stuck on Inversions mainly, they are after all ment to be the hardest stuff to learn in grade 5 theory.

I'd say that inversions are one of the easier things in grade 5 theory. My pupils tend to find transposition the hardest

Do you mean inversions of intervals, susanliu? Because although they are covered in the text books, I've never known them come up in the exam. As long as you can correctly identify major, minor, perfect, augmented and diminished intervals between notes up to two octaves apart, you'll be fine.

In plain English-here we go .............!
I had probs with it myself but if you are talking about a basic inversion in c major then its relatively easy.
You have to familiarise yourself with tonic/supertonic /mediant/sub dom/dom etc. first
A basic tonic (c major) triad chord is CEG.An inversion chord is a combination of these 3 notes in the chord ie. a 2nd inversion of c major would be EGC ,a 3rd inversion would be GCE.
You are going to have problems though because you will have to learn about IcV's !!!!!!!!!!!!

that's first and second inversion, not second and third.

sorry my mistake-still trying to get to grips with it myself !

Hows it going then? Have you got a teacher or not? If you can give us an example, and give it a go yourself, then we could correct you. Learning in context is always useful instead of just reading eyefulls of theory and trying to remember AND apply at the same time.

Dan

Hi Susan

I will see if I can help:

Take, for example, the key of C major.

1. As you already know, this contains the triad, C, E and G.

2. Look at the bottom note in the bass clef.

3. Identify what that note is.

4. As we are in C major, if that bottom note is a C it is said to be in root position. (referred to as 5/3 but I
do not know how to type it properly and also as a.

5. If the bottom note is E, it is what is known as a first inversion, a 6/3 chord (referred to also as b.

6. If the G is at the bottom, it is what is know as a second inversion chord (6/4) referred to also as c.


The numbers, if I am correct, refer to the position of the notes.


7. The 5/3 would refer to E as being the 3 and G as being the 5. The C is in root position, but we do not
call that 1. Look at the C, then count up 3 including the C, i.e. C, D, E. That is why the E is 3. Look at
the C again and count up 5, including the C, i.e. C, D, E, F, G, which gives you the 5.

8. The principle is the same if you have 6/3. However the C is no longer in root position. The root is now
E, hence the term first inversion. Look at the E in the base. Count up 3, including the E, i.e. E, F, G.

9. Look at the E again and count up 6, including the E, for the 6, which should give you C.

10. It is the same principle for 6/4, except that the note at the bottom is G. Look at the 6/4 and count up
from the G in the same way.


Looking at the grade 5, theory book on page 31, you have the key of C major.

I think somebody may have suggested this already.

To do this exercise, first of all, it is a good idea to write:

I C E G
II D F A
1V F A C
V G B D


I do not know if this makes sense to you.

11. Look at the bottom note where the asterisk is in exercise 32(a) As you know, it is a B. Look at the
little chart I have typed above to see which of those chords contains a B. We see that I and V contains
B.

12. Next look at the notes in the treble clef.

13. We see a G.

14. The chord is therefore V (GBD)

15. However, the G is not in the bass.

16. As the B is, it is a first inversion, i.e. b.

17. Your answer therefore is Vb.

Forgive me for going on. I hope this makes sense. I am sure somebody will correct any errors I have
made.


Good luck.

Sharrie.

i understand your troubles, i think that you just have to practise, a good thing to do is to get a book of passed papers (you can get them from most music shops, they are produced by the ABRSM) i use them a lot, after i've gone through the book, i do one of them a week for aobut 2 months, it really gets you used to the lay out of the papers, and means that ur familiar with the test papers when you go into the exam, so its not so much of a shock. also the 'theory is fun' books by Maureen Cox are very good at explaining things in more simple words, and have differnt ways of putting into practise what you've learned. hope that helps you.

Invert a Major interval and it becomes minor
Invert a minor interval and it becomes Major
Invert an Augmented interval and it becomes diminished
Invert a diminished interval and it becomes Augmented.
Invert a Perfect interval and it remains Perfect.

Chord inversions

C E G is chord I in c major.

When the note C is the bass note then it is in root position I or Ia 5
3 (FIGURED BASS) LEFT BLANK
When the note E is the bass note then it is a first inversion Ib 6 (FIGURED BASS) WRITTEN 6
3
When the note G is the bass note then it is a second inversion or Ic 6 (FIGURED BASS) WRITTEN 6
4 4

What ever degree of the scale the chord is on the notation, the same rules apply.

Hope this made sense.

wow I know, it's dead hard.
the practice papers are the best bit, you can get them from your local music store. they are the ones from years gone by, and computer C.D.'s are really good to.
good luck.
hope you get it soon.