What is the first inversion of a C chord?

It is E–G–C: the same three letters as C–E–G, with the third, E, as the lowest note. As a chord symbol it is written C/E.

What is a third inversion?

A third inversion belongs to a four-note chord: the seventh is the lowest note. For G7 it is F–G–B–D, figured 4/2.

C/E is a C chord with E in the bass: the note after the slash is the lowest one. E is the third of C, so it is a first inversion.

They keep neighboring chords close together so the hand hardly moves, and they let a bass line step instead of leaping between roots.

Chord Inversions: 1st, 2nd and 3rd Inversions

Inverting a chord means putting a different note on the bottom. A triad has three: root position, first inversion (third lowest) and second inversion (fifth lowest). All three are the same chord — only the bass moves.

What are first and second inversions?

Take C–E–G and move the C up an octave and you have E–G–C. It is still a C chord, because none of the letters changed. What changed is the lowest note — and the lowest note is what decides whether a chord feels settled and where it wants to go next.

Root position C–E–G: the root is lowest, and it is the most settled.

First inversion E–G–C: the third in the bass, lighter, leaning forward.

Second inversion G–C–E: the fifth in the bass, the least stable — usually a passing shape.

The practical reason inversions matter at the piano is that they save the hand a journey. Playing C, F and G all in root position means jumping around the keyboard; choosing inversions lets neighboring chords share finger positions so only one or two notes move. A hand that is not jumping is a hand that can play legato.

Name	Lowest note	C chord as	Figured bass
Root position	Root	C–E–G	5/3
First inversion	Third	E–G–C	6/3 (written 6)
Second inversion	Fifth	G–C–E	6/4

Do seventh chords have a third inversion?

A seventh chord has four notes, so it has four positions: root position and three inversions. The new one is the third inversion, with the seventh lowest. Figured bass counts the intervals above the lowest note, so the numbers change with it: 7, 6/5, 4/3, 4/2. Here they are for G7 (G–B–D–F).

Name	Lowest note	G7 as	Figured bass
Root position	Root (G)	G–B–D–F	7
First inversion	Third (B)	B–D–F–G	6/5
Second inversion	Fifth (D)	D–F–G–B	4/3
Third inversion	Seventh (F)	F–G–B–D	4/2

G7 in root position, G–B–D–F: the root lowest.

First inversion B–D–F–G: the third lowest.

Second inversion D–F–G–B: the fifth lowest.

Third inversion F–G–B–D: the seventh lowest. It is the most restless note of the four and wants to step down.

How do you tell which inversion a chord is in?

Stack the letters in thirds to find the root. E–G–C becomes C–E–G, so the chord is C; B–D–F–G becomes G–B–D–F, so the chord is G7.
Look at the lowest note and ask what it is in that stack: the root, the third, the fifth or, in a four-note chord, the seventh.
That answer is the name: root means root position, third means first inversion, fifth means second, seventh means third. So E–G–C is a first inversion of C, and B–D–F–G is a first inversion of G7.

What does a slash chord like C/E mean?

A chord symbol writes an inversion with a slash: what comes before it names the chord, the note after it names the lowest note. C/E is a C chord with E in the bass, which makes it a first inversion; C/G is a second inversion, and G7/F is the third inversion of G7. The chord readout on the Piano page reports the same thing as “over E”. If the note after the slash is not in the chord, as in C/D, it is a different bass note rather than an inversion.

Chord inversions