Why is the first inversion of a C Major Chord very rarely used on guitar even though it is easier to play?

Question

The open C Major Chord is one of the first basic chords taught to beginning guitar students. It is also one of the most common chords I see in the music I listen to.

The instruction books teaching the fingering for the open C Major Chord stress the importance of avoiding the open low E string when playing the C Major Chord and the chord diagrams for the C Major Chord always show the 6th string being muted.

But the E is the third of the C Major Triad (part of the chord) and playing the low E string on the open C chord would be much easier than trying to avoid it with your pick or mute it with a finger tip. I realize that if you included the Low open E string in the chord it would be a first inversion of the C chord or could be referred to as a C with E as the bass note (C/E). But it is still a C Major Chord (just a different voicing) as explained Here and Here by two of the most venerable contributors to this site.

So why does it seem that guitar instruction books make it sound so wrong to play all 6 strings when playing the open C Major Chord?

And why is it rarely used in composing music for guitar?

I often see the second inversion of the C Major Chord in music composed for guitar (C/G) but don't remember ever seeing any song I have ever looked up the chords for that called for a C with E in the bass (first inversion).

Many of the songs I have learned to play use the first inversion of the D Major Chord D/F# and I play that chord in many of the songs I cover and it sounds good.

So why is the first inversion of the D Major Chord far more common than the rarely used first inversion of the C Major Chord which is certainly easier to play than the D/F sharp because it's just a matter of strumming all 6 strings?

Is it just a coincidence that the songs I choose to look up the chords for just don't have the C/E chord as part of the arrangement whereas many of the songs I look up do specify the D/F# chord?

Or is there something about a C/E that diminishes its use in music written for guitar?

Answer 1

Root position and 2nd inversion triads sound stronger than triads in 1st inversion. Maybe it would be better to say that triads in 1st inversion sound more harmonically ambiguous than the other two options.

Consider that for a major triad in 2nd inversion, the fifth is in the bass, and this is the note most closely related to the tonic of the chord. But, for a major triad in 1st inversion, the third is in the bass. This note is not only less suggestive of the tonic, but is itself the fifth of another note. For a CMaj triad in 1st inversion, the E is in the bass. This is a fifth away from A, and the notes E G C are suggestive of an Amin7 chord (containing the guide tones of Amin7).

Alternatively, taking E as the root, E G C looks like an Em♭6 chord which is missing only the fifth. Thus, the CMaj triad in 1st inversion has a harmonic ambiguity that the root position and 2nd inversion voicings lack.

The context in which the chord arises matters. In the context of a progression like C/E - A7 - DMaj7 which is the best way to think of the C/E? Is it a ii chord (Em♭6), a v7 chord (Am7), a ♭VII (CMaj), or something else? Does the melody provide any clues? In the context of another progression: C/E - A7 - Dmin7 - G7, I would say that the C/E sounds very much like a I chord (CMaj). I suspect that this slipperiness is the reason that 1st inversion triads don't show up in beginner method books more frequently; this is a time when simple grips that establish the chord sounds need to be learned.

As to why the 1st inversion voicings are used less frequently by experienced players and composers, I am not sure that this is true (well, it probably is). For me, 1st inversion voicings are most useful as passing chords, or when the third is part of a moving bass line on the guitar, part of the voice leading, or when someone else is playing the bass notes.

Register Issues

The above provides an explanation for why triads in 1st inversion are less common in general, but does not shed light on why a CMaj open chord with an E in the bass is rarely seen. I think the implicit suggestion here is that the particular voicing asked about by Rockin Cowboy may be even less common than other voicings of C/E.

As has been pointed out by another answer and by Todd Wilcox in the comments, some intervals can begin to sound muddy in the lower registers. This phenomenon is discussed here and here, and may be one explanation for why this particular voicing of C/E is avoided.

I note that at this page and this page it is stated that the low E should be avoided with the open C voicing, but no reasons other than that it doesn't sound good are given. On the other hand, this page does mention this voicing, and states that Stone Temple Pilots used it in their tune Plush. All three of these resources seem to be pitched at a beginner level.

One of my favorite resources for information about chords is Ted Greene's Chord Chemistry. He does include this voicing, as an E/G♯ moveable form situated at the 4th fret. This is not a beginner book, and it is assumed that players will use their ears to judge when voicings work and when they do not.

I see some 2nd inversion voicings in the beginner resources mentioned above, but I see almost no 1st inversion voicings. The second page does show a D/F♯ with the F♯ on the bottom string, and now that I think about it I used that voicing a lot at one time.

Summing Up

I think that in general triads in 1st inversion are tricky to use because of their harmonic ambiguity. Add to this that they can also sound muddy or otherwise jangly in the lower register and you have good reason to avoid introducing them to beginners. The moveable C barre form with the third in the bass may be avoided in such cases because it is harder to play than the other barre chords, and it requires some judgment to determine if it sounds good or not.

Answer 2

In the same way that a first inversion C chord played on the lowest notes of a piano will sound less satisfying to most ears than one an octave or two higher, a first inversion open C chord with that unrestrained, booming E string is unlikely to satisfy the way a more balanced D/F# will. It is true that one can tame the beast somewhat with finger picking and arpeggiating, but it will always be a problem child compared to the more tractable D/F#.

Answer 3

Many times a 1st inversion is used on the V chord to substitute for the vii° and to give you a bass note that leads back to the tonic. C is the dominant of F major and that is a very difficult key to play on guitar and not many songs are written for guitar in F (or many songs at all really) when it can be dropped half a step to E. That could be one possible reason it's not common.

Guitar books are generally for beginners and teach how to play each chord starting on the root. I am confident the books also show a D chord muting the E and A sting even though you can play a D/A just as easily as a C/E.

But on a side note I actually use it a lot when going from a C to F and it sounds fine and I like it.

Answer 4

It helps to think of the harmonics when it comes to the chords.

Playing a C-Chord, with G-C as the bottom two notes

G-C are the 3rd and 4th harmonics: C-C-G-C - so the "real" base of the chord is actually an octave and a half beneath that G.

Playing a C-chord, with E-C as the bottom two notes

E-C is a bit higher up the harmonic series: C-C-G-C-E-G-Bb-C. So the real base is more than two octaves lower than the E.

If you're playing E-C in a high register? Then it's not a problem - two octaves down isn't a problem, and would be a pleasant note. But if you're playing the lowest string on the guitar, and then mentally adjusting it 2+ octaves downward?

If you want to do an experiment, go to a piano and play the following intervals further and further down the piano's register:

• Octave (1st and 2nd harmonic)
• Fifth (2nd and 3rd harmonic)
• Fourth (3rd and 4th harmonic)
• Major Third (4th and 5th harmonic)
• Minor Third (5th and 6th harmonic)
• Diminished Fifth (5th and 7th harmonic)

... you'll find the further away from the fundamental the interval gets, the higher the register has to be before it's pleasant to the ears.

Answer 5

Playing a five string chord on guitar has a different sound and texture than playing a six string chord, even if the chord is technically the same, and the further up the neck you play the shorter the strings get and the more different they sound. Chords that utilize open strings are so popular because they sound good as well as being easier to play than barre chords. Since the open C major is one of two 5 string major chord shapes playable on the guitar it makes sense that teachers would emphasize this to get the student used to playing 5 strings. Being able to mute the low E string is something everyone should learn and not avoid simply because they think it's too hard.

A student should always first learn to play in root position since it sounds the clearest with regards to harmonic intent. The A major chord shape could also potentially use the low E as a second inversion tone, but again, there's no point in practicing this when you could be practicing playing the E or G major chords instead.

Many of the songs I have learned to play use the first inversion of the D Major Chord D/F# and I play that chord in many of the songs I cover and it sounds good.

This is because D is the second highest note of the guitars lowest octave and thus it loses a lot of low end and can sound uncomfortably high compared to other open chords around it.

Answer 6

Different chord inversions work best at different places in a progression. First-inversion chords are best in cases when the bass note is a half-step below that of the preceding and/or succeeding chord. In the case of the C/E chord, that would most likely occur when the neighboring chords are a six-string F chord or Bb/F. Guitar pieces for beginners don't generally contain either of those chords, and thus wouldn't have any place where a C/E would be particularly appropriate.

Note, btw, that it's easy to mute the sixth string while playing a C chord, using the same finger that is fretting the fifth string (typically the ring finger). Indeed, for many people it would be easier to deliberately mute the sixth string (by placing the finger slightly toward that string), than it would be to let it ring freely (placing the fifth-string finger precisely between the fourth and sixth strings without touching either).

Answer 7

Two main reasons really

1. It's poor voice leading. Doubling the third is rarely a good idea to begin with, let alone in the bass; it is almost certain to result in parallel or hidden octaves or an abused leading tone.

2. It sounds pretty bad without a capo. If you're higher up the neck it is bearable. Lower frequencies are harder for your ear to differentiate. In general you will find composers will space notes more sparsely the farther down you go on the staff.

Answer 8

I know you can get pretty complex with the music theory behind the answer, but the simpler answer is, because it sounds "best" to have the root note of the chord as the lowest tone. That helps your ear place the chord in context with the song, especially when playing the guitar as a solo instrument.

Note that if you are playing with a bass player, all bets are off and you can get really creative with your chord voicings, it's the bass player's job to anchor the chord with the root note on the beat or as needed. Jimi Hendrix often used this voicing with the major 3rd as the root, although higher up the fret board.

Regarding D/F#, that is often used as a transition chord, but you won't often hear a song written in the key of D use a D/F# voicing - on the root chord, you want to hear that root note in the bass.

Answer 9

There's really two issues here:

• Why do books and tutorials tell you to start on the C on the second string?

Because the standard answer is that you play a chord starting on the root. If the bass note is not serving another purpose (such as making a cadence stronger or providing a walking bass line), then use the root.

• Why do guitarists rarely play C over E?

They don't, many guitarists will play that low E string whenever a C appears for a fuller sound, to add a little more bass, or simply because they don't feel like muting that string.

There's nothing inherently wrong with it and it's itiomatic of a lot of guitar music.

Answer 10

C/E is not the first inversion of C since then the second note would be G, not C. So the bass note is quite more detached than if we were actually talking about a proper first inversion.