Chord Inversion Practice

[onlydlonly]

Hello,
New to the site. Been playing for a couple years now but don't know what direction to go in. I currently find a song that I like and then learn each hand independent of each other and then try to put the hands together. I have learned a few songs this way.

I would like to learn how to improvise and am trying to learn my chords and their inversions.

I found a youtube channel that has some decent videos on learning the piano

this video she talks about learning some chord pairs and says that it is very important to learn these

She teaches for use on player organs though so IDK how important these changes are

basically the lesson is to practice these chords in sets of 2

The C chord in 2nd inversion to G in Root

The C CHord in 2nd inversion to F in 1st

The G chord in root position to D chord in 1st

The A chord in Root to E chord in 1st

and

The F chord in 1st inversion to the Bb chord in root



Now recently I have been trying to practice my scales and stuff by going around the circle of 4ths from C to F to Bb etc all the way back around to C

When practicing her lesson there wasn't a lot of "circle of fifths/fourths" flow to the lesson so I was just practicing them in order when I decided to make up a chart that would help me to practice Chords and their inversions and has movement around the circle

I just want to know if this is a good exercise that I came up with or if I should spend my time working on other stuff


here is what I typed up. basically I start on the c then move to the dominant back to root then to the subdominant which becomes my new root. I figure if I get used to this then ill learn all the Major chords and inversions.

thanks for the help. If somebody thinks that this is a good workout then let me know and i can send you a pdf.





Root    Dom   Subd
C/R   G/1   F/2
F/2   C/R   Bb/1
Bb/1   F/2   Eb/R
Eb/R   Bb/1   Ab/2
Ab/2   Eb/R   Db/1
Db/1   Ab/2   Gb/R
Gb/R   Db/1   B/2
B/2   Gb/R   E/1
E/1   B/2   A/R
A/R   E/1   D/2
D/2   A/R   G/1
G/1   D/2   C/R

Root    Dom   Sub
C/1   G/2   F/R
F/R   C/1   Bb/2
Bb/2   F/R   Eb/1
Eb/1   Bb/2   Ab/R
Ab/R   Eb/1   Db/2
Db/2   Ab/R   Gb/1
Gb/1   Db/2   B/R
B/R   Gb/1   E/2
E/2   B/R   A/1
A/1   E/2   D/R
D/R   A/1   G/2
G/2   D/R   C/1

Root    Dom   Sub
C/2   G/r   F/1
F/1   C/2   Bb/R
Bb/R   F/1   Eb/2
Eb/2   Bb/2   Ab/1
Ab/2   Eb/1   Db/R
Db/R   Ab/1   Gb/2
Gb/2   Db/R   B/1
B/1   Gb/2   E/R
E/R   B/1   A/2
A/2   E/R   D/1
D/1   A/2   G/R
G/R   D/1   C/2

[nystul]

Some of the things said on that video would be too limiting for classical piano.  For example left hand will not always sit in the same range and play chords if you want to play a piano sonata.  However, the chord inversion exercise can be very useful.  You will find for example C chord in root going to F chord in 2nd inversion (or to G in 1st inversion) all throughout musical literature, because it is a very natural and useful voice leading.  When I was a first year piano student each week it would be learn a scale and the cadence chords to go with it.  So one week I would practice C major scale with both hands, and then with both hands play C in root, F 2nd inv., C in root, G 1st inv, C in root.  The next week it would be the G major scale, with the chords starting from G in root position and so on.

I think doing this type of exercise as a beginner helps to get used to the hand shape of common chords and also to think of chords as a single unit instead of having to read and look for each note in the chord as you are sight reading.  And certainly if you are trying to play melodies by ear or improvise in popular styles you need to know your chords.