Chord Inversion Tab

In the Chord Inversion tab of the Chord Properties window, shown in the following figure, you specify the inversions allowed for each chord in the four chord levels.

The Chord Inversion tab contains the following elements:

• Chord root name and type

  Read-only display of these values, which are set on the Chord/Scale Tab.

• Chord keyboards

  Read-only display of the chord at each level in its original root position. The notes are set on the Chord/Scale Tab.

• Next

  Button for each chord level, used to display the next possible inversion. Depending on whether you enter a three-note or four-note chord in a level, you can choose from three or four inversions for the chord. Each tone in the chord can serve as the bottom note of an inversion. This includes the root inversion of the original chord.

• Inversion keyboards

  Read-only display of a possible inversion for the chord in each level.

• Legal?

  Check box for each chord level. If selected, the currently displayed inversion is enabled. You cannot deselect this check box for the root position of the original chord.

• Play

  Button for each chord level, used to play the displayed inversion.

Transposing some notes in a part up or down an octave when a chord is encountered inverts the chord. By default, all possible inversions are allowed. However, if you determine that some inversions are unacceptable, you can disable them by using this tab. In this case, the Inversion Boundaries of the part are temporarily overridden so that the notes are not transposed, and certain inversions of the chord are prevented.

For example, consider a part that contains a row of notes in a scale: C5, D5, E5, F5, G5, A5, and B5. This part has an upper inversion boundary of G6, and a lower inversion boundary of G4. The notes transpose up or down to conform to various chords. If notes in a chord exceed the inversion boundaries, these notes transpose an octave up or down as required. The following table shows the behavior of the part as it encounters various chords.

In the preceding table, two chords exceed the inversion boundaries and some notes are transposed. Any note that exceeds the boundary transposes up or down an octave. In addition, the note directly below the transposed note also transposes.

The 2 B M7 chord in the table causes the part to play with F#, G#, and A# transposed down. This creates the sound of a second inversion B major 7 chord. You can disallow this inversion, so that the part continues to play the F# in the same octave as the notes that precede it. The part then plays B5, C#6, D#6, E6, F#6, G#5, and A#5. This creates an octave split between the notes F# and G#. You can also disallow the third inversion of the chord, so no break occurs and all the original notes play in the same octave.

You can allow or disallow certain inversions of a chord in each of the four levels of the chord. These settings affect all instrument parts that play the chord level, in any pattern that encounters the chord.