Marcy Marxer Demystifies Chord Inversions on Ukulele

BY MARCY MARXER | FROM THE WINTER 2025 ISSUE OF UKULELE

Some musical terms can spark everything from curiosity to dread, because their meaning isn’t instantly clear. Inversion is one of them. At first glance, the meaning and application of the term may not be obvious. To make it a little clearer, let’s start not with music but with food.

Think of a BLT sandwich. It has three essential ingredients—bacon, lettuce, and tomato—and without any one of them it isn’t really a BLT. But those ingredients don’t have to be stacked in a single order; bacon can be on top, lettuce in the middle, tomato on the bottom, or in any other sequence. We don’t rename the sandwich depending on the order—it’s always a BLT.

Chords work in the same way. The C major chord has three notes—C, E, and G. Arrange them as E–G–C, or G–C–E, and it’s still C. Since the ukulele has four strings, one note is doubled to complete the sound.

In this lesson, you’ll see how C, F, and G7 chords can be played in multiple ways up and down the neck, how each inversion has its own character, and how using these shapes will expand your sound, sharpen your sense of the fretboard, and give you new tools for playing with others.

Six Shades of C

The open C chord (Example 1a) gives you G–C–E–C, with the root doubled. From there, you can move into closed shapes that shuffle the notes in different orders. Examples 1b and 1c stack the notes in neat thirds or place the third on top for a lighter sound, while 1d and 1e offer slight twists on the same grip by opening the fourth string or bringing the fifth to the top. High up the neck, Example 1f brings yet another voicing, important even if your instrument doesn’t always make those frets easy to reach. Together, these six shapes illustrate how the same three notes can yield a whole palette of colors.

As you play through them, notice how the mood shifts depending on which note is highest. Some chords feel strong and grounded, others more delicate. That sensitivity to voicing is what makes inversions such a powerful tool.

Shape Shifter

Once you’re comfortable with C, move on to F major. Here you’ll quickly discover that some of the F shapes are simply the C grips moved to new frets. Compare Ex. 1a with Example 2d: the hand position is identical, just relocated. Play through the set of F inversions and you’ll see how the fretboard begins to reveal itself as a series of repeating patterns rather than isolated shapes.

Seventh Sense

To round things out, add the V7 chord in the key of C: G7. The four inversions in Examples 3a–d show the notes G, B, D, and F in different orders. Just as with C and F, each voicing has its own character depending on what note tops the stack. When you combine one of these shapes with an open-position C, the sound opens up in a way that makes even simple progressions feel more expansive.

Making It Stick

The value of knowing inversions is both practical and musical. They give you a clear mental map of the fretboard, they let you choose colors that suit a song, and they make you more flexible when playing with others. If the group is strumming a first-position C, you might respond with one of the higher inversions, adding depth without crowding the sound.

To internalize the shapes, work slowly. Take the C family first and play up and down the neck, listening to the way each inversion shifts the harmony. Then try the F and G7 families in the same way. Once the shapes feel familiar, apply them to easy two-chord songs, swapping in different inversions as you play. Even if you can only strum the first beat of each measure at first, you’ll be training your hands and ears to move confidently.

As you grow comfortable, experiment with choosing inversions that sit close together for smooth changes, and then challenge yourself with wider leaps. Add a third chord to your progressions and notice how the patterns interlock. Bit by bit, the fretboard will start to feel like friendly territory.

Understanding inversions doesn’t just add chords to your vocabulary—it gives you options, confidence, and the freedom to relax, jam, and enjoy the music.