Does this transition have a name?
I'll try to explain this to the best of my knowledge, if I've misunderstood any concepts please do correct my misunderstanding; I became disinterested in music theory as a freshman in high school, and this is the extent to any formal education I've had. I've been playing guitar for the around 16 years since, though, and meanwhile picking up the rest of what I know eclectically.
I find myself fingering a particular pattern frequently while tapping and I'd like to know more about the theory behind what it is I'm hearing and why I like the sound so much. Let's say I'm repeating this pattern
X:1
L:1/8
M:
K:G
V:1 clef=treble
G B d
%
and then I move to repeating this one
X:1
L:1/8
M:
K:G
V:1 clef=treble
F B ^d
%
The first forms Gmaj (G-B-D) and the second, if my understanding is correct, forms an inversion of Bmaj (F#-B-D#) - but I don't know if that's what you'd call it in the context I'm trying to convey. I get a different feeling when I switch from the G major pattern to a B major rooted on B, even though the actual notes I'm using haven't changed. That is, if I instead transition from
X:1
L:1/8
M:
K:G
V:1 clef=treble
G B d
%
to
X:1
L:1/8
M:
K:G
V:1 clef=treble
B ^d f
%
then the notes haven't changed from the first example, only their order and F#'s pitch - which, of course, can (and does) drastically change the sound of something, but I get the feeling the inversion takes on a different musical meaning. If I'm correct I'd like to know what such a thing is called.
Is there a name for this concept/feeling? If I should like to communicate such a thing to a fellow musician, what would I say in fewer words than I've used here?
It appears I'm moving from Gmaj to Bmaj, but the feeling I get when I move from G-B-D to B-D#-F# is not the same as the feeling I get when I move from G-B-D to F#-B-D#. This is how I view the difference in transitions:
(G-B-D) = Gmaj = root -> major 3 -> perfect 5
(F#-B-D#) = Bmaj = perfect 5 -> root -> major 3
vs
(G-B-D) = Gmaj = root -> major 3 -> perfect 5
(B-D#-F#) = Bmaj = root -> major 3 -> perfect 5
Is my interpretation reasonable? Or, should I be considering F# to be the root of the second fingering followed by a perfect fourth and then a major sixth? Something else? If more context is needed, for a rhythm I'd play a G5 over the first pattern (G-B-D) and a F#5 over the second (F#-B-D#).
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Your example of going from G to B chords both in root position reminded me somewhat of the beginning of the verse in "Sea of Love" as done by the Honeydrippers (where Robert Plant starts singing.)
A I to III transition perhaps?
In talking with other musicians we'd discuss possibilities: do we want the change to be closely packed and smooth? Or do we specifically want a jump because we want that skip to be more pronounced and stand out?
Congratulations, you've discovered the importance of proper voice leading!
What's going on here has not very much to do with what particular inversions you have of each chord; more important is the fact that in the first example you have a clear continuity of which voice goes where:
X:1
L:1/8
M:
K:G
%%score (T1 T2) (B1)
V:T1 clef=treble
V:T2 clef=treble
V:B1 clef=treble
% 1
[V:T1] (d ^d)
[V:T2] (B B)
[V:B1] (G F)
In the second case, you'd have some pretty big jumps, so there's no clear way for your ear to “stitch the voices back together”:
X:1
L:1/8
M:
K:G
%%score (T1 T2) (B1)
V:T1 clef=treble
V:T2 clef=treble
V:B1 clef=treble
% 1
[V:T1] (d "?"f) | (d d) | (d ^d2)
[V:T2] (B ^d) | (B B) | (B2 "?"f)
[V:B1] (G B) | (G "?"f) | (G B)
Notice that in all three interpretations, there's a certain clash – voices stepping on a note where another voice just left, or voices crossing each other. Common practice voice leading strongly avoids this kind of clash. Guitarists tend to be much more lax about it, but in particular if the chords are arpeggiated by tapping single notes on one string it's really a good idea to give the voice leading some though, since any “jump incoherence” will be exacerbated by the jumps that are already present in the arpeggiation.
The name for moving from I to III or I to VI or the like is "chromatic mediant." The normal movement is I to iii (though not necessarily very common). The chromatic mediant move is very smooth (common tone) and allows one to introduce "distant" harmonies quickly.
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