I’ve written before about how the insufficiency of Roman Numeral analysis leads to problems when voicing chords.
But it seems to me that chord inversions change the character of chords so significantly that we should regard inversions as equally important to the the Roman Numeral. The little 6 is just as important to a I6 chord as the big I.
That’s not how we’re taught – inversion is a generally taught as a subsequent and less-significant piece of information to root/Roman Numeral analysis.
Until young composers and arrangers understand that the choice of bottom note is just as significant as the choice of chord, there will be misfires in voicing of chords.
The difference between a I and a I6 chord is as big as the difference between a B and a B-flat. We need to be just as vigilant in correcting it – and explaining the reason why correction is important.