How to Understand Guitar Chords - What Are Slash Chords?
Chords go by many names, but most of the names for chords that you'll encounter in your guitar travels appear fairly normal: C, Am, F, Bb.
Yet there are many chords that go by stranger names than those, and it doesn't take long for beginning guitar players to start to encounter unfamiliar chord names in their guitar travels.
Names like Bm7b5 or Cm7 or A9 force the newbie guitarist to either skip the chord altogether or to dig in and do some research about what those arcane symbols mean.
Now, this article by no means promises to demystify every possible guitar chord that you'll encounter.
We are going to focus on a single strange type of chord.
What does it mean when a chord name looks like this: G/B or C/G? These types of chords are often called "slash chords.
" The name refers to the slash separating the two letters in the chord's name.
To understand slash chords, you have to understand both letters on either side of the slash, and you then have to understand the function these chords serve.
The letter before the slash indicates the basic type of chord that you will play.
So, in the case of G/B, we know that we are going to play some kind of G chord.
What does the B on the other side of the slash mean, then? The second letter, which comes after the slash, indicates the bass note that needs to be played in the chord.
In the case of G/B, the normal bass note for a G chord is G-that's a big reason the chord is named 'G.
' However, it is totally possible to use different notes from the chord in the bass.
Often, depending on the musical situation, a different bass note will actually be preferable because of the movement and sound the different bass note creates.
In classical music, substituting a different bass note from the chord instead of the root note that gives the chord its name is called an "inversion.
" Since a normal chord-like your average G major or D minor-has three notes (G, B, D in the case of G major and D, F, A in the case of D minor), this means that you can either play the normal voicing of the chord with the root note in the bass or you can use either of the other two notes in the chord as the bass.
Normal chords like these are made up of the intervals Root, Third and Fifth.
When a chord has the Third in the bass, in classical music that is called a First Inversion chord.
The Fifth occurring in the bass makes the chord a Second Inversion.
For popular music, however, the accepted method is to use our slash notation to specify exactly which note out of the chord is in the bass.
If you don't know the notes on your guitar's fretboard very well, you may still have to do some detective work to figure out how to play the slash chords you encounter.
But at least, with this quick guide to slash chords, you'll know what those letters separated by a slash are trying to tell you.
Yet there are many chords that go by stranger names than those, and it doesn't take long for beginning guitar players to start to encounter unfamiliar chord names in their guitar travels.
Names like Bm7b5 or Cm7 or A9 force the newbie guitarist to either skip the chord altogether or to dig in and do some research about what those arcane symbols mean.
Now, this article by no means promises to demystify every possible guitar chord that you'll encounter.
We are going to focus on a single strange type of chord.
What does it mean when a chord name looks like this: G/B or C/G? These types of chords are often called "slash chords.
" The name refers to the slash separating the two letters in the chord's name.
To understand slash chords, you have to understand both letters on either side of the slash, and you then have to understand the function these chords serve.
The letter before the slash indicates the basic type of chord that you will play.
So, in the case of G/B, we know that we are going to play some kind of G chord.
What does the B on the other side of the slash mean, then? The second letter, which comes after the slash, indicates the bass note that needs to be played in the chord.
In the case of G/B, the normal bass note for a G chord is G-that's a big reason the chord is named 'G.
' However, it is totally possible to use different notes from the chord in the bass.
Often, depending on the musical situation, a different bass note will actually be preferable because of the movement and sound the different bass note creates.
In classical music, substituting a different bass note from the chord instead of the root note that gives the chord its name is called an "inversion.
" Since a normal chord-like your average G major or D minor-has three notes (G, B, D in the case of G major and D, F, A in the case of D minor), this means that you can either play the normal voicing of the chord with the root note in the bass or you can use either of the other two notes in the chord as the bass.
Normal chords like these are made up of the intervals Root, Third and Fifth.
When a chord has the Third in the bass, in classical music that is called a First Inversion chord.
The Fifth occurring in the bass makes the chord a Second Inversion.
For popular music, however, the accepted method is to use our slash notation to specify exactly which note out of the chord is in the bass.
If you don't know the notes on your guitar's fretboard very well, you may still have to do some detective work to figure out how to play the slash chords you encounter.
But at least, with this quick guide to slash chords, you'll know what those letters separated by a slash are trying to tell you.
Source...