What Are Slash Chords?

Have you ever seen a chord in a chord chart that looks like the following?

G/B

What does this mean? How do you play it?

Understanding Slash Chords

The good news is you don’t have to do any math! These aren’t chord fractions. These are called SLASH CHORDS.

Let’s break down slash chords:

• The first letter tells you the chord you play (usually a basic triad). In this first example, you simply play a G chord.
• The second letter is the BASS NOTE. In this case, it’s telling you that the B note must be in the bass.

In summary, play a G chord with a B note in the bass. 

You might say, well a G chord has a B note in it, why even specify this? 
Understand that different voicings give different sounds, even if they are made up of the same note. 

In this case, the composer has a very specific chord sound in mind.  In addition, often they are using a slash chord to make sure the appropriate bassline is implied.

Slash Chords To Imply Basslines

For example:

Aminor – C/G – F major.

Here, the bass is moving A-G-F and creates a nice whole-step descending motion.  Otherwise, the bass would go A-C-F and the smooth descending line wouldn’t appear.

So far, these examples have been pretty easy to understand as the note is in the chord referred to.  However, let’s look at some more complicated examples:

Slash Chords Containing Notes Not In The Triad

A/G

I see this one all the time.  It’s telling you to play an A major chord, but put a G in the bass.  Except an A major chord doesn’t have a G inside of it.  This chord is spelled out:   

G A C# E

What is this?  It turns out it is actually an A7th chord with the 7th in the bass.  A7 is usually spelled out A C# E G.  The notes have been rearranged.

If the composer wrote A7 on the chart, you are free to choose which inversion or shape of A7 you’d like to play.  With A/G, it is once again, a specific sound.  In this case, putting the 7th in the bass really does change the sound.  I encourage you to compare the sound of A/G to a regular A7 chord. 

Slash Chords With Non-Chord Notes

Here is one I see used a lot, it contains a note not found in the original chord:

F/G

In this case, you play an F chord, but put a G in the bass.  There are a couple of ways to view this.  The notes included are:

G F A C

You can say it’s like a F chord with a 2 in the bass OR if you want to make things complicated, it’s like a G chord with a b7, 9, and 11 (who wants to do that!). 

Where this sort of thing comes in handy is when someone writes a chart and they know that the person reading it may not have the musical knowledge to read a complicated notation.  They can reduce it down using a basic triad with a bass note.  

I hope this article helped you to understand slash chords.  Please let me know if you have any questions via email.  Wishing you the best on your MUSIC JOURNEY!