Confession #18 - Slash Chords!

By now, you've probably come across some sheet music that calls for chords with cryptic names like C/G or D/F#.  And you've probably wondered to yourself, what the heck does that mean?  Today we'll find out.

SLASH CHORDS

These cryptically named chords are called slash chords.  To understand what they mean, we need to revisit some chord theory (see Confession #14 - Know What Chords to Play! for a detailed explanation of chord construction).

C/G

Let's start with a C chord.  As we learned in Confession #14 - Know What Chords to Play!, the notes that make up a C chord are C - E - G.

If we play a standard open position C chord on our guitar, the notes played are C - E - G - C - E (in order from the fifth string to the first string).  Notice that the note with the lowest pitch (i.e. the C at the 3rd fret of the fifth string) is also the root note from which the chord gets it name.

When you encounter a slash chord such as C/G, it means to play a C chord (i.e. a chord with the notes C - E - G), but instead of using the root note as the lowest pitched note in the chord, use a G as the lowest pitched note in the chord.

Here an example of a C/G slash chord in open position:

You'll here a C/G chord in the first verse of Heart's 'Crazy On You'.


D/F#

Let's take a D chord as another example.  The notes that make up a D chord are D - F# - A.


If we play a standard open position D chord on our guitar, the notes played are D - A - D - F# (in order from the fourth string to the first string).  Notice that the note with the lowest pitch (i.e. the D at the 0th fret of the fourth string) is also the root note from which the chord gets it name.

When you encounter a slash chord such as D/F#, it means to play a D chord (i.e. a chord with the notes D - F# - A), but instead of using the root note as the lowest pitched note in the chord, use an F# as the lowest pitched note in the chord.

Here an example of a D/F# slash chord in open position:

Use your thumb to fret the sixth string and to mute the fifth string.

Here's another way of fingering the same chord:

Use your first finger to mute the fifth string.  Don't worry if the open first string sounds.  I'm not sure of the exact naming convention, but it will turn this chord into a ninth chord and will still sound cool.

You'll here a D/F# chord in the first verse of Tom Petty's 'Yer So Bad'.


Chord Voicing

One of the reasons that people use slash chords is to give their chords a different voicing than the standard chords that we all learned from our beginner guitar books.  Using different voicing can bring a fresh and interesting sound to chord progressions.  Experiment with using slash chords in your chord progressions.

Next Week's Confession - The Secret Strum! (Shhh!)