Were you ever reading along with the chords to your favorite song when you came across a slash chord? Slash chords are used when the composer wants you to play a chord in a specific way. These chords might have different functions depending on the context in which you encounter them.
In this article, we’ll learn all about slash chords and their meaning. We’ll explore all the different reasons you might discover a slash chord when reading along with a piece of music. And most importantly, we’ll show you how to construct slash chords so you can use them in your own playing.
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Table of Contents
Slash Chords Basic Definition
Slash chords are chord symbols that tell you precisely what note needs to be at the bottom of a chord.
If you know a bit of music theory, you’ll know that the chord’s root note isn’t always the lowest note in the chord. Other chord tones, or even notes outside the given triad or seventh chord, can be placed at the bottom.
Below, you’ll find a D/F# slash chord. This common slash chord is based on a triad and places one of the chord tones in the lowest position. The F# is the 3rd of a D major chord, so this is a chord inversion—specifically, an open position first inversion.
Check out this other article if you want a better understanding of chord inversions.
Here is a D/F# slash chord notated below on the staff with a guitar chord diagram to help you play it on guitar.
Why Use Slash Chords in Chord Progressions?
What’s the benefit of using slash chords in your music? There are three reasons why a slash chord occurs in music.
- To imply a specific chord inversion
- To give the chord progression an intentional bassline movement
- To keep the harmony moving over a pedal tone or static root note
Let’s explore examples for all three scenarios.
1. Implying Specific Chord Inversions
As we already mentioned, the essential function of a slash chord is to clue the reader in on what note should be at the bottom of a chord. This information is only important for the bass player when playing in an ensemble.
However, if you don’t have a bass player, you’ll need to know how to interpret them. We’ll explore chord inversions later, but let’s briefly review how slash chords indicate them.
A G major triad is made of three notes:
- 5th: D
- 3rd: B
- Root: G
However, these notes can be stacked in any order and still function as a G chord. In the image above, we take this major triad through all its possible close position arrangements.
- 2nd Inersion: D, G, B
- 1st Inversion: B, D, G
- Root Position: G, B, D
Each chord inversion has a different bass note, but no matter what, each chord tone retains its function: G is the root note, B is the 3rd, and D is the 5th, regardless of the inversion.
2. Intentional Bassline Movement in a Chord Progression
Many songs use slash chords to imply an ascending or descending bass line in the chord progression. The composer will write a slash chord into the chart to show the intended bass voice movement and maintain smooth transitions between the chords in a progression.
Below is a sample chord progression taken from the etude found at the end of this section. Notice how the bass note movement here consistently moves stepwise from A down to E. When you see slash chords written into charts, it often indicates an intended bass line.
This is an important skill to develop for smooth voice leading when part-writing. Check out this article to learn more about smooth voice leading.
Chord Etude With Slash Chords To Emphasize Root Movement
The first system’s bass line walks stepwise from C down to E.
The second system has a different bass line that ascends from F# up to D and back down to C.
When the note under the slash is a chord tone, it is an inversion. However, that note doesn’t have to be a chord tone. Sometimes, when the bass note isn’t a chord tone, it is a pedal tone.
3. Pedal Tones
Sometimes, slash chords indicate that a particular bass note should be placed at the bottom of a chord across several chord changes. These types of bass notes are known as pedal points or pedal tones.
Pedal tones are repeated bass notes that stay the same while the harmony and melody change above them. There are a few ways to indicate to musicians that there is a pedal note in the music. Using slash chords is one way to do this!
Another way to indicate a pedal tone involves using a line beneath the music.
Note that slash chords are more useful when reading informal chord charts, and pedal tone lines are more useful for larger, more complex musical scores.
Chord Etude With Slash Chords To Indicate A Pedal Tone
In this etude, we use different triads in the key of E- over an E pedal. Major and minor keys have seven chords (one for each scale degree). We use most of the following triads in the etude above.
- i. Minor chord: E-
- ii°. Diminished chord: F#dim
- III. Major chord: G
- iv. Minor chord: A-
- v. Minor chord: B-
- VI. Major chord: C
- VII. Major chord: D
Check out this article for more on diatonic chords and the major and minor diatonic series.
BEFORE YOU CONTINUE...
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Examples of Slash Notation in Jazz Standards
The jazz standard “On Green Dolphin Street” includes examples of root movement and pedal-tone slash chords. Chord progressions like this are excellent examples of slash notation indicating two separate concepts.
- Check out the use of slash chords to indicate root movement, highlighted in orange.
- Check out the use of slash chords to indicate a pedal tone, highlighted in purple.
Let’s look at another example.
Herbie Hancock’s “Dolphin Dance” uses slash chord notation to keep the bass note the same despite the harmony changing on top. This is a strong example of using slash chords to indicate pedal tones. Check out the purple highlighted areas above to see this concept in action.
image source: Wikimedia Commons
Learn more about Herbie Hancock by checking out our article on the 50 best jazz pianists ever.
Common Slash Chords You’ll Encounter
Let’s learn how to play common slash chords on the guitar. You should memorize these guitar slash chords because they are found in many songs, from jazz to pop, and you’ll need to know how to play them when you encounter them.
In this section, we’ll review guitar voicings for these two chords—all G and C major chord inversions. However, these concepts apply to other chords as well.
Guitar Slash Chords: G Chord
Let’s look at how slash chords can indicate different inversions for a G major triad.
G/B Slash Chord (G major triad in 1st inversion)
This slash chord has a B as the bass note. It is in first inversion because the 3rd of the chord is the lowest note.
G/D Slash Chord (G major triad in 2nd inversion)
This slash chord has a D as the bass note. It is in 2nd inversion because the 5th of the chord is the lowest note.
C Chord Slash Chords
Let’s look at how slash chords can indicate different inversions for a C major triad.
C/E Slash Chord (C major triad in 1st inversion)
This slash chord has an E as the bass note. It is in first inversion because the 3rd of the chord is the lowest note.
Smaller version:
Here is a smaller version of the C/E chord that uses less strings.
C/G Slash Chord (C major triad in 2nd inversion)
This slash chord has a G as the bass note. It is in 2nd inversion because the 5th of the chord is the lowest note.
Here is a smaller version of this same chord:
Check out this article for more on major triad voicings on guitar.
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