Slash Chords

Slash chords (also known as slashed or compound chords) are those kinds of chords where we show the bass note with a slash then the name of the bass note after it. Often these bass notes aren't even part of the chord. They just add a special flavor to your music.

What is a bass note?

It's the lowest note in your chord (or the lowest note added to your chord), usually somewhere on the left side of the piano or keyboard. So the compound chord consists of "the name of the chord"/"the name of the bass note". Alternate bass notes often give your song a totally different feel.

Does "/" mean the note is optional?

If you see a compound chord, it doesn't mean that you have a choice of which bass note you want to play though. The indicated bass note is not an option but compulsory.

For example:

Let's take a simple chord that's probably the most common in popular music, the C major chord as an example. (By the way, if you need help with figuring out and learning chords, you may want to visit the "how to learn chords quickly and easily" page). The C major chord consists of three notes, C, E and G. But maybe you would like to add a bass note, G to these notes. You will indicate this C major chord plus the G bass note as "C/G". When you read it out loud, you should say "C-slash-G" or "C-over-G". Again, it means that the bass note will be a G note.

Getting Creative with Slash Chords

There are some common slashed chords used in popular music, like D/F#, A/C# or C/E. You might also "invent" new slash chords. Try experimenting at the piano or on your guitar. Sometimes you can come up with some really great and modern sounding chords using usual or even unusual, dissonant bass notes. They can make your song sound even more unique. You may also start your song with some simple chords like C, G, F, etc. then as the tension builds, you could add some bass notes to the chords to make your music sound deeper and more intense.

More Music Theory