Tablature/Notation/Chord Questions

[cgworkman]

Here's my question:

I am reading some sheet music/tablature and I noticed there are chords written above the staff such as:

Eb7/G
Ab/Bb

Can someone explain why the chords are "stacked" (or whatever they're called). I know what Eb7 is, but what does it mean when it's written Eb7/G ?

Thank in advance

[wulf]

The note after the slash indicates what note should be played on the bass (although, depending on the musical style, this can still be open to a fair amount of interpretation). So, in your example of Eb7/G, the bass is probably playing a G, which is the major third of Eb7.

That will give a particular flavour to the overall sound. An example would be if you were playing a song in the key of G and the last four bars before the chorus went C / / / | D / / / | C / / / | D / / / |, leading back to a G for the top of the chorus.

You could play C D C D on the bass but it might sound better to play C D E F#, which will lead smoothly up to the next note. Of course, if you're playing from notation that goes beyond a simple chord sheet, your choice of note is probably already set out for you.

Wulf

ps. they're often called "slash chords"

[cgworkman]

This is what I've been doing for years... But someone recently told me I was wrong - that's why I asked.

Thanks!

[wulf]

Did they have an alternative explanation?

Wulf

[cgworkman]

No - that's what pissed me off.

But thanks for your help.