Slash chords – optional or not?

[Russell L]

It's not 1589 anymore! Get with the times. LOL :-D

No matter the year or day, G/B is a G chord with B in the bass, all day and all night.

 

[PDQbass]

G/B is a G chord with a B bass note, not an indication of which inversion is required.

 

[byacey]

It does indicate what bass note the bassist should be playing. Whatever other conclusions you make of that, are your own.

 

[ryco]

Your poll is lacking the answer I would choose.
I would choose to emphasize the note the slash chord notation asks for.
For example: if the slash chord is notatated CMaj/G = I'm going to emphasize G
The note under the slash is the note the composer wants to hear
If the notation is C7/E = I'm going to land on and emphasis E

then I'll prolly play the 3rd or the 7th cuz they be fun

 

[longfinger]

No matter the year or day, G/B is a G chord with B in the bass, all day and all night.

G/B is a G chord with a B in the bass, yes.

However, back in 1589 or sometime in the late Renaissance period, the notes from bottom up B-D-G was indeed thought of as some kind of "simultaneous sound" over a B, a B 6-3. A B with a 3rd and a 6th above it. (Imagine how figured bass numbers are supposed to look.) B 5-3, B 6-3, B 6-4 were all kinds of B "chords". (Not B, G/B or E/B , depending on accidentals) Earlier in the Renaissance the "chords" where not thought of as distinct things, they were the result of overlapping melodies. Tonal harmony wasn't a thing yet. Figured bass wasn't a reliable thing yet. It was all melodic counterpoint. The concept of chords and chord inversions didn't exist yet. It took time for that concept to develop.


Eventually the concept of chords, inversions, tonal harmony, did develop and we now call that era the Baroque period. (Reality is it overlapped our names/dates for eras) Then musicians thought of "chords" in a tonal sense, and of chords as things that could be inverted. So much of the Tonal harmony we use today comes from here.
But back then in the Baroque, people didn't write G/B. They had musical notation, a B in this case, and then numbers like 6-3 below it. (Play the B, play a diatonic 3rd above it D, play a diatonic 6th above it G) That's figured bass. It was a B 6-3 chord, which by then people understood as a G chord with B in the bass. (Or eventually would understand that.) Again, people didn't write G/B back then, that would have been a confusing error. So yeah, the year does matter. :-D


That's the "get with the times joke". I thought it was funny, it seems so did a few others.

 

[Russell L]

Yes, I remember reading figured bass charts many years ago when I was a music major in college. Interesting. It keeps your mind busy when sight reading.

For our purposes here G/B is still a G major triad in first inversion.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

As a comic relief, let's take a look at the following chord notation from Mike Downes' "The jazz bass lines".
See the chord notation and the bass notes.

 

[longfinger]

As a comic relief, let's take a look at the following chord notation from Mike Downes' "The jazz bass lines".
See the chord notation and the bass notes.

View attachment 3272252

That line is pretty nice, likely goes with something the melody / horns are playing? Some kind of ensemble line? It's the chords that are off. Too generic with the "Rhythm changes" A section. Fine for the solos, but meh for the head in / head out.

The bassist played (or the composer arranged a written bass line) I V with anticipation on the V, instead of I-VI, ii-V. After all, 1-6-2-5 is a more elaborate way of playing 1-5. IMO, the bass line is nicer than the chords. The chords should be simpler and support the bass line here. A good chordal player will hear that and keep it
|Bb . . F7|(F7) . . . |Bb . . F7|(F7) . . (F7#5)|
|Bb . . F7|(F7) . . (F7b5)|Bbmaj#11 . . . | (tacet) . . F7sus |
and comping the triplet quarter notes in m7, with a rest on beat 1-2 in m.8, so everyone is together.

IMO, IME, YMMV etc.