Slash chords – optional or not?

[basspraiser]

I always play the note to the right of the slash..... Like others have stated.... Pretty much non negotiable as the composer had a particular feel/sound in mind.

We have a guitarist who usually follows those " split chords" as well.... Sometimes ... When he does it... It muddies things up too much... Hard enough when the piano player is banging out the bass chords ( he has a heavy left hand) .....

 

[Chrisk-K]

I voted play whatever. It all depends on the context and what I am doing. It's an inversion and by law we do not have to only play the lowest note in chord.

Slashed chords are nonnegotiable like the law. If you see a chord A/B, you must play a B. Otherwise, you will screw up the chord.

 

[zZippy]

You can always play Mariah Carey's version and you won't be dealing with those chords.drool

Heh, besides ewwww, pretty sure it wouldn’t go over at church haha!

 

[Mushroo]

I don't have time to wade through all 100+ posts to see if anyone corrected you on this, but a Gmaj7 chord with B in the bass is definitely not a B chord. It's a Gmaj7 chord with B in the bass.

If you choose to say 'It's a B chord for me'... well, we are living in a world of alternate facts.

Generally I agree with you, however, looking at the specific musical example that the OP asked about, on the line "joyful and triumphant" from the song "O Come, All Ye Faithful." The progression G/D - D, I don't think it would be completely crazy to interpret it as a Dsus - Dmaj sound. In classical music theory, the 2nd inversion I chord (or "Roman numeral one, superscript six four" which I'm not sure how to write with forum formatting) has a special set of conditions when and how it is used. The 2nd inversion I chord is typically only used in cadences to set up the V chord, and wouldn't be used as a straight-up tonic chord elsewhere in the progression. From that perspective, it's not outrageous to classify G/D in this context as a D chord instead of a G chord.

That said, I personally do consider it a G chord. But my point is that, it's maybe not as cut and dry a distinction as you might think.

 

[mellowinman]

I hate to come from the guitar point of view, but on acoustic, if you don't play the right bass note in the chord itself, it really messes up the "feel" of that chord's sound. If you have a bass player, it's not as crucial, because while you're playing the "wrong" voicing, the bass player is playing the "right" voicing, and if the mix is good, he will drag the feel back from your unskilled bony hands. On solo guitar? OMG - HORRIBLE MISTAKE. I literally interpret C/G as "C Major with a G in the bass."

 

[dreamadream99]

The inversion doesn’t belong to the bass just because the bass note is specified.

In a rhythm section chart, that is usually exactly what it means! The guitar and piano play the top chord, and the bass plays the note under the slash.

talk about the arrangement with the other musicians before the downbeat.

But that’s why we have notation conventions—so we don’t have to discuss it! The written information is enough for competent rhythm section members to render a professional sounding product.

 

[zZippy]

Looks like it was written by a guitarist who plays solo acoustic gigs at an Applebee's.

Hey, a gig’s a gig. Plus unlimited fries, so...

I agree, a score would be nice. But here’s the context (which may help explain my initial question).

Like most small/medium-sized churches, we have a handful of volunteer BLs along with various volunteer musicians. On any given week, you can end up being part of any given crew depending on the scheduling.

So you show up for practice on Thursday. BL hands out chord sheets. Of six song you might have played two before, you might know another two from hearing them, and two are brand new.

You get about 1.5 hours to go through the set and try to figure out what everyone else is doing. Thankfully as a bassist I usually have played with my drummer before as there are very few of both categories. Guitars and vocals on the other hand... a dime a dozen, and also often non-readers. Keys are, of course, generally proficient readers.

So you go home, fire up YouTube on Friday to see what things should sound like. Practice on your own Friday and Saturday. Show up early Sunday morning for 45 minute group practice, and hope things gel.

Then two services later...

Basically it’s a ton of sight reading. You need to know the circle of fifths like the back of your hand. The chord sheet is all you have for signposts, and you need to improvise and develop your own fills almost on the spot.

It’s pretty intense, and it amazingly generally turns out well. Likely because everyone involved - whether they read or not - have grown up singing and playing.

Hence my question... trying to figure out how best to grab these signposts and go from there. Thanks.

 

[zZippy]

The obligation is on you to use your skill and judgement to play what fits and sounds good. Serve the song!

Really well put.

 

[Luke the Fluke]

Yes, thanks. This is partly my conundrum. Since I’m playing in a situation (church worship team) where we have new songs each time I’m on stage, usually a rotating BL, and perhaps a couple hours of practice at most before Sunday, we don’t have time to discuss every chord. Sometimes you just need to figure out what sounds good considering what the rest of the group is doing.

yes I’ve done the thing where I read a few posts and then quote one without reading the whole thread...
Modern music in church worship is often guitar led in the writing - so you will see a lot of / chords - Generally in that context you should make sure the note to the right of the / is in there somewhere for it to sound right.

For carols and old hymns I’ve found that often I’ll get given a chord chart... usually though the piece of music was written for piano or organ and the chords, with all the / chords are a massive simplification for the sake of the guitarists. As a bass player look for the sheet music, and even if, like me, you can’t read take the time to translate it into something you can understand- you will often find the song is doing WAY more interesting things a guitarists chord chart can make out - so you can work out bass lines based on this.

 

[LiquidMidnight]

I don't have time to wade through all 100+ posts to see if anyone corrected you on this, but a Gmaj7 chord with B in the bass is definitely not a B chord. It's a Gmaj7 chord with B in the bass.

If you choose to say 'It's a B chord for me'... well, we are living in a world of alternate facts.

Yeah, I don't have anything against heuristics if they make sense, but treating the G with a B bass note as a "B chord" means you are introducing a D# as the relative major third of the "new" chord - in essence, turning the real G chord into a G augmented. I suppose in some contexts that would sound good. *lol*

 

[zZippy]

As a bass player look for the sheet music, and even if, like me, you can’t read take the time to translate it into something you can understand- you will often find the song is doing WAY more interesting things a guitarists chord chart can make out - so you can work out bass lines based on this.

Thankfully I do read, so that helps too.

Thanks for this great advice!

 

[okcrum]

There are a few approaches to this:

1) If you're fingerpicking on guitar, the note under the slash is what you want to be fingering on the bottom while playing the top chord
2) In many (not all) pop and rock tunes, the note under the slash is specifically what the writer wants the bassist to play. See: Stairway To Heaven
3) In simplified jazz charts and lead sheets, the slash chord is used to denote or approximate a chord that would be a bit harder to notate and sight read cold

Regarding #3, I play sometimes with a very fine jazz keys player who will warn me when he's not going to play the chords on the chart - "I'm going to play the right changes on this one". For pop tunes, he flows with #2. That lets me know how to interpret the slash chords on my chart.

 

[Jason42]

Never been a huge GnR fan, but Slash plays good chords. Oh, wait...

 

[Hahaha]

Borderline by Madonna is a really good example of using slash chords to make an otherwise pedestrian chord progression sound interesting.

I almost always play the slash chord as written, but at times I've had to "finesse" the slash note due to what the chording instruments are doing.

 

[Slevage]

Then there are “pedal tones”.

I just did a bunch of Christmas concerts where the written part had me bowing a tied whole note hi 16+ measures.

That note was the”1” of the key.
Sometimes F, sometimes G, sometimes C.

Chords were change over the foundation set up in the lower register.
“Pedaling” comes from the use of church organ pedals.

 

[Russell L]

I respectfully disagree. I realize this is just a nomenclature discrepancy but from my point of view, as a bass player, I prefer to name chords by their roots...it makes my job easier.

G/B is a G major triad. The B isn't the root. G is. But the B is the lowest note in the voicing in this case. It's called "first inversion." If D were the lowest note it would be "second inversion." G would still be the root.

GBD = Root position G chord
BDG = First inversion G chord
DGB = Second inversion G chord

"Root" doesn't mean lowest note (unless you're talking about root position).

 

[Russell L]

There really isn't much to say about G/B. It's a G chord with B in the bass. Done.

 

[MDBass]

I respectfully disagree. I realize this is just a nomenclature discrepancy but from my point of view, as a bass player, I prefer to name chords by their roots...it makes my job easier.

That's literally the point you're missing: it's not a nomenclature discrepancy.

In a slash chord, the bass is no longer playing the root

 

[LowActionHero]

Bassist 1, Guitarist 0

Yeah, we won ONE round.
Now we're on the board.... I

 

[lowphatbass]

That's literally the point you're missing: it's not a nomenclature discrepancy.

In a slash chord, the bass is no longer playing the root

I get it. If you’re in C and come across C/E to F....the first chord is still a C chord of which the root is C so long as the C/E is meant to function as a I chord. Further down in the chart is C to F/D to C/E etc.....limited context but let’s say the F/D is functioning as a ii chord. Is the root still F?
Generally I prefer to think of and name chords based on the note I’m supposed to play. Often it gives me more insight the chord’s function. There’s nothing wrong in my mind with calling a chord “C with an E in the bass”, it makes sense until it doesn’t.
Not trying to start Theory War 2019...just stating what works well in my tiny head. I realize I’m in the minority here.
Now go open some presents!!