Seriously, when I'm playing with slash chords, HOW do I play 'em? What does a slash chord even DO?
I hate music theory....I suck at bass.
I hate music theory....I suck at bass.
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Slash notes....what do I do?!
- Thread starter Fassa Albrecht
- Start date
That confused me even more...
The slash-chord simply indicates which note SHOULD be in the bass. So...
Play that note. It's really not that hard.
Yeah. Play the note that is on the right hand side of the slash.
But - in case you're playing a bassline and not just root notes, take into consideration the chord on the left hand side. Example: Imagine a song with a root-fifth bassline in C. Then you see a C/E chord, but for some reason you don't want to break the root-fifth pattern by sticking strictly to the E over that chord. Playing a B (5th over E) after the E while still on the C/E chord would sound more or less terrible. Then it's way better to pick a C instead for the second note. The E an octave higher would of course also work, but you might not want that for a reason or another.
But - in case you're playing a bassline and not just root notes, take into consideration the chord on the left hand side. Example: Imagine a song with a root-fifth bassline in C. Then you see a C/E chord, but for some reason you don't want to break the root-fifth pattern by sticking strictly to the E over that chord. Playing a B (5th over E) after the E while still on the C/E chord would sound more or less terrible. Then it's way better to pick a C instead for the second note. The E an octave higher would of course also work, but you might not want that for a reason or another.
I agree, if you're dealing with slash chords and feel like coming up with a more interesting bass line, treat the "slash" note as the root and derive the rest of the notes to play from the "main" chord. However, I've also come across times when the "slash" root sounded good when played on guitar, but not on bass (check out "My Friends" by RHCP which is the only example I can think of right now). By the way, I once played with a keyboard player who thought pretty highly of himself but couldn't grasp the concept of slash chords. It wasn't pretty.
The note after the slash is the bass note of the chord -as the bassist you play the second note.
Most of the time the note after the slash is the bass note intended rather than the root. But look at it in context too. Sometimes it's written as a C/E for the guitar player to play a specific pattern, and the it's possible the bass is still playing the root. However, unless I hear a specific reason not to, I'll at least start the measure with the indicated alternate bass note.
Some good examples of the slash used to indicate a specific pattern would be "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Stairway to Heaven". "While My..." main progression is essentially an Amin with a descending bassline. Amin Amin/G Amin/F# Fmaj7 (although one could make the case that it's Amin/F). Sure, it's technically Amin to Amin7 to F#minb5 to Fmaj7. But putting in the slash chords tells you much more clearly what's going on there.
The classic bit at the beginning of "Stairway..." is so frequently played wrong by guitarists who ignore the cool voice-leading in it. It centers around the C and E notes, while the voice below it descends in half steps from A clear down to F#. The high voice goes A B C the drops to F#. The thing is, if the guitar leaves the LOW F# out, they've lost one of the coolest things Page ever did.
So, when you see slash chords, look at them in context of what's going on around them and the chords before and after the slash chord. That'll help you find patterns.
jte
Some good examples of the slash used to indicate a specific pattern would be "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Stairway to Heaven". "While My..." main progression is essentially an Amin with a descending bassline. Amin Amin/G Amin/F# Fmaj7 (although one could make the case that it's Amin/F). Sure, it's technically Amin to Amin7 to F#minb5 to Fmaj7. But putting in the slash chords tells you much more clearly what's going on there.
The classic bit at the beginning of "Stairway..." is so frequently played wrong by guitarists who ignore the cool voice-leading in it. It centers around the C and E notes, while the voice below it descends in half steps from A clear down to F#. The high voice goes A B C the drops to F#. The thing is, if the guitar leaves the LOW F# out, they've lost one of the coolest things Page ever did.
So, when you see slash chords, look at them in context of what's going on around them and the chords before and after the slash chord. That'll help you find patterns.
jte
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Thanks!
Thanks also!
Not funny!
