Slash Anatomy

[mysticguitar]

In my quest to expand my chord vocabulary I'm studying more fancy/shmancy chords. My question is about Slash Chords. If the note that is to the right of the chord, which goes in the base, say the F# in a E/F# chord, does that mean that the F# has to be on the low 6th string or does it mean the F# is simply first note of the chord? side bar-I just came up with this E/F# for the sake of discussion.

[PosterBoy]

The /F# would imply the bass note of the chord, this could be a note from the chord which makes it an inversion, or a completely different note. It doesn't have to be on the 6th string but it will be the lowest note of those being played.

[mysticguitar]

The /F# would imply the bass note of the chord, this could be a note from the chord which makes it an inversion, or a completely different note. It doesn't have to be on the 6th string but it will be the lowest note of those being played.

Ok, cool, thanks PosterBoy.
On the face of it slash chords look simple, but I fear there is more to them than meets the eye, why else would BC do 2 courses devoted to them? Aaarrrrhhhgggg!

[mysticguitar]

OH MY GOD!
I checked out the first lesson on Slash Chord Progressions and this slash chord is presented F/D, which is a Dm7, so why make a freakin slash chord out of it! Just call it a Dm7-No wonder I can't play guitar.

[DjangoTango]

this slash chord is presented F/D, which is a Dm7, so why make a freakin slash chord out of it! Just call it a Dm7

Mystic, one thing to understand is that the note after the slash is the bass note. That is, the D in a Dm7 chord can appear anywhere in the chord (low voice, high voice, etc.) and can appear multiple times. But the D in a F/D chord should only appear in the bass.

[mysticguitar]

Mystic, one thing to understand is that the note after the slash is the bass note. That is, the D in a Dm7 chord can appear anywhere in the chord (low voice, high voice, etc.) and can appear multiple times. But the D in a F/D chord should only appear in the bass.

God I'm ignorant, and embarrassed, that makes alot of sense, thank you Django and thank you.

[rjbasque]

While F/D and Dm7 are both valid chords in 'C' (the key the lesson is presented in), the Dm7 is the ii chord while the F is the IV. So with that in mind you will approach playing over these chords differently. And the note choices can be tailored to a major rather than minor tone structure.

That's the theory at least. I'm nowhere near that sophisticated in ability, but I work with math for a living so music theory is just numbers and formulas to me. I still don't fully internalize modes yet, even though I can look at the theory and figure my way through. Kinda like quantum physics is guess.