Slash chord

A slash chord tells you two things at once: which chord to play, and which note goes at the very bottom. The symbol before the slash is the chord. The letter after it is the bass note, played by a bass player, by a pianist’s left hand, or on the lowest guitar string you strum.

Two kinds of slash chord

The bass note belongs to the chord. Then the slash chord is an inversion. C/E is C major (C E G) with E lowest, first inversion. C/G puts the fifth on the bottom, second inversion. The notes stay the same; only their order changes.

The bass note is outside the chord. Then the slash adds a new note. F/G is an F chord (F A C) over a G bass. In C major it works as a softer stand-in for the V chord, and it resolves to C. Am/G is an A minor chord over G, which is the same set of notes as Am7 with the seventh in the bass.

Why songs use them

Mostly to make the bass line move by step while the chords above stay close. In C major, play C, G/B, Am, C/G, F and listen to the bottom: C, B, A, G, F, a scale walking down. In A minor, Am, Am/G, F, E walks the bass A, G, F, E, the falling line known as the lament bass.

Beginners meet slash chords on pop and folk chord sheets, where G/B and C/E turn up often. On guitar, the named note has to be the lowest string you play, so you either fret it on a low string or skip the strings below it: C/G is 332010 and G/B is x20033. On piano, the left hand takes the bass note and the right hand plays the chord.

How to Read Chord Symbols covers slash notation next to every other symbol, and How to Write a Chord Progression in 5 Steps shows how to build a progression around a walking bass line.