A short post in the series on guitar chord from first principles series, we’re looking at the subject of slash chords and inversions.

Sometimes, the lowest note of the chord—the bass note in the music—is not the root note of the chord. These are generally known to guitarists as slash chords due to the way they are notated: (chord)/(bass note). For example, A/G is A major (chord) with a G (note) in the bass. These are usually used in a transitory fashion, to give a sense of progression from one chord to another, such as G-G/B-C.

If you are playing with a bassist or keyboard player who are covering the low notes, you need not concern yourself with the “slash note”: just play the chord on the left-hand side of the slash. If you’re on your own, however, you need to think about emphasizing the bass note to recreate the feel of the music as intended.

There are two special cases of slash chord, where the bass note is the third (major or minor, depending on the chord) or fifth of the scale and appears in the chord. These are called inversions in formal music theory. G/B, for example, is the first inversion of G major with the third (B) in the bass. The second inversion of a chord has the fifth in the bass, such as D/A.

Self test question

What is the second inversion of C# major?

Reveal…

C#/G#. The second inversion has the fifth in the bass, and the fifth of C# is G#.