Slash Chords Guitar Lesson

Slash chords are not the guitar chords played by that famous rock guitarist in the top hat ;-) This type of guitar chord simply has a different note in the bass instead of the root.

Note: The words Harmony and Chord are interchangeable.

The most commonly used types are the ones that use other chord tones in the bass. When chord tones other than the root are used as the lowest sounding note, it's called an Inversion. See the guitar chord diagrams below for some commonly used examples of this type of harmony. The square shape is used to show the bass tone of each -- except the examples which use open strings at the bottom.

Two musical cliches that use chord inversions -- especially on guitar -- are the following:

C major G/B Amin

G major D/F# E min

See the guitar lesson video below for a demonstration on using these guitar chords. They happen in many famous songs such as Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin, No Woman No Cry by Bob Marley, Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton and many many more. These types of chords were also used a great deal by classical masters such as Mozart and Beethoven, etc.

More Examples

In theory, any note other than the root could be used as the bass note. Here are some more examples that sound great as guitar chords. Experiment and see if there are 2 or 3 that you can use :-)

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Having an open string such as A is a great approach -- and would work well on acoustic or electric guitar! Try out different triads above the open A string. See the guitar chord charts above for ideas. If you play in a band, you could ask your bass player to cover the bass notes for you while you try different chords on top. And if you play some keyboards, you can experiment with many variations and chord inversions.

Note: In "theory", some of these harmonies can be named differently -- but that's beyond the scope of this guitar lesson. Also, while the fingerings are only suggestions, they're a great place to start.

That's pretty much it. Slash chords for guitar in a nutshell :-) Experiment, trust your ears and have fun! I'm always available for questions and support , so don't be shy. Thanks for tuning in and tuning up!

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