Gospel slash chords

[mplsbender]

can someone explain slash chords as in gospel for guitarst.and not the lh rh thingy but as in progresion form .I use them now and then but like wow are keyboardist uses them all the time. is it that inversions are supper easy on keys versus guitar. and  i cant talk musicaly to are key player that dont even know how to play a cmaj scale( but who can really play increadable good)

[T-Block]

Slash chords (chord symbols) are the same no matter the instrument. You the musician must decide how you want to play the chord. That means knowing the chord notes that are available to you.

[gtrdave]

can someone explain slash chords as in gospel for guitarst.and not the lh rh thingy but as in progresion form .I use them now and then but like wow are keyboardist uses them all the time. is it that inversions are supper easy on keys versus guitar. and  i cant talk musicaly to are key player that dont even know how to play a cmaj scale( but who can really play increadable good)

Slash chords is the common slang term for Compound Chords, so called because of the / between the chord and the bass note.
There are two kinds of compound chords: inversion and non-inversion.

C/E is an inversion-based compound chord.
C is the chord triad and E is the bass note. E is the third of C in the chord triad (C, E, G), therefore C/E is just an inversion of a C chord.
C/G is also an inversion-based compound chord since G is the fifth of the C chord triad.

C/D is a non-inversion-based compound chord.
C is the chord triad and D is the bass note. D is the second note of the C major scale and not in the chord triad, therefore C/D is a non-inversion-based compound (or slash) chord.

Note: some keyboardists write their chords lh/rh and this is opposite of how slash chords are displayed, so be aware of that.

[betnich]

As a keyboard player -

 - yes, inversions are super easy - all we do is not play the root of the chord as the lowest note in our LH.

Some examples -
C/E = E G C
D7/F# = F# A C D
and we can rearrange the notes in our RH, too.
As a guitarist, IMO you don't really have to worry about the letter after the slash (although the Bass player does, that's what they should play)

The other kinds of slash chords are -
what I call 'passing' (like C/Bb in a C, C/Bb, Am progression). Usually play the chord before the slash.

and the Jazz-type chords (maj/min/sus/dim/aug 9ths, 11ths, 13ths). These have more than four notes, and are often notated like -
C/D - can be a Dsus11, D C E G,  - or - D F A C E G
D/C - most likely some kind of a C13th(#11) chord = C E G Bb D F# A
Often we notate them this way out of habit, or because it's easier to think, "LH - C E G, RH - D F# A" . Notice the Bb got left out. Or I might play - LH - E Bb RH - D F# A, leaving out the root (C).
Very common to leave out notes w/jazz chords - and players often do, or stack them in 4ths, for a jazzier sound. You can, too. I'm not sure, but in my experience have seen jazz guitarists voice these chords higher than the standard C, G, D, A, E triads.
chord symbols - can be an inexact science...

[mplsbender]

thanks info really helped cleared a  few things up.both of you seem up on your slash chords and they are my weaker point, as in I just started playing chords again after a ten year break due to getting my fingers all cut up.I was able to solo during that time but could not hold a chord for nothing.

[MrPianoGuy]

In popular music a slash chord or slashed chord, also compound chord, is a chord whose bass note or inversion is indicated by the addition of a slash and the letter of the bass after the root note letter. It does not indicate "or" - according to Wikipedia.

Examples. A D major chord in second inversion would be D/A (D over A or D slash A).

The notes would be A/DF#A.

A B minor 7 chord in first inversion would be D/Bm (D over B minor or D slash B).

They can have very important uses in progressions. For instance, in a 2-5-1 progression in C major, the 2 would be D minor (in most cases, unless you decide to play a D major or Dmaj7). The 5 would be G dominant 7. However, instead of playing a G dominant 7, you can play E/G. Another option is F/G.
Then you can resolve to the one which is C major. Other slash chords you can use at this point are Db/C, E/C, G/C, A/C.

[mplsbender]

thanks  Mr paino guy hey thats my real first name guy. your ending statement of other slash chords really helped . Ive been only playing gospel 5 years as in  havent been saved my whole life. Are keyboardists I believe throughs out a whole bunch of slash chords in a row as in (other slash chords) hopefully I can stay up with her. I must say I am blown  away by how good gospel key players are . And this site is full of people that can teach. are keyplayers can really play but they play 100% by ear and cant explain to other players what there doing.

[MrPianoGuy]

Here is a nice slash chord progression in Db Major.

F/F#             {play the F major chord in first inversion}
E/Eb             {play the E major chord in second inversion}
F#/C            {play the F# major chord in second inversion}
Db/A            {play the Db major chord in first inversion}
Ebmin/Ab     {play the Eb min chord in first inversion}

And then go to the Db (the 1)

[mplsbender]

hey thanks so much Ive been playing in church 5years and never learned the slash chords other than put the 5th on top. I was gluelesss this progresion should help.And thanks from all the other info I got from others.

[karlaa]

i practice some christian songs and i am to post it on youtube