If you’ve ever been stumped by an unknown looking chord called a 'slash chord,' then this lesson is going to be a great help to you. I will explain slash chords so you have a much better understanding for what chord inversions are and why they’re written on charts as slash chords... 




In this lesson I will take things a step further with those strange often unknown chords called "slash chords." 

This lesson will be unique because I will be showing you some of the most common open position slash chords that are used in nearly all types and all styles of music.

I will even have a 'real-world' slash chord progression for you to play that will include every one of the slash chord examples from this lesson.

WATCH THE VIDEO LESSON:



SLASH CHORDS:
In music, in order for a chord to exist, it must have at least a minimum of three notes, (otherwise it’s called an interval – not a chord).

ROOT POSITION:
Let’s take for example a “C Major” chord. It’s notes would be the; Root of “C,” the Major 3rd of “E” and the perfect 5th which would be a “G” note. 

These 3 tones make up the chord construction formula known of as a chords “1st, 3rd, and 5th.”


1st INVERSION:
If we take that chords 3rd degree note of “E” and place it into the bass, what we’d have is what’s referred to as a “First Inversion” of the “C Major” chord.
It would be written as “C / E.”



2nd INVERSION:
If we took the 5th chord tone of “G” and placed it into the bass, (playing “G” as the lowest pitch note of our chord), we’d have what’s referred to as a “Second Inversion” of “C Major” and it would be written as “C / G.”


The slash indicates that the chord name is shown on the left, (so in this case it’s a “C Major” chord), and that note shown (on the right side of the slash), is what the lowest pitch tone would have to be when the chord is performed on our instrument.




POPULAR SLASH CHORDS:
When it comes to playing slash chords on the guitar, there are a small group of patterns that seem to come up quite often. Some of the most common of them are shapes that you’ll find in the first position of the guitar neck.

These slash chords typically get included alongside of other popular first position and open position shapes. Let’s check out four of the most popular slash chords right now.

C MAJOR:
The first slash chord is a 2nd inversion “C Major,” it places the “G” (the 5th chord tone) in the bass.




F MAJOR:
The next one is an “F Major” in 2nd Inversion. This one takes the “F” chords 5th tone of “C” and places it as the lowest chord tone in the bass.




D MAJOR:
Another very common pattern is taking the 3rd of the open position “D Major” (which is the “F#”) and placing that F# into the bass, creating a “1st Inversion” “D Major chord.”




A MAJOR:
Another common chord inversion in the guitars open position is to take the open “A Major” chord and apply it as a first inversion, which changes it to become a 2nd pos. 1st inversion chord that places the chords “C#” into the bass.





SLASH CHORD APPLICATION:
I’ve taken all of these chord inversion patterns and I’ve composed a short chord progression using them so that you can not only practice how you can apply the inversions, but this will also help you better develop each of the shapes.




CONCLUSION:
Slash chords will show up in a lot of different songs. So, over time, it’s a really good idea to learn how to construct them yourself as a guitarist. In fact, just the other day one of my online students (who’s studying my courses on the web-site) emailed and asked me a question about a “Todd Rundgren” song called, “Hello it’s Me.”

In that song we find an “Abmaj7/Bb” chord listed in the chart at the end of the Verse.




Once you know your theory and you understand the ways that slash chords are applied on guitar, you’ll be able to better comprehend how to analyze and then play the correct shape for any slash chord (like that one), anywhere on the guitar’s fingerboard.



VISIT THE WEBSITE:
Hey, guys I want to let you know about the guitar courses I have over on my website at CreativeGuitarStudio.com.

There are step-by-step; Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced courses that work alongside of in-depth elective programs to form the best guitar courses available.

My courses work fantastic to help you learn to identify what's required to get you up to that next level of guitar playing, in a very organized step-by-step way, that totally makes sense.

I look forward to helping you further at my website; CreativeGuitarStudio.com

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Until next time, take care and we'll catch up again on the next video. Bye for now!