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|A recent Piano Wiz session with Beverly resulted in her
suggestion that I share
some of the contents from
that session with everyone here. Thank you, Beverly!
chord (or compound chord) symbols seem to throw a curve ball to some
people, so I thought I'd shed
little light on the subject here.
chords generally represent two different scenarios, though they are
both treated the same way...
an example of one scenario:
first part of the symbol (in this case, C) tells us the actual chord we
are playing. So here we have
C Major chord. The second part of the symbol (the G here) tells
note is to be played at the bottom
of the structure. So, we are to play a C Major chord with the note G at
the bottom of the structure
(or furthest to the left on the piano keyboard). Notice that both of
these letter names are part
of the C Major chord. Playing the G which is the 5th of the chord) at
bottom results in playing a C
Major chord in 2nd inversion. The G could be played close
to the other chord tones
or quite a distance away, as in the bass area.
Listen and appreciate the different "sound texture" that you you
achieve when playing this than if you were to play a C at the lower
area of the piano instead of that G. Remember, slash chords don't exist
to make life more confusing... instead, they exist because of the great
sounds that result!
It would be fine to play the entire chord and the G once again in the
lower area of the piano as shown above, though simply playing a C Major
triad in 2nd inversion would
satisfy this symbol, as shown here:
the concept of inversions is new to you, you may want to consider this program, as
it places a
focus on playing right hand inversions for the purpose of accompanying
melodies in your songs)
the other scenario:
does this chord symbol ask of us?
in the first scenario, the first part of the symbol tells us what chord
is to be played. Also, the second
part of the symbol tells us which note to play below the chord. Notice,
in this case, that both letters are not part of the G
Major chord. Therefore, the A is to be played in addition to the G
Major chord, specifically
below it, such as in the bass area:
Go ahead and play this and you'll hear
something quite nice!
Remember, in both scenarios, the first letter in the symbol represents
a chord... the second letter represents a single note.
Just a few other examples of some slash chord symbols you may come
C/E, Emin/A, A/B, G/F#, Amaj7/B, B-/F# (there are so many more
So, the next time you see one of the slash chord symbols, instead of
approaching it with hesitancy, have an appreciation for the
fact that the composer
had a specific sound in mind and then go at it with enthusiasm! Now,
you can achieve that sound with
Return from Slash
Chords to Learn
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