How to use and make slash chords

Harmony - Slash Chords - 2

Putting the Whole Thing Together

A word on slash chords: First of all, there are a zillion different slash chords, the possibilities are endless. While reading a chart, just do what the chart says, if it tells you to play B/G. that's exactly what you do. The problem is in figuring out exactly what the slash chord translates into. You should try to analyze as many as you can just to get used to looking at them. First you have to figure out whether or not the slash chord in question is just an inverted chord or if it is in root position. If indeed the chord is in root position, the next step is to figure out what extensions the triad is creating in relation to the bass note. While trying to analyze slash chords you will have to use your common sense as well as your theory knowledge, the reason being is that quite often the 3rd and/or 5th are omitted so the slash chord can serve as either minor, major or dominant. The truth is that there may be more than one correct answer for each slash chord. Try analyzing the following slash chords, Possible chord (above) and slash chord (below). Answers at the bottom:

Major Sounds

Major family slash chords: There are basically three different major family slash chords. I tend to use these as my first choice whenever I play any major family chord.

Ex. 1: By placing the major triad a 5th above the bass note we can make a slash chord that works as a maj9 chord.. Ex: you want to make a Cmaj9 chord, simply place a G triad on a C bass note and you'll get a maj9 chord (without a 3rd). G is a 5th above C: G/C = Cmaj9. Check the example below:

Rule: a major triad superimposed a perfect 5th above the bass note will render a slash chord that sounds and functions as a maj9 chord.

Try it yourself: Try putting together the following slash chords using the triad shapes we learned earlier: E/A, B/E, F#/B, D/G, A/D, G/C, C/F.

This slash chord pretty much replaces any major chord. Anywhere you would play a maj7 or maj9 chord, use this one instead. The following example just illustrates how this slash chord could replace the standard I chord in a ii - V - I:

Ex. 2: By placing the major triad a 2nd above the bass note we can make a maj13#11 chord. Ex: you want to make a Cmaj13#11 chord, simply place a D triad on a C bass note and you'll render a major chord that sounds and functions like a maj13#11 chord (without the 3rd, 5th and 7th). D is a 2nd above C: D/C = Cmaj13#11. I tend to think of this slash chord as the "lydian" slash chord because of the #11th. Check the example below:

Rule: a major triad superimposed a major 2nd above the bass note will render a slash chord that sounds and functions like a maj13#11 chord.

Try it yourself: Try putting together the following slash chords using the triad shapes we learned earlier: E/D, C/Bb, G/F, D/C, A/G.

You could argue about what this slash chord actually is; if you analyze it assuming the bass note is the root it looks like a maj13#11 chord but it could also be argued that it is a dominant 7th chord in 3rd inversion (the bass note being the b7th of the chord). Both are correct. That's right this slash chord could replace either a C major chord or a D7 chord. This is one of the gray areas I was talking about in the opening paragraph:

In the example below, the second and last slash chords are our "lydian" slash chords while the fourth chord in the sequence is a 2nd inversion Eb chord:

Analysis: Bb - Bbmaj13#11 - Bbmin7 - Eb(2nd inversion) - Bmaj13#11

Ex. 3: By placing the major triad a 3rd above the bass note we can make a maj7#5 chord. Ex: you want to make an Fmaj7#5 chord, simply place a A triad on a F bass note and you'll get a maj7#5 chord. A is a 3rd above F: A/F = Fmaj7#5. Check the example below:

Rule: a major triad superimposed a major 3rd above the bass note will render a maj7#5 chord.

Try it yourself: Try putting together the following slash chords using the triad shapes we learned earlier: F/Db, C/Ab, G#/E, B/G, E/C.

Play the following chord progression, the slash chord in the third measure is our maj7#5 chord. The first and last chord are the slash chords from first example (maj9 functioning slash chords). This example is similar to what Wayne Shorter did in his classic tune: "Prince of Darkness":

Analysis: Gmaj9 - Amaj7#5 - Bbmaj9

Dominant Sounds

Dominant family slash chords: Both altered and unaltered dominant sounding chords can be created using slash chords. Let's start with the unaltered type.

Ex. 4: By placing the major triad a 2nd below the bass note we can make a dominant 9sus chord. Ex: you want to make a G9sus chord, simply place a F triad on a G bass note and you'll get the sound of the 9sus chord. F is a 2nd below G: F/G = G9sus. Check the example below:

Rule: a major triad superimposed a major 2nd below the bass note will render a slash chord that sounds and functions as a dominant 9sus.

Try it yourself: Try putting together the following slash chords using the triad shapes we learned earlier: C/D, A/B, G/A, D/E, Eb/F.

This slash chord replaces any unaltered dominant chord. Anytime you run across a 9sus chord in a chart, use this slash chord. The example below is somewhat similar to what Herbie Hancock did in "Dolphin Dance":

Analysis: Gmaj9 - G9sus - Gmaj13#11 - G9sus

Ex. 5: By placing the major triad a tritone (dim5th) above the bass note we can make a dominant 7(b9,#11) chord. Ex: you want to make a B7(b9,#11) chord, simply place a F triad on a B bass note and you'll get the sound of the 7(b9,#11) chord. F is a tritone above B: F/B = B13(b9,#11). Check the example below:

Rule: a major triad superimposed a tritone (dim5th) above the bass note will render a slash chord that sounds and functions as a 7(b9,#11) chord.

Try it yourself: Try putting together the following slash chords using the triad shapes we learned earlier: C/F#, A/Eb, D/Ab, F#/C, B/F.

This slash chord, like the example before, is also derived from the diminished half/whole scale. Try the example below:

Analysis: Emin9 - A7(b9,#11) - Dmaj13#11

Ex. 6: By placing the major triad a maj6 above the bass note we can make a dominant 13b9 chord. Ex: To make a G13b9 chord, simply place an E triad on a G bass note and you'll get the sound of the 13b9 chord. E is a 6th above G: E/G = G13b9. Check the example below:

Rule: a major triad superimposed a major 6th above the bass note will render a slash chord that sounds and functions as a dominant 13b9 sounding .

Try it yourself: Try putting together the following slash chords using the triad shapes we learned earlier: B/D, A/C, F#/A, D/F, C/Eb.

This slash chord technically is derived from the diminished half/whole scale. Try the example below:

Analysis: Emin9 - A7(b9,#11) - A13b9 - Dmaj9 - Dmaj13#11

Slash chords and the diminished half/whole scale

Because of the symmetrical structure of the diminished half/whole scale, any chord that is derived from it can be moved up or down in minor third intervals and will still function as some kind of dominant chord. I know, if you are hearing this for the first time, you are scratching your head. I'll give you an example using the slash chords from the last two examples: let's say you want to use a slash chord to make a dominant sounding chord, the dominant chord you want to make is a some kind of B7 chord. You decide to use the Ex. 6 slash chord that you learned above: a triad placed a tritone (dim5) above the root and you will get a B7(b9,#11) chord. The triad a tritone above B is F so a F/B slash chord = B7(b9,#11). Here is the trick: you can move the F triad up a minor third and place it over our B bass note and it should make some kind of dominant chord also. Let's see, hmm..... a minor third above F is Ab so our new slash chord is Ab/B. What does this chord analyze to? Well, a Ab triad is spelled: Ab - C - Eb, placed over our B bass note, the Ab note is a 13th, the C is a b9th and the Eb is a 3rd (really D#, but it's the same note). Duh... this was our Ex. 5 slash chord! Remember? A triad placed a maj6th above the bass note renders a 13b9 chord. Ab is enharmonic with G# and G# is a maj 6rd from B. What about the other triads? A min3rd from Ab is Cb which is really B, and B/B is just plain old B and since B is inside a B7 chord, you can consider it a B7 chord. A minor third from B is D and D is spelled D - F# - A. Placed over a B bass note D = #9, F# = 5 and A = b7 so this chord can be analyzed as a B7#9 chord. This chord can also be analyzed as a Bmin7 chord but since the dominant tonality has already been determined, it is fine to analyze it this way. Check out how Chick Corea used this technique in "500 Miles High":

Analysis: B - B7#9 - B7(b9,#11) - B13b9 - Emin9

Minor Sounds

Minor family slash chords: Unlike major and dominant harmony, there isn't any real groundbreaking things that done with slash chords in regards to minor harmony. There are basically three shapes that I tend to use.

Ex. 7: This example is the same one we looked at before, the plain old min7 chord. The only reason you may want to use this slash chord rather than a plain old min7th chord is only to tie harmonic motifs together. In a series of slash chords it may help to think of a Amin7 as a C/A chord to keep the triad voicings moving in a congruent manner.

Rule: a major triad superimposed a minor 3rd above the bass note will render a plain old min7 chord.

Try it yourself: Try putting together the following slash chords using the triad shapes we learned earlier: E/C#, D/B, G/E, F/D, Eb/C.

This slash chord simply makes a min7 chord. It helps to notate it as a slash chord if you want to make sure the person playing the chords specifically voices it with a triad on top, by simply notating the chord as a min7 chord, the person chomping the changes my take the liberty of playing a min9, min11 or min13th chord. The min7 chord notated as a slash chord will make sure the harmonic motif stays uninterrupted.

Analysis: Bmin7 - B9sus - Bbmaj9 - Emaj9

Ex. 8: We've also looked at this one before in Ex.4. As I mentioned before, slash chord often don't have 3rds of 5ths present so they can be looked upon as either. This slash chord works well as both. Consider it either a 9sus or a min11 chord:

Rule: a major triad superimposed a major 2nd below the bass note will render a min11th sounding slash chord.

Try it yourself: Try putting together the following slash chords using the triad shapes we learned earlier: B/C#, A/B, E/F#, D/E, C/D.

This slash chord in its minor form works well for any genre but it gets used quite often in a rock setting. It tends to follow a min7th chord. It often gets used in the following manner:

Other Sounds

There are way to many slash chords to describe in detail. Take a look at the chart below and try each of the slash chords out. I simply superimposed each of the chromatic triads over a C bass note. The second column simply describes the extensions created, the third column gives some common progressions and the last column, some points to remember. Beware of enharmonic notes:

Slash Chord	Extensions	Common Progressions	Notes
C/C	1, 3, 5	-	Just a plain old C chord
Db/C	b9, 4, b13	Cmin7 - Db/C or Cmin7 - D/C - Db/C - C	Phrygian tonality
D/C	9, #11, 13	C - D/C or Cmin7 - D/C	Lydian sounding, works fine as a replacement for any major chord
Eb/C	b3, 5, b7	Eb/C - D/C - Db/C - C	Plain old min7 chord
E/C	3, #5, 7	-	Maj7#5 chord, lydian augmented tonality
F/C	5, 1, 3	-	Major triad in 2nd inversion
F#/C	b7, b9, #11	Gmin9 - F#/C - Fmaj9	Diminished half/whole tonality
G/C	5, 7, 9	-	Plain old maj9 chord
Ab/C	3, 5, 1	Db - Ab/C or Dbmin7 - Ab/C	Major triad in 1st inversion
A/C	3, b9, 13	Gmin9 - A/C - Fmaj9	Diminished half/whole tonality
Bb/C	4, b7, 9,	-	Plain old 9sus chord or min11 chord
B/C	b3, b5, 7	Dmin7 - G(alt) - B/C	Usually replaces a I chord. Diminished whole/half tonality

Try to experiment and have some fun. I've only described what can be done by superimposing major triads over bass notes. See what you can do with augmented and minor triads. Also see what happens when you superimpose 7th chords over various bass notes, Ex: Gmin7/C.

Analysis Answers

F	Cmaj9	Cmaj13#11	AB	C7(b9#11)	C9sus	Cmin/ma7b5
F/C	G/C	D/C	AB/C	Gb/C	Bb/C	B/C

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