Play C/E3 shapes
Choose a slash chord
8 diagrams · 8 playable
Anatomy
Slash Chord Formula
Every slash chord name has two parts — read left to right.
D
The chordwhat you play
/
Oversaid aloud
F#
The bass notelowest string
A slash chord is the chord, then the bass note. D/F# is a D major chord — D, F# and A — with F# played lowest. When the bass is one of the chord's own notes the slash chord is an inversion: the 3rd in the bass (D/F#, G/B, C/E, A/C#, F/A) is first inversion, the 5th (C/G) is second inversion. When it is not, the bass adds a note: G is the 7th of Am in Am/G, and F# the major 7th of G in G/F#.
D/F# = F# under D–F#–A. C/G = G under C–E–G. Am/G = G under A–C–E.
About this tool
About Slash Chords on Guitar
A slash chord is a chord with a named bass note: D/F#, said "D over F sharp", is a D chord with F# as the lowest note. The letter before the slash is the chord and the letter after it is the bass. Slash chords exist to make the bass move by step instead of jumping, and the same handful turn up in chord charts again and again. D/F# walks the bass down G–F#–E between G and Em in the key of G; G/B does the same between C and Am in C; A/C# between D and Bm in D. C/E and F/A are the same first-inversion idea in C and F — and F/A is also the easiest full F chord there is. C/G puts the 5th in the bass, which makes it lean toward G. Two of them add a note the chord does not have: Am/G has the notes of Am7 and G/F# the notes of Gmaj7, each with the 7th in the bass, which is why they turn up in descending basslines. These pages cover the eight slash chords guitarists search for most, each with its open-position shape and two or three moveable alternatives. Three chords that look alike are not: D/F# is not F#m, G/B is not Bm, and A/C# is not C#m — each keeps the note that makes it the chord before the slash.
- 01The 8 most-played slash chords: C/E, C/G, D/F#, F/A, G/B, G/F#, A/C# and Am/G
- 02Written chord / bass and read "over" — D/F# is "D over F sharp"
- 03Six are inversions: the 3rd in the bass (D/F#, G/B, C/E, A/C#, F/A) or the 5th (C/G)
- 04Two add a 7th in the bass: Am/G has the notes of Am7, G/F# the notes of Gmaj7
- 05Every shape keeps the named bass note on the lowest sounding string
- 06An open-position shape for all eight, plus moveable alternatives
- 073 or 4 voicings per chord with diagrams, audio, chord tones and FAQs
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
A slash chord is a chord with a specific bass note, written chord / bass. D/F# means a D chord with F# as the lowest note. The letter before the slash is the chord you play; the letter after it is the note on the bottom.
Say "over": D/F# is "D over F sharp", C/G is "C over G", Am/G is "A minor over G". The slash has nothing to do with fractions or with two chords at once — one chord sounds, with the named note in the bass.
To move the bass smoothly. G – D/F# – Em walks the bass down G–F#–E, one step at a time, where G – D – Em would jump. Slash chords are how a songwriter writes a bassline into a chord chart.
An inversion puts one of the chord's own notes in the bass: C/E has the 3rd there (first inversion), C/G the 5th (second inversion). A slash chord can also name a bass note that is not in the chord at all, like G/F# or Am/G — then the bass adds a note, and here that note is a 7th.
No. F#m is F#, A and C#; D/F# is F#, A and D. Both have F# in the bass, but D/F# has D where F#m has C# — it is still a D chord.
They have the same four notes, A, C, E and G. The name tells you the bass: Am7 normally has A lowest, Am/G puts G there — usually because the bass is walking down from A. The same goes for G/F# and Gmaj7.
On solo guitar, yes — the bass note is the point of the chord. In a band, if the bass player is covering the note after the slash, you can play just the chord before it.
C/E and C/G. C/E is the open C chord with the low E string allowed to ring; C/G moves the ring finger to the low E at fret 3. G/B is the open G with the low E muted, and F/A (x-0-3-2-1-1) is the standard way to play F without a full barre.
All Chord Types
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