Steve's Spinal Column #9

No these are not chords with greatly reduced prices. Actually this is a simple notation that's commonly found in all genres of music. We've all seen C/G. What's it mean? Easy. The top letter is the chord and the bottom letter is the bass note. So C/G is a C Major chord with a G bass. This can also be called second inversion since the G in the bass is the fifth of C and that's the definition of second inversion. In that case the bass note is part of the mentioned triad. That's not always the case. C/Ab is a CMaj with an Ab bass which is not part of the C chord (CEG). These instances usually have a functional bass line.

i.e. l C C/Gb l F l

In this illustration the Gb as bass for the second two beats of C leads into the F from a half step above.

Let's isolate a C7 chord and try all it's possible bass additions. Some will sound strange but might work in a progression as it did with the above example

C7= C E G Bb
C7/Db = C7b9
C7/D = C9
C7/D# = C7#9
C7/E = C7 1st inversion
C7/F = C11
C7/F# = C7#11
C7/Gb = C7b5 (enharmonic equivalent of C7#11
C7/G = C7 2nd inversion
C7/G# = C7#5 or C7 augmented
C7/A = C13
C7/Bb = C7 3rd inversion

On the Stick these chords are extremely easy play. Just finger a C7 chord in the right hand and chromatically change the bass to get the desired chords. Out of context of a chord progression, some will sound harsh. They all have a function somewhere.

Babe I'm Goonna' Leave You (trad./ Led Zep)

l C l C/B l Ami l Ami/G l F l C/E l D l G l

As you can see the bass line descends scalewise while the chords skip around in a cycle of fifths variation.

Riddle me this-----if the guitarist from Guns and Roses plays these chords would they be doubly Slashed chords?