I'm trying to work out the chords for John Mayer's "Dreaming with a broken heart" and it has these split chords that has me tied up.
The chords are G/E, G/B, G/C and G/Bb. Now I think that these are all G chords but with a bass note indicated after the "/" but am not sure. Any help on these 4 chords would be great.
Thanks,
T
Yes - that's what they are - G chords with specified bass note.
You could play them as:
G/E = XX2003
G/B X20003
G/C X30003
G/Bb X10003
and lots of other ways - It depends on the sound you want.
I am not sure of the official name of these chords, but I have always called them "slash" chords. :D
But you are correct, the note after the slash tells you what note to play in the bass. You will see chords like this especially in fingerpicked styles, where you are playing a moving bass-line against the chord. Here is an example using an A Minor chord. The only thing that changes is the descending bass line.
Am Am/G Am/F# Am/E
e--------0---------0--------0--------0--
b--------1---------1--------1--------1--
g-----2---------2--------2--------2-----
d---------------------------------------
a--0------------------------------------
e------------3--------2--------0--------
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
And most of the time, in the real world, those bass notes will be played by the bass player, leaving a plain ol' chord for the guitarist. Not that there aren't skilled guitarists out there who can do both at the same tame. I'm just saying.
--
Helgi Briem
hbriem AT gmail DOT com
