Inversions and Slash Chords

A chord is a set of notes, and nothing in the definition says which one has to be at the bottom. When the root is lowest the chord is in root position. Put the third at the bottom and it is in first inversion; put the fifth at the bottom and it is in second inversion. Same chord, same name, different colour and a different job.

In chord charts this is written with a slash. C/E means a C chord with an E in the bass — you say it C over E. The letter before the slash is the chord; the letter after it is the bass note, and that is all it ever means.

Here is C in all three positions.

C

C in root position. C is the lowest note.

C/E

C/E, first inversion. The same three notes, but E is now in the bass.

C/G

C/G, second inversion, with G at the bottom.

The reason to care is that the bass note is the line a listener follows most closely after the melody. Inversions let you control it independently of the chords, and the standard use is to make the bass move smoothly by step where root position would make it leap.

The classic example is the descending line. Play C, then G with a B in the bass, then A minor. The chords change completely, but the bass walks down one step at a time: C, B, A.

G/B

G/B. A G chord with B in the bass, which is the step between C and A minor.

Play those three in order and listen to the bass rather than the chords. That stepwise descent is behind a very large number of songs, and it is the reason G/B appears in so much sheet music — almost always sandwiched between a C and an A minor.

One caution worth having. A second inversion chord, with the fifth in the bass, is less stable than the other two and tends to sound like it is on its way somewhere. It is used deliberately for that, most often immediately before a cadence. If a second inversion sounds oddly unsettled to you, that is not a mistake in your ear; it is the point of the chord.

A slow ballad in C at 78 beats per minute — slow enough to hear the bass move. Try walking the bass between chords instead of playing every chord in root position.