Slash Chords - What Are They and How Do We Play Them?

If you have ever opened looked a a piece of popular sheet music, or opened a Fake Book, you have probably seen slash chord symbols above the staves that look like this: G/D, A/C#, E/B, etc.

Slash chords are endlessly confusing to students, so I wanted to give you a little lesson on how to read and play them. I teach Slash Chords in my Upper Hands Piano BOOK 2, but if you aren't using my series or need a refresher on how to read and play them, please watch my tutorial video:

After watching my video, do you understand how to read and play Slash Chords? Watch the video a few times until it starts to make sense, and you feel you understand how to put them together. Try playing these Slash Chords on your keyboard:

G/B · Ab/C · F#/C# · E/B · D/C · B/A#

These principles also apply to minor triad Slash Chords:

Am/E · Dm/F · Gm/Bb · F#m/A

Leave a question or comment below if there is something I can further clarify for you. In Slash Chords, Part II (available now!) I will demonstrate minor chord Slash Chords, and will discuss WHY and HOW we use Slash Chords! In a third post I will show you how to read and play 6th and 7th chords, in case you want to play from Fake Books before getting to my Upper Hands Piano BOOK 3 which teaches these chords methodically, and gives you lots of practice playing them step by step.

Thanks for watching and please let me know your thoughts!

With love and music, Gaili