1
00:00:11,050 --> 00:00:13,941
Hola, people. How' re you doing.
Justin here.

2
00:00:13,941 --> 00:00:15,076
In this little lesson today

3
00:00:15,076 --> 00:00:17,715
we're going to be having a chat 
about slash chords.

4
00:00:17,715 --> 00:00:21,529
Now, I'm sure many of you 
have seen things like D/F#

5
00:00:21,529 --> 00:00:22,603
and wondered what it meant,

6
00:00:22,603 --> 00:00:24,439
may be it was two chords at the same time.

7
00:00:24,439 --> 00:00:26,667
Well, luckily for you,
I'm here to explain it to you,

8
00:00:26,667 --> 00:00:28,750
and it's really, really simple.

9
00:00:28,750 --> 00:00:30,212
All slash chords are,

10
00:00:30,212 --> 00:00:33,324
are indicating a different
base note for the chord

11
00:00:33,324 --> 00:00:36,577
and a lot of the times, you don't even have to 
worry about playing that base note

12
00:00:36,577 --> 00:00:38,202
because the bass player will be playing it.

13
00:00:38,202 --> 00:00:41,800
So, if you see, say, the chord D/F#

14
00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:46,616
all it's meaning is it's a D chord,
"slash", with an F# base note.

15
00:00:46,616 --> 00:00:47,647
That's all it is.

16
00:00:47,647 --> 00:00:50,093
Chord, "/", base note.

17
00:00:50,093 --> 00:00:52,828
Now, sometimes, 
this can be incredibly easy.

18
00:00:52,828 --> 00:00:55,989
If we took, say, a regular Em chord

19
00:00:55,989 --> 00:00:57,669
♪

20
00:00:57,669 --> 00:01:01,044
Now, if it was Em/B,

21
00:01:01,044 --> 00:01:02,318
all you'd have to do

22
00:01:02,318 --> 00:01:05,052
is play it with starting
from the 5th string,

23
00:01:05,052 --> 00:01:05,784
♪

24
00:01:05,784 --> 00:01:09,026
and just leave off that thickest string,
which was the note E.

25
00:01:09,026 --> 00:01:12,106
Because now the lowest note, 
the bass note of the chord,

26
00:01:12,106 --> 00:01:13,036
is the note B.

27
00:01:13,036 --> 00:01:14,635
.♪

28
00:01:14,635 --> 00:01:16,135
Now, that's the principle of it

29
00:01:16,135 --> 00:01:18,280
and it's really, really, really that simple.

30
00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:21,316
Of course, in order to be able 
to find your own slash chords,

31
00:01:21,316 --> 00:01:23,051
you need to know what the notes are

32
00:01:23,051 --> 00:01:24,752
at least on the thickest two strings,

33
00:01:24,752 --> 00:01:26,708
because that's usually 
where you'd put that base note

34
00:01:26,708 --> 00:01:28,318
is on one of those two strings, so

35
00:01:28,318 --> 00:01:29,403
making...

36
00:01:30,064 --> 00:01:32,351
an essential skill really
for all of you guys

37
00:01:32,351 --> 00:01:34,269
would be knowing the notes 
on the bottom two strings,

38
00:01:34,269 --> 00:01:35,588
because you need that
for your power chords,

39
00:01:35,588 --> 00:01:37,659
your barre chords, your scales
and everything. So,

40
00:01:37,659 --> 00:01:38,919
make sure you get that down

41
00:01:38,919 --> 00:01:41,657
and you can kind of make up 
your slash chords yourself.

42
00:01:41,657 --> 00:01:44,394
Just pick any chord and then
try and figure out

43
00:01:44,394 --> 00:01:46,003
what it sounds like
with a different base note.

44
00:01:46,003 --> 00:01:47,852
You might go: "Well, here's a D chord."

45
00:01:47,852 --> 00:01:48,978
♪

46
00:01:48,978 --> 00:01:51,232
"I wonder what it sounds like 
if I put a C base note on it."

47
00:01:51,232 --> 00:01:54,836
"Where's the C? OK, there's a C there 
on the 5th string there."

48
00:01:55,327 --> 00:01:57,320
So, if I move my third finger
over to play that

49
00:01:57,320 --> 00:01:59,003
and put my little finger
back where it was before:

50
00:01:59,003 --> 00:02:01,190
♪

51
00:02:01,190 --> 00:02:02,537
Pretty funky sounding chord:

52
00:02:02,537 --> 00:02:04,826
♪

53
00:02:04,826 --> 00:02:06,661
Not a very common one, probably,

54
00:02:06,661 --> 00:02:09,280
but it's a slash chord,
and you can really do

55
00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:11,286
any chord with any base note.

56
00:02:11,286 --> 00:02:13,066
A lot of more complex jazz stuff

57
00:02:13,066 --> 00:02:17,203
has some pretty outrageous slash chords in it 
that sound pretty dissonant.

58
00:02:17,203 --> 00:02:20,415
You get your D#/C, or
whatever it sounds a bit, here

59
00:02:20,415 --> 00:02:22,035
♪

60
00:02:22,035 --> 00:02:22,878
Things like that, you know.

61
00:02:22,878 --> 00:02:24,623
They sound pretty outside, you know,

62
00:02:24,623 --> 00:02:27,139
But... And they're not really that common.

63
00:02:27,139 --> 00:02:28,290
For a beginner guitar player,

64
00:02:28,290 --> 00:02:31,299
which I'm guessing you are
if you're not so sure what slash chords are,

65
00:02:32,083 --> 00:02:33,404
or maybe you're a great guitar player

66
00:02:33,404 --> 00:02:35,576
and you just never discovered 
slash chords before,

67
00:02:36,021 --> 00:02:37,694
there are a few really common ones

68
00:02:37,694 --> 00:02:39,454
which I wanna go through with you now and,

69
00:02:39,454 --> 00:02:41,923
I'll explain it in a bit of a
close-up for you, I think.

70
00:02:41,923 --> 00:02:44,880
So, let's go CLOSE.
Let's get closer!

71
00:02:46,510 --> 00:02:47,941
Regular D chord,

72
00:02:47,941 --> 00:02:52,278
and one of the most common
slash chords is D/F#

73
00:02:52,278 --> 00:02:54,271
Now, hopefully some of you know already,

74
00:02:54,271 --> 00:02:56,305
but that note there is the note F#.

75
00:02:56,305 --> 00:02:58,053
So, if we've got a D chord

76
00:02:58,053 --> 00:02:58,755
♪

77
00:02:58,755 --> 00:03:00,288
And we want to put a F# base on it,

78
00:03:00,288 --> 00:03:01,431
there's a couple of ways of doing it.

79
00:03:01,431 --> 00:03:03,505
First of all, you could
wrap your thumb around

80
00:03:03,505 --> 00:03:08,379
♪

81
00:03:08,379 --> 00:03:10,715
Now, you can play that 5th string there if you want.

82
00:03:10,715 --> 00:03:11,846
♪

83
00:03:11,846 --> 00:03:13,806
I usually let the thumb mute that string.

84
00:03:13,806 --> 00:03:15,355
I think it sounds a bit sweeter,

85
00:03:15,355 --> 00:03:16,673
but that's really your call.

86
00:03:16,673 --> 00:03:19,461
But the getting the thumb over 
can be quite a hard technique,

87
00:03:19,461 --> 00:03:22,407
and a much more common way of
playing that chord

88
00:03:22,407 --> 00:03:23,510
is like this:

89
00:03:23,510 --> 00:03:26,103
with first finger on the F#.

90
00:03:26,103 --> 00:03:27,838
That also mutes the fourth...


91
00:03:27,838 --> 00:03:30,946
This string is muted 
by the underneath of the first finger.

92
00:03:30,946 --> 00:03:32,550
The D string is open.

93
00:03:32,550 --> 00:03:34,582
Second finger on the 2nd fret

94
00:03:34,582 --> 00:03:36,075
And third finger on the 3rd fret.

95
00:03:36,075 --> 00:03:36,777
♪

96
00:03:36,777 --> 00:03:38,711
And that thinnest string is also muted.

97
00:03:38,711 --> 00:03:39,565
♪

98
00:03:39,565 --> 00:03:41,205
This is a really common way of playing it.

99
00:03:41,205 --> 00:03:44,221
Now, one of the most common movements
is to go from G:

100
00:03:44,221 --> 00:03:45,816
♪

101
00:03:45,816 --> 00:03:48,030
to D with an F# base:

102
00:03:48,030 --> 00:03:49,431
♪

103
00:03:49,431 --> 00:03:50,797
to Em:

104
00:03:50,797 --> 00:03:52,276
♪

105
00:03:52,276 --> 00:03:54,572
and back again maybe to D with an F# base.

106
00:03:54,572 --> 00:03:55,893
♪

107
00:03:55,893 --> 00:03:57,864
G

108
00:03:57,864 --> 00:03:59,998
D with an F# base.

109
00:03:59,998 --> 00:04:02,614
You can see that coming from the G

110
00:04:02,614 --> 00:04:05,212
the third finger is staying where it is,

111
00:04:05,212 --> 00:04:07,014
second finger is going down,

112
00:04:07,014 --> 00:04:08,765
first finger is going over to the base:

113
00:04:08,765 --> 00:04:09,569
♪

114
00:04:09,569 --> 00:04:11,257
and then to Em,

115
00:04:11,257 --> 00:04:12,990
The first finger comes back over,

116
00:04:12,990 --> 00:04:14,606
second finger goes up,

117
00:04:14,606 --> 00:04:16,123
and third finger comes off:

118
00:04:16,123 --> 00:04:16,972
♪

119
00:04:16,972 --> 00:04:18,991
Sometimes it sounds nice 
to leave that one there as well:

120
00:04:18,991 --> 00:04:19,872
♪

121
00:04:19,872 --> 00:04:21,282
Then you get an Em7.

122
00:04:21,282 --> 00:04:22,330
But that's a really common...

123
00:04:22,330 --> 00:04:26,463
♪

124
00:04:26,463 --> 00:04:29,914
Really common song...
or movement in songs, I should say.

125
00:04:29,914 --> 00:04:31,963
So that's your D with an F# base.

126
00:04:31,963 --> 00:04:32,995
Either like that...

127
00:04:32,995 --> 00:04:34,699
You can play it like that as well.

128
00:04:34,699 --> 00:04:36,267
It's not an uncommon way to play it,

129
00:04:36,267 --> 00:04:39,263
you could play it just with your 1st finger
reaching over, (♪)

130
00:04:39,263 --> 00:04:40,411
or like that (♪).

131
00:04:40,411 --> 00:04:42,189
It doesn't really matter
what fingers you use, to be honest,

132
00:04:42,189 --> 00:04:44,841
you'd use different fingers
in different circumstances.

133
00:04:44,841 --> 00:04:48,317
That's a D/F#, really common one.

134
00:04:48,317 --> 00:04:50,660
Now, another common one is G with a B base.

135
00:04:50,660 --> 00:04:52,238
So there's a regular G chord:

136
00:04:52,238 --> 00:04:52,992
♪

137
00:04:52,992 --> 00:04:56,097
and this note here with your first finger,
that's the note B.

138
00:04:56,097 --> 00:04:59,424
So, if you're using the tip of your
1st finger there to mute the 6th string,

139
00:04:59,424 --> 00:05:00,712
♪

140
00:05:00,712 --> 00:05:03,452
You've now got a G with a B base.

141
00:05:03,452 --> 00:05:05,780
Now, that's a good way of playing
it if it's by itself,

142
00:05:05,780 --> 00:05:09,220
but usually, it's found
in between the chords

143
00:05:09,220 --> 00:05:10,921
G (♪)

144
00:05:10,921 --> 00:05:12,193
Sorry!

145
00:05:12,193 --> 00:05:13,663
C (♪)

146
00:05:13,663 --> 00:05:15,426
G/B (♪)

147
00:05:15,426 --> 00:05:16,611
and Am (♪).

148
00:05:16,611 --> 00:05:18,040
So, if you're going to do it that way,

149
00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:19,577
it's a lot easier to finger it:

150
00:05:19,577 --> 00:05:20,780
This is C chord,

151
00:05:20,780 --> 00:05:22,709
now, second finger moves over to the B,

152
00:05:22,709 --> 00:05:25,824
third finger comes off
and little finger goes down on the note D

153
00:05:25,824 --> 00:05:26,935
♪

154
00:05:26,935 --> 00:05:29,276
making sure that the 6th string is muted.

155
00:05:29,276 --> 00:05:33,525
The tip of that second finger is pressing up there
to mute the 6th string.

156
00:05:33,525 --> 00:05:35,424
Little finger is also muting the first string.

157
00:05:35,424 --> 00:05:37,336
♪

158
00:05:37,336 --> 00:05:38,591
Although, it doesn't hurt really, to...

159
00:05:38,591 --> 00:05:39,526
♪

160
00:05:39,526 --> 00:05:42,113
If you want to have that open E string open,
it often sounds nice,

161
00:05:42,113 --> 00:05:44,244
but it's not officially part of the chord,

162
00:05:44,244 --> 00:05:47,622
and then you can see your
hand's already kind of in position (♪)

163
00:05:47,622 --> 00:05:49,100
for the Am (♪).

164
00:05:49,100 --> 00:05:51,771
And then back to G/B, 
second finger steps over,

165
00:05:51,771 --> 00:05:54,075
other two fingers lift off,
little finger goes down.

166
00:05:54,075 --> 00:05:55,265
♪

167
00:05:55,265 --> 00:05:57,468
There's your G/B (♪)

168
00:05:57,468 --> 00:05:59,074
C (♪)

169
00:05:59,074 --> 00:06:00,951
G/B (♪)

170
00:06:00,951 --> 00:06:02,358
Am (♪)

171
00:06:02,358 --> 00:06:03,712
G/B (♪)

172
00:06:03,712 --> 00:06:05,006
♪

173
00:06:05,006 --> 00:06:06,272
Can make a nice little song out there

174
00:06:06,272 --> 00:06:07,847
C (♪)

175
00:06:07,847 --> 00:06:09,209
G/B (♪)

176
00:06:09,209 --> 00:06:11,258
Am (♪)

177
00:06:11,258 --> 00:06:12,892
Now, here's a common one as well:

178
00:06:12,892 --> 00:06:14,657
♪

179
00:06:14,657 --> 00:06:16,467
Am with a G base.

180
00:06:16,467 --> 00:06:19,759
♪

181
00:06:19,759 --> 00:06:21,698
So, just reaching over
with the little finger there

182
00:06:21,698 --> 00:06:22,951
to hit the note G.

183
00:06:22,951 --> 00:06:25,461
♪

184
00:06:25,461 --> 00:06:27,815
So, that would be an Am/G.

185
00:06:27,815 --> 00:06:29,321
Not that hard, really. Is it?

186
00:06:29,321 --> 00:06:31,126
Or, instead of that, you might go:

187
00:06:31,126 --> 00:06:32,707
♪

188
00:06:32,707 --> 00:06:33,895
G/B (♪)

189
00:06:33,895 --> 00:06:35,671
Am (♪)

190
00:06:35,671 --> 00:06:38,118
Then you might go G (♪)

191
00:06:38,118 --> 00:06:40,552
D/F# (♪)

192
00:06:40,552 --> 00:06:42,538
Em (♪)

193
00:06:42,538 --> 00:06:44,093
Often follows vocals.

194
00:06:44,093 --> 00:06:47,150
♪

195
00:06:47,150 --> 00:06:49,815
It's used in "Wonderwall" and

196
00:06:50,921 --> 00:06:52,340
and "Miss American Pie"

197
00:06:52,340 --> 00:06:55,116
There's hundreds of songs 
that use these kind of movements.

198
00:06:55,116 --> 00:06:57,887
♪

199
00:06:57,887 --> 00:06:59,582
Now, another really nice little one

200
00:06:59,582 --> 00:07:01,543
that you might experiment with is A chord.

201
00:07:01,543 --> 00:07:05,074
Now, maybe a lot of you've learned A chord
like this, or like this,

202
00:07:05,074 --> 00:07:06,158
or whatever.

203
00:07:06,158 --> 00:07:09,341
If you're going to do slash chords, 
generally you play A with a little barre.

204
00:07:09,341 --> 00:07:10,623
♪

205
00:07:10,623 --> 00:07:13,190
Making sure the thinnest string again, 
that one up there, is muted

206
00:07:13,190 --> 00:07:15,343
with the underneath of your first finger.

207
00:07:15,343 --> 00:07:15,959
♪

208
00:07:15,959 --> 00:07:17,933
So you're pressing down just three strings.

209
00:07:17,933 --> 00:07:21,526
Now, a really nice common one
is to reach over with that third finger

210
00:07:21,526 --> 00:07:23,180
♪

211
00:07:23,180 --> 00:07:25,459
I'm playing A with a C# base.

212
00:07:25,459 --> 00:07:27,504
♪

213
00:07:27,504 --> 00:07:29,143
It's just a really nice sound

214
00:07:29,143 --> 00:07:30,028
♪

215
00:07:30,028 --> 00:07:31,644
D (♪)

216
00:07:31,644 --> 00:07:34,005
A/C# (♪)

217
00:07:34,005 --> 00:07:35,498
E.
That's a common movement.

218
00:07:35,498 --> 00:07:40,303
♪

219
00:07:40,303 --> 00:07:42,477
There's lots and lots of songs
that use these things.

220
00:07:42,477 --> 00:07:44,182
So, that's A with a C# base,

221
00:07:44,182 --> 00:07:47,228
but we could have, say,
A chord with a G base:

222
00:07:47,228 --> 00:07:54,914
♪

223
00:07:54,914 --> 00:07:55,793
See? It's just really...

224
00:07:55,793 --> 00:07:57,818
It's an A chord
and you can put on whatever bass you want,

225
00:07:57,818 --> 00:07:59,343
you could put an F# base.

226
00:07:59,343 --> 00:08:01,215
Play the A with your third finger:

227
00:08:01,215 --> 00:08:03,336
♪

228
00:08:03,336 --> 00:08:06,548
Do that, that would be an A/F#
(♪)

229
00:08:06,548 --> 00:08:11,263
Also called F#min7, but you could call it 
A/F#, so it'd be cool.

230
00:08:11,263 --> 00:08:12,544
You could put an F base on it.

231
00:08:12,544 --> 00:08:14,303
♪

232
00:08:14,303 --> 00:08:16,260
Pretty wacky sounding chord, but it still works.

233
00:08:16,260 --> 00:08:18,885
You can really...
You can go mad with these things.

234
00:08:19,470 --> 00:08:20,573
Another really common one

235
00:08:20,573 --> 00:08:22,924
-- I'm just trying to get you
as many common ones as I can here --

236
00:08:22,924 --> 00:08:24,046
This is C chord

237
00:08:24,046 --> 00:08:25,306
♪

238
00:08:25,306 --> 00:08:28,321
C with a G base, C/G.

239
00:08:28,321 --> 00:08:29,428
There's your G note.

240
00:08:29,428 --> 00:08:31,911
So, you just move that finger from the C

241
00:08:31,911 --> 00:08:33,762
pluck it on the old G there.

242
00:08:33,762 --> 00:08:35,557
Now the 5th string is muted.

243
00:08:35,557 --> 00:08:39,819
♪

244
00:08:39,819 --> 00:08:42,375
C with a G base. C/G.

245
00:08:42,375 --> 00:08:43,794
Really common in country.

246
00:08:43,794 --> 00:08:45,348
♪

247
00:08:45,348 --> 00:08:46,579
C

248
00:08:46,579 --> 00:08:49,056
C/G

249
00:08:49,056 --> 00:08:51,336
You kind of do that for
another reason, but it still...

250
00:08:51,336 --> 00:08:52,644
That's what it is.

251
00:08:52,644 --> 00:08:55,078
C. C/G.

252
00:08:55,078 --> 00:08:57,461
You can really go mad with them.

253
00:08:58,461 --> 00:09:02,168
So, I hope after that 
you are not scared of seeing slash chords anymore.

254
00:09:02,168 --> 00:09:05,048
It does take a little while to get used
to learning all of the different shapes.

255
00:09:05,048 --> 00:09:08,745
Because there's so many
variations possible,

256
00:09:08,745 --> 00:09:11,101
There are kind of a lot
of slash chords to learn,

257
00:09:11,101 --> 00:09:12,179
but what I'd recommend is

258
00:09:12,179 --> 00:09:14,572
having a little bit of an
experiment yourself and

259
00:09:14,572 --> 00:09:17,468
seeing, you know, what chord
you can put what base note with

260
00:09:17,468 --> 00:09:19,858
And see if you can come up 
with some funky chords, you know.

261
00:09:19,858 --> 00:09:22,198
Especially if you're a song writer, 
and you can really get...

262
00:09:22,198 --> 00:09:25,473
It's a nice way of kind of 
getting a bit creative with a simple idea.

263
00:09:25,473 --> 00:09:27,230
So, I hope you enjoyed that.

264
00:09:27,230 --> 00:09:29,452
Please subscribe, if you haven't already, 
to the channel

265
00:09:29,452 --> 00:09:31,162
and go and check out the web site

266
00:09:31,162 --> 00:09:33,847
where I'll stick some little chord boxes 
and stuff like that

267
00:09:33,847 --> 00:09:35,513
up for this lesson.

268
00:09:35,513 --> 00:09:37,046
So, I hope you're all good,

269
00:09:37,046 --> 00:09:38,013
take of yourselves,

270
00:09:38,013 --> 00:09:39,563
See you later from sunny London.

271
00:09:39,563 --> 00:09:41,092
Later, bye!