Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Slash Chord Question

Guys,

I play songs on Ireal Piano App but something baffles me.

It says Gm/Ab but Ab is not played at all. So what is the point? What is the role of Ab then ?

And i play a song on tone E but D Major chord is also played in this song. D Major has no place on tone E . So can i play D key on my melody line while playing this song?

Thanks

Slash chords are used more as convenience for the player than anything. Chords themselves (and music as a whole) have patterns and guides but no hard rules.

You could play any note you want under a chord, you might have a chromatic run in the base over a normal chord progression that would end up with some really funky chords on paper but would sound fine in the music.

Likewise when playing melodies or solos every note is available to you. A part of learning about music theory is about understanding what how any note does given a key or chord context. There's no right or wrong, just different sounds made.

On a side note I've started using iReal too and what a fantastic little app it is. I recommend starting off with the 'blues - simple' exercise if you're finding the chords difficult. It's a straight 12 bar blues chart using dominant 7th chords. Try playing along with that in some different keys like C, F and G.

Gm/Ab - play a Gm triad in the RH and play the Ab note in the LH. To most ears this chord sounds unpleasant on its own but if it's a passing chord (for example, going quickly to A or Eb/G) it might make more sense. The Ab here (the note under the slash) is what's known as the root of the chord which, as you've noticed here (unless it's a typo!) doesn't have an easy relationship with the notes of the chord of Gm. Quite often the root will be one of the chord notes and might even be the tonic itself in which case you don't need the slash.

Ignore 'rules' if you're playing pop. If you have a responsive ear and a strong sense of what sounds good or bad then let that be your guide. All you need to do, if you're trying to get to grips with existing written music, is to learn to read and play as immediately as possible the various chord symbols. My advice is not to try and take in the entire panoply - just work in a few select keys and get familiar with the kind of chords you use in your favourite music.

Andrew and Dire, thanks guys. I get your point very well. I still don't get why a music software would ignore a note that should be played but i think i should just ignore these kind of stuff and keep going. Thank you.

When you say the software doesn't play the Ab, it would be played by the bass, not the piano, in IRealPro. The note to the right in a slash chords indicates a bass note, and in IRealPro, the piano part is playing (correctly) rootless chords, so the note to the right of the slash would only be played by the bass.

Check out the bass and see if you can hear the "missing" note.