HOW TO play special / split / slash chords

In this post, I will be writing about how to play special / split  / slash chords on the guitar. First of all, I need to qualify what I mean when I use the term "special". For a lack of a better word, the chords that I am actually referring to are those where you see a "/". For example, I'm sure you would have come across chords such as D/F#, D/B, C/E, A/C# etc. (thanks to Bob for letting me know that these are called split chords)

Alright, let's get things started. I used to think that the "/" meant that you could either play the chord before the "/" or the chord after the "/". But I was wrong. It's okay if you thought that as well because I thought that too. Anyway, simply put, the chord after the "/" just means that you have to play that bass note. So, if you see a D/F#, it means you play a D root note, and a F# bass note.

How does this translate to playing the chord? Well, here's how it looks graphically:


For myself, I personally like to use the D2/F# or Dsus/F# chord. But if you have watched my videos over youtube, I just generally call them D/F# because I don't want to get too technical with the names.

Ok, here are some other "special" chords that I have used before (I'll just use the general names as well because I don't want to get too specific on what their correct names should be):



There are many more "special" chords out there. So don't get scared of you happen to see an unfamiliar one while reading a music sheet or learning a song using some online tabs. All you have to do is take a deep breath, look at the chord before the "/", play that chord, then look at the chord after the "/", and play that bass note.

With that being said, this is also why you need to know your fretboard well. Where is the B bass note on your guitar? Where is the C# bass note on your guitar? If you know your fretboard well enough, playing these special chords will be a walk in the park.

I hope this post has been useful and informative. Continue to practice hard, and remember, I am even learning new things about the guitar everyday.