Question:
I think this is the right place for this. If not I'm sorry.
Anyway I'm trying to learn a song for Christmas (and am running out of time) and I don't have a lot of expirence with chords. If there is one chord on top of another
(D7 D
--- --
F# A etc)
how do you play that. Are you supposed to slide, because I think this would be tricky with changing the fingering and all, or do you just pick one to play?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Answer:
hmmm...chords on top of each other? do you mean something like this:

D/F#

G/A

C/G

Etc...

If this is the case, this is how I play them (though I'm not entirely sure if I'm correct). I've had these inverted chords explained, but I just look at them and say that the *note* (not chord) after the slash is the "bass" note for the chord. That is, if it's "D/F#", then I will play a D chord with an F# *note* as the lowest note in the chord (either the 2nd fret on the 6 string or the 4th fret on the D string)


Ok...nevermind...I just re-read your post and now I understand what you're asking....Could it be that these are the chords for 2 guitars? One melody and one harmony?
Answer:
That's what I was thinking. I'm just not sure. I've just been playing the top one.
Answer:
I'm pretty sure that it's the first explanation that guitarman531 gave. Looks like slash chords to me.
Answer:
Well, is it a slash chord, or a polychord?
A slash chord will be notated D/F#, but a poly chord would look something like
D
F#
Of course, you would only see this in complex jazz songs, so I would vote for slash chords in this case.
Answer:
It's not a "polychord." There. My work as Captain Obvious and Confident is over.
The first letter is the chord; the second letter is not a chord, but the bass note.
Answer:
Originally Posted by MrCrabby Well, is it a slash chord, or a polychord?
A slash chord will be notated D/F#, but a poly chord would look something like
D
F#
Of course, you would only see this in complex jazz songs, so I would vote for slash chords in this case.
than its a poly chord but Nate says no
Answer:
Originally Posted by Blackmer12 than its a poly chord but Nate says no
My vote is with Nate, and here is why.
"slash" chords are not always notated as d/f#.
sometimes they look like
D
F#
Ive seen them notated like that alot of times, they are the same as slash chords ( D over F#).
Answer:
I have also seen them like that many times... and my vote is also with Nate.
Answer:
Regardless of notation, the point is that a polychord is about as rare in any music anyone would actually consider playing as, oh, let's say, a Richard Simmons TV special without spandex hot pants. That's why it's just a "slash chord" and not a polychord.
Answer:
Originally Posted by Nate Regardless of notation, the point is that a polychord is about as rare in any music anyone would actually consider playing as, oh, let's say, a Richard Simmons TV special without spandex hot pants. That's why it's just a "slash chord" and not a polychord. Exactly, which is why I said "I would vote for slash chords in this case."
The point is, if you see a "slash" chord notated like that, it is incorrect.
Answer:
What exactly is a polychord?
Answer:
Originally Posted by MrCrabby Exactly, which is why I said "I would vote for slash chords in this case."
The point is, if you see a "slash" chord notated like that, it is incorrect.
The "slash" chord is pronounced "Root Chord OVER Alt.Bass Note", afterall.
Its probably just a simpler way to notate the obvious.
Originally Posted by DaGeek What exactly is a polychord?
I was wondering that myself.
But yesterday I figured that because of its name that its got to be 2 chords put together.
Also, I found this, which sort of confirms that.
Answer:
Not "put together" as much as "played at the same time". True polychords need to be seperated somehow so that they don't blend into one big chord... then again they're hardly ever used, so what does it really matter?
Answer:
Originally Posted by Blackmer12 than its a poly chord but Nate says no
It's probably a "slash chord", more correctly known as a compound chord.
The first character is the upper chord triad and modifiers, the lower character is the bass note.
Are the two chords D7/F# and D/A?
If so, they're simple inversion-based compound chords where either the 3rd or 5th of the chord triad is used as the bass note instead of the chord root (in this case, D).
Easiest way to play these is to play, say, an open position D7 chord and then fret the 6th string 2nd fret F# note (I use my thumb) for the D7/F# and then play an open position D chord and play the open A string as the bass note, muting the open E string.