# Guitar Chord A/F# **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 29, 2009, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-chord-a-f/483538 "2009-01-29T13:58:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-chord-a-f/483538/21 "2009-01-29T22:02:06Z")
Where did you get the information? If it’s from one of those Ernest Does Tabs sites you might not want to take it too rigidly. Personally I like a wider neck and I never wrap my thumb on the 6th string. I would play that with 1st finger on the F#, 2nd and 3rd on the A and C# and mute the 5th string with my index finger. Can I call it an F#min/maj13? No, actually with the other cords posted I’m going to postulate the key of A major and call it a 4 chord ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-chord-a-f/483538/22 "2009-01-29T22:15:19Z")
I agree 100% with **Biffy**. Whatever that chord is, it’s not an A/F#. I would call it a DMaj9/F# (or perhaps a DMaj7add9/F#). I would finger the F# with my thumb, as others are saying, but you could also play it with your index finger and mute the A string. Technically, you could even just _play_ the open A. If the chord is really supposed to be some kind of an A, then adding another root can’t be wrong, and if it’s a DMj9 (which is what I say it is), then the A is a 5th and so still very consonant. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-chord-a-f/483538/23 "2009-01-29T22:23:22Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > Not necessarily. I don’t know the song, but slash chords are not always musically equivalent to their enharmonic counterparts. > > Just last night I was helping my roommate through a little music theory; his guitar teacher has him playing _While My Guitar Gently Weeps_ from some sheet music/tab. The first three chords are Am, Am/G, D/F#. > > Now, that Am/G is _not_ an Am7. If the whole band (in this case, just guitar) played Am7, it would sound wrong (or at least less right). There’s a moving bass line under an Am; the G isn’t meant to be played anywhere besides in the bass. Slash chords in guitar notation indicate inversions. The chord in _While My Guitar Gently Weeps_ IS an Am7, but it’s Am7 with an inverted 3rd, i.e. the 3rd is played as the lowest note. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-chord-a-f/483538/24 "2009-01-29T22:35:53Z")
On top of what’s in the thread already, I am 90% certain that it’s not even the right chord for that song. I used to do a cover of that song, and it was a while ago so I don’t remember the chords off the top of my head, but I will look it up when I get home. I don’t remember the chords being remotely like that. I want say it was an A, a walkup bassnote change chord (maybe I grabbed the G? but I am really just guessing) and end on the E where they have the A/F#. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-chord-a-f/483538/25 "2009-01-29T23:15:10Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > On top of what’s in the thread already, I am 90% certain that it’s not even the right chord for that song. I used to do a cover of that song, and it was a while ago so I don’t remember the chords off the top of my head, but I will look it up when I get home. I don’t remember the chords being remotely like that. I want say it was an A, a walkup bassnote change chord (maybe I grabbed the G? but I am really just guessing) and end on the E where they have the A/F#. I wasn’t familiar with the song so I googled for the [youtube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeowFbvpu0U). You’re right, the OP has it totally wrong. It’s A then it goes (after a little shuffle on the sus4) to the inverted DMaj9 chord (which is notated correctly in the OP, but named incorrectly), then it goes to an E6 then to the Dsus2. Basically like this: A---------------------------------Asus4 Her green plastic watering can DMaj9/F#---------------------------- E6 For her fake chinese rubber plant Dsus2-------------------------------A In fake pla-a-a-a-a-stic earth I think there’s also a quick little shuffle on the B string from the C# to the D right before it goes to the E chord (basically like an Asus4 with an open D). You might have actually been playing it slighly wrong if you were just walking down under an open A voicing. I suspect you were playing A-A/F#-E, which would sound close enough but not be exactly right. You’d be missing that open D on the second chord (and maybe missing the added C# on that E chord, but only other musicians would be likely to notice that. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-chord-a-f/483538/26 "2009-01-29T23:47:30Z")
There is a good possibility that I was playing it wrong. I love Radiohead, but have never been crazy about that particular song, it’s possible that I even made some changes on purpose :eek: (We did The Divorce Song by Liz Phare too and I made some slight alterations to the song structure to fit our band.) . Also it was about 5 years ago that I last played it and my memory is a bit fuzzy. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-chord-a-f/483538/27 "2009-01-30T01:50:46Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Slash chords in guitar notation indicate inversions. That’s one use. Another use is to indicate a note in the bass that wouldn’t otherwise be expected, whether a chord tone (like 3rd or 5th) or a non-chord tone (anything in the chromatic scale other than chord root). ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-chord-a-f/483538/28 "2009-01-30T01:54:26Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > That’s one use. Another use is to indicate a note in the bass that wouldn’t otherwise be expected, whether a chord tone (like 3rd or 5th) or a non-chord tone (anything in the chromatic scale other than chord root). That’s true, but it would still technically be an inversion. Some of them could potentially just be very unusual or dissonant, but they could still be spelled out as inverted chord tones, even if they’re accidentals. ETA I concede it’s still probably most useful just to say that the note after the slash indicates the bass note. It’s not necessarily important to know how it’s defined harmonically. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-chord-a-f/483538/29 "2009-01-30T02:09:13Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > That’s true, but it would still technically be an inversion. Some of them could potentially just be very unusual or dissonant, but they could still be spelled out as inverted chord tones, even if they’re accidentals. It can’t be an inversion if the bass note isn’t part of the chord (F# isn’t part of an A major triad). > [@](#): > > ETA I concede it’s still probably most useful just to say that the note after the slash indicates the bass note. It’s not necessarily important to know how it’s defined harmonically. Right on. If you must explain the relationship between bass notes and chord tones, all sorts of harmonic analysis can be done, but that gets a bit pedantic for most applications. Example: G/A, a common modern harmony, is a G major triad with an A in the bass. Sure, it can be analyzed as an A 11, implying dom 7 & 9, and missing the 3rd and 5th, but that takes more time to describe than play and maybe it’s wrong. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and a G/A is just a G/A, something we hear frequently today in exactly that voicing and inversion. It’s only necessary to analyze so much if you insist on fitting modern harmony into 18th Century theory. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-chord-a-f/483538/30 "2009-01-30T02:55:55Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Slash chords in guitar notation indicate inversions. The chord in _While My Guitar Gently Weeps_ IS an Am7, but it’s Am7 with an inverted 3rd, i.e. the 3rd is played as the lowest note. > [@Musicat](#): > > It can’t be an inversion if the bass note isn’t part of the chord What **Musicat** said. I wouldn’t describe that chord as an Am7 because the only place that the G fits is in the bass. For example, playing an Am7/G on the guitar (G A E G C E) would sound clearly different than what the Beatles play. An inversion specifies what the bass note is, but not the arrangement of the chord tones above it. If you read slash chords as stand-ins for inversion notation, you’ll often be adding notes into the chord that aren’t supposed to be there. That gets even more clear when you listen to a piece of music. Listening to _While My Guitar Gently Weeps_, the only instrument playing that G note is the bass. It’s orchestrated in such a way that the moving bass line is a solo line against the harmony of the song (ie, that G is a passing tone in McCartney’s bass solo moving between the Am and D chords). In regards to the song in the OP, has anyone else listened to it carefully? I don’t hear the open D string. I hear 2x2220, a straight A with an F# in the bass. But, I think that on listening to it the chord there is an F# minor, and the slash chord is indicating how to go about playing it (ie, keep the A fingering and add the bass note, keeping the E on top). Guitar music is tough to notate harmonically because the instrument lends itself to drone notes; I can think of a million songs that drone one or two open strings or fretted strings against all sorts of different bass and/or melody notes. It gets really confusing to try to include those notes in a traditional harmonic analysis. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-chord-a-f/483538/31 "2009-01-30T04:56:45Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > But, I think that on listening to it the chord there is an F# minor, and the slash chord is indicating how to go about playing it (ie, keep the A fingering and add the bass note, keeping the E on top). For the record, I’ve always heard that chord as having minor tonality, so I’d be inclined to call it an F# minor rather than an A/F#. I may be wrong about that, but that’s how I hear it. edit: Although I’m not totally sure that I don’t hear a “D” in there. It feels minor to me, but I think there may be a “D” in there at the very bottom of the strum. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-chord-a-f/483538/32 "2009-01-30T05:05:40Z")
Actually, no, I don’t think I hear the “D.” It sounds nice (at least on the piano) but I don’t think it’s actually there in the song. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-chord-a-f/483538.md?page=1)