Soloing Over Slash Chords

[Stew]

Hi, I've been trying to figure out the solo on Pretzel Logic. Is it Larry Carlton? The rhythm is Am7 Dm7 D/E E/A C/D D/G Am7. Any advice with slash chords and the solo in general?

[Old Tele man]

re: chords Am7 Dm7 D/E E/A C/D D/G Am7

...look at the resulting chords created by the added bass notes, ie:

D/E = D9
E/A = Esus or E11
C/D = C9
D/G = Dsus or D11

...looks like a 'by-5ths' harmony turnaround...

...incidently, did you recognize the bass notes are merely the E6, A5, D4, G4 strings in order!

[Tomo]

I hear D/E as E being root and D triad against E ..(b7 9 11(sus4))

and E/A as A being roor and E triad against A .. (9 5 M7)
Major7 without 3rd. I like that sound.

If you have E/D then E triad against D... (6 9 #11)

or E/G ... E against G... (M3 13 b9)

F/D.... D-7 (b7 b3 5) ... You can use triangle shape on
123 strings... play F triad, E triad... D triad over
D-7 G7 CMajor7.... Same shapes but you 'll get
D-7 (b7 b3 5)
G7 (M3 13 b9)
CMajor7 (6 9 #11)..... if you play G triad here..then
(5 M7 9)

Many colors!

Tomo

[Stew]

Many thanks for helping me to better understand slash chords. I wouldn't have realized that the bass note combined with the triad resulted in another chord. I guess the slash chord is described as such to emphasize the bass note. Also explaining that E is the root in a D/E chord helped me to figure out that I can play an E scale over a D/E chord, etc.
Tomo, I appreciate that you described the triads the way you did instead of spelling out a particular voicing. It took more work but I was able to find ones that I hadn't known before.
Tele Man, Any chance you could explain what 'by 5ths harmony turnaround's are?

[Old Tele man]

re: "...by 5ths harmony turnaround's?"

...two ways to "look at it":

1) same as "how the strings are tuned" by 5ths, ie:
* go UP five steps/frets on the E6-string and you're at A;
* go UP five steps/frets on the A5-string and you're at D;
* go UP five steps/frets on the D4-string and you're at G; etc.

2) successive descending V-to-I "back-cycles", ie:
* 5th-degree of Key of A is E, so V-to-I is E to A
* 5th-degree of Key of G is D, so V-to-I is D to G
* 5th-degree of Key of C is G, so V-to-I is G back to C.

...typically used to "extend / delay" the simple V-to-I change; for example the E7 to A7 to D7 to G7 back to C descending turnaround in MISTY, etc. It also works with minors too, ie: Em7 to Am7 to Dm7 to G7 back to C.

...and, IF you use "altered" chords, you get a nice smooth single-note descending bass-line from Bb to A to Ab to G then over by 5th back to C, like this (slash chords):
* E7-5/Bb, A7/A, D7-5/Ab, G7/G, CM7/C.

...oops, forgot to mention, "...turnaround..." is a 'return to the Root key,' ie: X-to-I" where X can be any chord.

[mtfingers]

...typically used to "extend / delay" the simple V-to-I change; for example the E7 to A7 to D7 to G7 back to C descending turnaround in MISTY, etc. It also works with minors too, ie: Em7 to Am7 to Dm7 to G7 back to C.

We call this backcycling fifths in the jazz world (when the chords are dominant). Sweet Georgia Brown is a typical example.

As far as those slash chords go:

D/E=E11 I always look at these like dorian sounds, so its easiest to
play an A major scale here

E/A=Amaj9 This is a really pretty chord. A major still.

C/D=D11 Same as first chord down two frets. Key of G

D/G=Gmaj9 G major here too.

[jzucker]

I use slash chords all the time both in original compositions or as substitutions for "standard" voicings.

Best thing to do is make a chart and analyze all the slash chord combinations.

C/C - C Major
Db/C - Dbmaj, C Phrgian
D/C - D7, C Lydian
Eb/C - Cmin7
E/C - CMaj7#5
F/C - Fmaj
F#/C - C7Alt
G/C - Cmaj9
G#/C - C Phyrgian (if you use D Natural) or just Abmaj7/Ab7
A/C - C13b9
B/C - Cmaj7#9#11, B7b9, Cdim

Now, do the same with minor triads, diminished and augmented chords and you'll really start to come up with some interesting voicings.

All this is detailed in my book by the way!

[Rig James]

Isnt a guitar tuned in fourths?
E to A is a fourth, A to D is a fourth and so on (A to E is a fifth)?
Five half steps does not equal a fifth.

[Old Tele man]

re: " E to A is a fourth...A to D is a fourth...etc."

...you're correct, I probably shouldn't have written "...how the strings are tuned by 5ths..." but rather, probably something like "...same as the tuned string intervals, E-A-D-G, etc."

...Confusing semantics:

...a 4th above E is A, but the 5th below E is A.
...a 4th above A is D, but the 5th below A is D.
...a 4th above D is G, but the 5th below D is G.
...a 4th above C is F, but the 5th below F is C.

...what's the difference? Well "backcycling-by-5ths" implies the 5th below (like "backing down the scale"), sorry.

[Rig James]

No need to apologize, as I was thinking out loud to confirm stuff I am learning. I still think E to A to D to G is fourths not fifths. A guitar is tuned low to high in fourths(except for the b string). G to D to A to E is fifths if you are going high to low.

OTM you obviously know what your talking about and I am not trying to say you dont or step on anyones toes, just discussing things I am in the process of learning myself. Sorry,

James

[Old Tele man]

re: "OTM you obviously know what your talking about..." huh? some people would certainly disagree with that...ha,ha!

...actually, because I "think" more in chords than in notes, here's how I "view" the "back-cycle by 5ths" (V7-to-I), as a sequence of back-n-forth Z-motions on the 5th & 6th strings:

...E7 chord @ fret 7: E-note on A5-string fret 7 is 5th of A chord.
...A7 chord @ fret 5: A-note on E6-string fret 5 is 5th of D chord.
...D7 chord @ fret 5: D-note on A5-string fret 5 is 5th of G chord.
...G7 chord @ fret 3: G-note on E6-string fret 3 is 5th of C chord;

And, finally, back to the " I ":

...C chord @ fret 3: C-note on A5-string fret 3 is root of C chord.

...notice that every note/chord is the "5th-above" the next chord to be played...ie: descending (back-cycling) by 5ths back down and into the root.