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In Louis Armstrongs song "What a wonderful world", the part where he actually sings this phrase happens on what is written as a Gm7/C > C7 > F... so in other words a ii V I progression. But why is the Gm7/C not some kind of C7sus4 chord? Anyhow, I was looking and trying to understand why this voice leading works and wanted to ask if someone could help me understand it or to tell me if what I am hearing is right. So what I hear is that the F in the C7sus4 (or Gm7) chord resolves to the E in C7 and the D in the C7sus4 (or Gm7) resolves to the C of the C7 chord and this is is why this works as a progression?

armani
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  • See the proposed duplicate for an explanation of slash-chord naming in a case like this, and also see [What does the chord notation X/Y (“slash chord”) mean?](https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/104163/what-does-the-chord-notation-x-y-slash-chord-mean) for a fuller explanation of the meaning and uses of slash chords. – Aaron Apr 10 '21 at 14:57

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Slash chords! The chord name before the slash is the main chord. The note name after the slash is the lowest note expected to be played. Often on the bass, or lowest note on piano or even guitar, if no other lower pitched instrument is available.

That note after the slash is often a chord tone, but doesn't need to be. When it is a chord tone, that symbol embodies the inversion of that chord before the slash. C/E for example, would be a C chord with E in the bass, making it a 1st inversion.

Gm7/C is basically a Gm7 chord (G B♭ D F), played as such with the exception that the lowest played note needs to be C. So a bassist, who would usually play a G note (root of chord), would instead play a C.

That makes it into a kind of Gm11, with the 9 missing - as it sometimes can be. Or it could be considered Gm7(add11), although that would put the C note at or near the top of the chord, not what's required here.

It won't be Gm7/C = C7sus4, as the former is spelled C G B♭ D F, the latter C F G B♭ - there's no D in this one. Could call it C9sus though.

Tim
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  • ok I understand now... can you please explain why someone would want to have a Gm7/C instead of just a Gm7? Is it because the vocal sings an F and that is a 4th as opposed to the 7th against the G in root position? here is the sheet music http://elpregonero.info/PARTITURA/PDF/491%20-%20Louis%20Armstrong%20-%20What%20a%20Wonderful%20World.pdf – armani Apr 10 '21 at 13:05
  • Not really. I try not to get too bogged down with the actual technical side when playing chords, writing, etc. Sometimes things just work - even though theory says otherwise, and I'd rather go with the flow and sound like I want something to, than allow things to be hindered because of 'rules'. – Tim Apr 10 '21 at 13:17
  • Agreed with Tim. Sometimes it's just that, compositionally, you want the bass to be doing something, rising or falling etc, while the chords on top move differently, and it's easier to say "a Gminor chord with the C in the bass" than writing a chord named off of the C bass that might appear odd to someone reading it. In other situations writing it as a familiar chord with a non chord tone in the bass may help someone reading the music read it easier in the heat of the moment, or may suggest the kind of voicing the composer was imagining, even though the 'true' chord made may be more complex. – OwenM Apr 10 '21 at 22:44
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This is almost a standard ii V I progression. The ii is very often varied as ii/V (the Gm7/C is equivalent to a C9sus, which resolves to C7 nicely). In this case, since the bass is coming from Db in the previous bar, C is the only bass note that makes musical sense.

PiedPiper
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    Does the C9 sus resolve nicely because of what I wrote? F > E and D > C? Also, since ii is a subdominant chord and if I put the dominant (C) in the root, is that kind of like a hybrid subdominant/dominant chord? – armani Apr 10 '21 at 13:37
  • Yes, the F resolves to E and less importantly the D to C. It's not a subdominant though. It's a hybrid of ii and V. – PiedPiper Apr 10 '21 at 16:35
  • @armani has a point: it *is* a hybrid subdominant/dominant chord. Its B♭, D, F make the IV chord. The chord has subdominant function in that it comes before a V-I cadence. ii (or, more fully, ii7) is just an alternative way to notate IV6 in Roman numerals; here, to say ii rather than IV is to call G rather than B♭ the root. – Rosie F Apr 11 '21 at 09:03
  • @RosieF ii7 by itself functions as a subdominant. Adding the V note in the bass changes everything and puts it firmly in dominant territory. – PiedPiper Apr 11 '21 at 11:14
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Gm7/C could indeed be considered 'some kind of C7sus chord'. It's the particular flavour of it which has G, B♭, D and F in the upper structure with C in the bass. And, interestingly, it DOESN'T have C in the melody or upper structure.

C7sus4 contains C, F, G and B♭ in the upper structure, C as the bass note. It DOESN'T contain D, and C IS included in the upper structure.

Then there's Gm/C. Same idea as Gm7/C, but there's no F in the chord.

Three chords with very much the same function but different flavours. They deserve different names. You don't choose one or the other because it's the 'right' one, you choose it because you want THAT sound. That's what composing music is all about, you get to choose from a wide range of possibilities. Think about it. If there was always a 'right' next chord, there would only be one perfect song starting with a C chord!

You'll see C11 used as a chord symbol. It might mean any of the three above chords. (What it's very unlikely to mean is an actual C11, that's C, E, G, B&flat:, D, F.) You'll have to work out what it means when you find it in sheet music. I suggest YOU don't write it.

Laurence
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