7

On this site http://jguitar.com/chordsearch?chordsearch=Am%2FC is said Am/C to be played like this:

X    O
------
||||O|
||OO||
|O||||
||||||

but in another tutorial site I saw this

X X  O
------
||||O|
|||O||
|O||||
||||||

Which is correct?

NReilingh
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Hello-World
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    Both seem correct. The second one is missing an E, but it's not essential as there's another E present on the open ①. – n. m. Jan 06 '14 at 10:51
  • If you want to strum, the first version seems much more appropriate (to the point that you could call the second one "incorrect") – anatolyg Jan 06 '14 at 17:26
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    @anatolyg You can strum the second one too, muting that string is not hard on that position. – NPN328 Jan 06 '14 at 18:00

2 Answers2

10

Both are correct. Chords can be played in more than one way.

Am/C means "A minor with C as the lowest note".

A minor: A C E

A minor with C as the lowest note: C A E

The order of A and E doesn't matter on this case, as long as C is the lowest note in the chord. The number of As, Es, and Cs doesn't matter either, again, as long as C is the lowest note in the chord.

The notes on the first example are: C E A C E

The notes on the second example are: C A C E

Both are examples of Am/C. The second one has one less E, but it's still a Am/C chord. It still has A, E, and C; with C being the lowest note.

Which one to use? Whichever you want, whichever sounds better to you.

NPN328
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    It's worth noting that pretty much every chord can be played in more than one way. – slim Jan 06 '14 at 13:16
5

As JCP says, both are correct. However, one may suit you better to play, or to listen to, or to fit against a particular part of a melody. You'll find, as slim points out, many, many different VOICINGS of the same chord, particularly on guitar. The choice is yours. Context is important, as maybe is the moving from one chord fingering to another. One's ear is probably the best decision maker of all.

Tim
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