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I'm trying to play a song, and one of the chords is G/F. I tried to look it up on this site, but it's only showing G/F#, not G/F. So is G/F a typo? Why is it not listed on this site?

Aaron
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2 Answers2

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G/F means "G-chord with an F in the bass". But technically, this isn't a G-chord at all, because G-chords don't have an F in them. They do, however, have an F#. G-chords with an F rather than an F# are actually G7 chords, not G chords.

More generally: When you see a chord notated, like "G" or "Am" or something, the assumption is either that you'll play the the root of the chord in the bass, or that it doesn't matter if you play an inversion. If the songwriter specifically wants you to play some other particular chord tone in the bass, s/he will write "chord name/some other note", like "G/F" or "Am/E". Such chords are called "inversions".

So a G/F# is a G-chord, but specifically an inversion of a G-chord with the F# in the bass. Since a G-chord with an F in it is actually a G7 chord, you might have more luck looking for G7/F. Or you could just roll your own by taking a G-chord and moving the bass note down two frets.

Alex Basson
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    The G chord doesn't have an F#, just G B and D. The Gmaj7 chord has the F#. And just because the composer put an F or F# in the bass, that's no reason to think that the F is wanted elsewhere in the chord. – Dave Jacoby Apr 02 '11 at 11:58
  • You're right, the G-major triad does not contain the F#. Depending on context, though, one might assume its presence. Anyway, my point was really that adding an F to a G-chord, even if only in the bass, makes it a G7 chord, which may help to explain why the OP was having a hard time finding it---s/he may have been looking in the wrong place. – Alex Basson Apr 02 '11 at 12:16
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    The G chord doesn't have an F# in it, but the key of G does. – Goodbye Stack Exchange Apr 02 '11 at 12:43
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    "The G chord doesn't have an F# in it, but the key of G does." G major does. G mixolydian doesn't. That's the fun of keys vs. scales. –  Apr 03 '11 at 04:21
  • Then how would G/B be played? On the 6th string it's on the 7th fret, which is the same as the 5th string 2nd fret. However that note is already played when playing a G chord. –  Apr 10 '11 at 03:24
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    @protect: Sure, that B (5th string, 2nd fret) is already being played in the standard G chord. But it's not the *bass* note, meaning it's not the lowest note in the chord. Take away the low G, though, and you've got your G/B. – Alex Basson Apr 10 '11 at 12:53
  • @AlexBasson: Indeed, some slash chords simply require either omitting a note that would normally be played (e.g. for G/B, simply omit the G) or strumming an extra string (e.g. for an A/E or C/E, the sixth string would naturally play the right note). – supercat Nov 03 '13 at 21:09
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This webpage shows a guitar tab for G/F as

enter image description here

Or, for those who don't read guitar tabs:

X:0
T:G/F chord
T:close position
K:none
L:1/4
M:none
[FGBd]4

or

X:0
T:G/F chord
T:open position (one possibility)
K:none
L:1/4
M:none
[V:V1] [GB]4
[V:V2 clef=bass] [F,D]4

The same page also includes context: G | G/F | C
In that case, the G/F is operating as a G7, as @AlexBasson explained in his answer.

You also might see: G | G/F | C/E
That way, the bass note moves down step-wise from G to E.

...Which brings up another likely context -- step-wise bass motion.

For example:

G | G/F | Em7

or

G | G/F | Edim | Eb7 | D

In any of these cases, you can debate with your music-theory-nerd friends about whether the G/F is really a G7 chord, or whether it's really a G triad with an F passing tone underneath.

Aaron
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