Chordshapes for playing the same chord can sound different, depending on their inversion. The inversion is how the notes of the chord, from the lowest to highest pitches, appear in the chordshape.
In standard inversion, the root note of the chord is the lowest, or bass note. For example, in the standard inversion of a Dmaj7 chord, D is the lowest note.
Sometimes though, you will see chords written in slash notation, such as Dmaj7/A. This means that the chord should be played with A as the bass note.
Let's find a chordshape for this.
Step-By-Step
Step 1
First of all, you need to be in Library View. Check the bottom of the workspace and make sure that the Library tab is selected. If it isn't, click on it.
Step 2
Now, select the chord you want to play in the blue Chord Matrix. This is usually placed in the lower left of the workspace.
Each cell in the matrix represents the chord based on the chord type in the row heading and the root note in the column heading. The numbers in each cell tell you how many chordshapes there are in the library for each chord.
So, we need to select the cell in the D column and the maj7 row, as shown.
Step 3
The green Library List is now showing us all of the chordshapes we could use for playing Dmaj7, but we want to restrict this further by making sure that A is the bass note.
We need to open the Set Filter window to set this extra restriction, with the following command:
| Button | Key | Menu |
| Ctrl+F | Filter-Set |
Step 4
There are three pages in the Set Filter window. Select the Other Criteria page, which is the last one, and locate the Chord Bass Note list towards the right.
This contains all notes with a checkbox next to each one that you can place a tick in. Tick the A note as shown, and then press the OK button to accept this setting and return to the workspace.
Step 5
The Library List is now showing only those chordshapes which can be used for Dmaj7/A. The tablature notation of each chordshape appears in the list as shown.
Step 6
As soon as you have selected a chordshape, the sound of the chordshape is played and it appears in full detail on the Fretboard, showing you exactly how to play it.
Each of the green blocks is where you need to put your fingers, and the light blue labels at the end of the fretboard tell you which note is made by each string. Notice that A appears for the bass string as we requested.
Step 7
You can explore other ways of playing Dmaj7/A if there are other chordshapes in the Library List, by selecting each one in turn.
You can have all chordshapes displayed in slash chord notation if you tick the Use Slash Chord Notation setting in the Indexing Options.
See Also
