slash chords – Modern Music Theory Improvisation and Application

Understanding Triads and Slash Chords in Music Theory

Posted on November 15, 2025 by Modern Music Theory and Application

The 12 Major Triads/Slash chords music lesson in theory and practice:

Please watch video above for detailed info:

Hi Guys,

Today, a look at altering harmony and cadences with triads, slash and altered chords.

PART 1:

To begin with let’s take a pedestrian V to I cadence,

Now, let’s add some colour to it.

A musical notation diagram showing a V to I cadence with altered substitutions to the Major key, including the slash chords Db/C and C/F for music theory lesson — Illustration of a V to I cadence with altered substitutions, showcasing the Db/C and C/F slash chords.

Here, we can see the slash chord of Db/C resolving to C/F:

The Db/C harmony creates a powerful dominant chord of Csus/b9/b13

Musical notation for Csus/b9/b13 chord with tablature for guitar. Example of slash chord Db/C — Musical notation illustrating the Csus/b9/b13 chord, showcasing its structure and components.

With this in mind let’s now apply this and cadence to the minor key [FmMaj7]

Musical sheet displaying a V to I cadence with altered substitutions for the minor key, featuring Db/C and FmMaj7 slash chords. — V to I cadence illustrating altered slash chord substitutions in a minor key.

Straight away, we can see and hear how easy it is to manipulate and alter the harmony with slash chords.

They also possess a unique flavour and colour that really shines out on the guitar due to the Major triads being very bright. This way they naturally cut through and resonate.

PART 2: Extending 1 simple Triad:

In this example, we will take a simple triad of F Major 1st inversion [F/A]

From this, we will add melodic notes/movement in the top and bottom to extend the harmony, and, finish with a 7sus4 cadence of F/G to Cmaj7#11

Music sheet showing chord substitution notations for F Major 1st inversion (F/A), F6/A, F#m7b5, and F/G with finger placement. — Visual representation of F Major triad variations, including F/A, F6/A, F#m7b5, and F/G, showcasing chord extensions.

Let’s now add this to a complete chord sequence:

A music sheet displaying harmonization techniques with chord notations including Em9, Am, C/G#, F/A, F6/A, F#m7b5, F/G, and Maj7#11. — Chord sequence demonstrating triads and harmonization techniques.

PART 3: Harmonising a melody:

We will now take the simple melody below,

To exploit this, we will employ altered and slash chords starting with G7#9 moving to Eb/E

Sheet music illustrating melody notes with annotations for G7#9 and Eb/E chords. — Melody harmonization using the G7#9 and Eb/E slash chords.

We will now repeat this, but, add a chord of E/F in between to harmonise the Ab note:

Sheet music showing G7#9 and E/F slash chord for jazz fusion reharmonisation

Finally, resolving back to the Eb/E slash chord

Chord diagram showing E/Eb slash chord and diminished harmony with fingering positions on the guitar. — Chord diagram for E/Eb, illustrating finger placements for guitarists.

FULL HARMONISATION EXAMPLE:

Musical notation displaying John McLaughlin guitar melody notes and chords G7#9, Eb/E, and E/F, highlighting the harmonic structure, slash chord and how to re harmonise a melody in jazz fusion music. — John McLaughlin Guitar Harmonization with slash chords and altered chords

PART 4: 12 TRIADS over I bass note

In this exercise we will play all 12 Major Triads over a single C [as root] Bass note.

Musical notation showing a progression of slash chord triads: Db/C, D/C, Eb/C, E/C, and F/C over a single bass note. — Chord progression visual for 12 Major Triads over a C bass note, illustrating various slash chords.

A musical sheet displaying the 12 Major Triads over a C bass note, highlighting various slash chord combinations. — An illustration displaying the progression of 12 Major Triads over a C bass note, highlighting various chord combinations.

FREE PDF DOWNLOAD:

JC Book Download

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Exploring John McLaughlin’s Unique Guitar Chordal Harmony

Posted on April 21, 2025April 21, 2025 by Modern Music Theory and Application

Please watch video above for detailed info:

Hi Guys,

Today, a quick look at some of John McLaughlin’s amazing altered, slash and ambiguous guitar chords.

Johns harmony is a very rich palette indeed.

In the little example above in the video, I play about with some of Johns harmonic movement and colour.

EXAMPLE 1:

Although, I could employ diminished harmony, I am instead aiming at “Implication”….Why?…This is in order to bring out the big “Rich” resonance of the guitar.

F/F# [/A]

Eb/E [/B]

john_mclaughlin_guitar_chord_example_lesson

It is an ethereal sound where the natural harmonics and overtones can ring out of the guitars sound hole harmoniously.

SHORT CONNECTING RUN:

Next, we employ a Bb Major run with a few chromatic notes. These being, the B natural and the E natural chordal tones.

EXAMPLE 2:

Now, let’s add two more resonant chords,

A/Bb

B/C

ARPEGGIO CONNECTION:

We will now connect to the next part together.

This will be with an arpeggio of Ebm mostly [or D#m] implying BMaj7. [Although there is an implied resolution to B7 also].

This juxtaposition, creates another ambiguous move that opens up a fresh and unique sounding harmony.

john_mclaughlin_guitar_arpeggio_example_lesson

From here, we can manipulate and resolve into the Bb minor full barre harmony:

Now, let’s create a sequence. This will be, C#7sus4 to C7 with a sharpened 4th and a Maj7th.

Notice, the chromatic movement in the bass as we sequence this.

Finally, this resolves from CMaj7#11 to CMaj7 with open string guitar chords.

PDF DOWNLOAD:

Chord Download

IN CONCLUSION:

In conclusion, this was just a quick look at Johns unique take on harmony and how to apply some scale and arpeggio movement to connect it all together.

John’s harmony is a lovely combination of ambiguity and resonance with a sense of calm.

The magical ethereal tone opens doors to really interesting solo applications that exploit implied harmonies and dissonances. These I find are met with with lingering resolutions that are never quite met.

It’s a sort of pairing of opposites that you can’t quite put your finger on that give it that alluring yet elusive quality.

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Polytonality:For Concerto/Orchestral Writing

Posted on February 27, 2024March 16, 2024 by Modern Music Theory and Application

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Polytonality: For Concerto/OrchestralWriting lesson

Please watch the video above for detailed analysis:

Hi Guys

Today, a quick look at composing with Polytonality for orchestral and concerto writing.

What is Polytonality?

Polytonality is the use of two or more keys at the same time:

Example 1:

Db Major/C Major [Basic root position]

poly-tonality-orchestral-composing-chords-example

In this first example we have 4 bars of Polytonality with Eminor/DbMajor and EbMajor/CMajor

This then resolves itself with a “Tonal” diatonic cadence of B7/D# to Em:

This method is really useful because we can use the polytonal approach sparingly with it’s thicker and richer harmonic texture whilst then then playing its opposite it with the thinner aspect of diatonicism.

This way the Polytonal nature of the music compliments the diatonic cadences and visa versa.

Example 2:

Polytonality-Orchestral Example

This example explores “Implication”. In this case it is implying the melodic minor but avoiding the cliche by employing the richness of Polytonality:

From here, we will again employ diatonic harmony for a cadence.

To complete this short orchestral example we will go back into Polytonality with another melodic minor implication by employing Dminor/DbMajor:

Here is the chart:

poly-tonality-orchestral-composing-example

Example 3:

Polytonality-Orchestral Example

In this final example we will just “Reverse” the chords. This time it is DbMajor/Cmajor which is then played the other way around with CMajor/DbMajor.