I am quite new to music and playing mandoilin; I surley don't have a stong understanding of how some chords are constructed. There is one song - River by Bill Staines that I was excited to be reminded of (I had it on a cassette 40± years ago). I found the lyrics and chords in the key of D and there a couple quick changes from a D chord to a "D/C#"; I'm not sure what that chord is. Is it simply a regular D chord but with a C# added? Like for instance: 6-0-0-2? When I start strumming this chord change it sounds like it fits. Is the note following the "/" usually intended to be a bass note?
I would try 2-0-4-2 since you can just drop a finger on your regular D chord. (I should acknowledge that yes, the C# technically should be emphasized as the bass note and yes, 6002 would be a good option but for rapidly progressing from D to D/C# I think it would be easier to drop a finger on the A string. Try both and see what sounds best and is easiest to reach.) Edit to add: I’m waiting for Mark to chime in with a better answer since he’s the chord guru among us. I’m still truly in the newbie category
Could go from 2-4-5 to 6-4-5. Or 2-4-5 to 6-4-5-5 if you needed the A in there. That would get your C# in the bass. Not sure that would be better or worse than Don's suggestion, depends what chords come before or after, just giving another possibility is all.
Thanks for your replies; I'll have to experiment with these options but the 2-0-4-2 works very nicely. I like the melody of this, particularly the chorus. https://www.google.com/search?q=rive...id:_nKjO0lvoLc
That’s great! My motto is… if it sounds good it IS good! I’ve decided nobody in the audience is going to know if I’m cheating and using the easiest fingering progression I can find. Besides, you don’t want to be playing someone else’s version of a song… you should play YOUR version of a song. (BTW that link didn’t work for me for some reason.)
" ...nobody in the audience is going to know if I’m cheating and using the easiest fingering progression I can find..." Wait, that's cheating? I thought that's what we were supposed to do !
Exaaaaaaactly
I'm with Sue--easy is good!
Now for some reason the link finally worked for me and I listened to the song- that really is a sweet melody and sounds like a great song to learn. The chord sheet that popped up for me was in E but it does look easier when transposed to D, and I’d definitely stick with the easy fingering of the chord transition since it’s got vocals over that part anyway and it’s not part of a walking bass line. (On the contrary, it’s at the high part of the chorus and likely sounds really good as 2-0-4-2).
Frankly, unless you're playing solo, you shouldn't be concerned about the bass note at all. Just play a D, or better yet (if you want show the motion) Dmaj7. D/C# is a D with the bass in the maj7, it's just playing a D while the bass descends D, C#, B, ... or walks back up again. Nice song, thanks for sharing it! BTW, this link works better for me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JBtmseOvFs
Nice song! And yes, the slash chord means the second part of the slash is intended to be the bottom note. I do play solo quite often, and I am a fan of playing “bass runs” on mandolin (although the mandolin is a fair mile or two away from the bass register). So I would play a piece calling for D > D/C# with: 7-4-5-x to 6-4-5-x But to each his own … in music, you should always play what sounds best to you … often, if your soul is in it, it will sound good to others as well!
I don't know for sure, but it looks to me like he is playing a right-hand-strung guitar left handed, Elizabeth Cotten style.
