Beautiful guitar chords: inversions, slash chords and chromatic basses
This annex complements the "Chord types and qualities" guide with practical guitar shapes that explore open strings, extensions, pedal points, chromatic basses and upper structures. The goal is not only to name the chord, but to show why a given layout of notes produces a wide, delicate, dramatic or cinematic sound.
Standard tuning E–A–D–G–B–E · shapes written from the 6th to the 1st string (× = muted string, 0 = open, number = fret).
See also:Chord types — the theory and formulas behind these chords.
How to use this material
Play it first as a slow arpeggio. The 2nd, 9th and 11th clashes come through more clearly than in a heavy strum.
Let the open strings sustain. They act as drones and create continuity between chords.
Watch the bass separately. In many examples, the beauty is born from a chromatic line beneath an almost motionless upper shape.
Do not treat every slash symbol as an inversion. The slash only sets the bass; the bass may or may not belong to the upper chord.
Test each shape against the melody. An extension that is beautiful on its own can clash with a note held by the voice.
Two essential distinctions
Dadd9/C is not a strict inversion
Dadd9 contains D–F#–A–E. Since C does not belong to that structure, Dadd9/C is a slash chord with an outside bass. Dadd9/F# and Dadd9/A, on the other hand, are inversions, because F# and A belong to the chord.
Dadd4 is not Dsus4
Dadd4 keeps the third F# and adds G: D–F#–A–G. Dsus4 replaces F# with G: D–G–A. The common shape xx0233 is Dsus4; a Dadd4 must contain F# and G simultaneously.
The central family: the same voicing over a descending bass
This is the most important example in the annex. In the Dadd9 and Dadd4 families below, the high register stays practically motionless while the bass descends D–C#–C–B. The result is a rich chromatic voice leading, without the feeling of switching chords entirely.
Dadd9 family with a fixed upper shape
RootAn open, romantic starting point.Outside bassSemitone between C# and D; delicate tension.Outside bassLydian, cinematic color; also suggests C6/9(#11, no5).Outside bassSame notes as Bm11; an excellent bridge to Em or G.
Dadd4 family with a fixed upper shape
RootKeeps F# and G: controlled semitone tension.Outside bassDark and unstable; works well in passing.Outside bassWide, modern and almost quartal.Outside bassMinor, modal color; good before Em9.
Other inversions and structures of the D family
1st inversionSmooth bass; a great link between G and Em.2nd inversionSuspended and stable; good over an A pedal.RootAn easy version; it keeps the F#–G friction and drops A.1st inversionVery open; good for arpeggios.2nd inversionA simple, resonant shape.Outside bassD triad over C; a luminous upper-structure tension.Outside bassD over an E pedal; a feeling of E11sus or modal preparation.
Voicings with C in the upper chord or in the bass
1st inversionFull yet soft; excellent for opening progressions in C.2nd inversionA wide bass and resonant high strings.Outside bassChromatic bass B→A; also sounds like Cmaj9/B with the fifth omitted.1st inversionVery resonant; good between Em and F.1st inversionRomantic and transparent; fifth omitted.2nd inversionA large, almost pianistic voicing.2nd inversionWarm, stable and sophisticated.Outside bassC over D; a functional reading close to D9sus4(no5).Outside bassG over C; also Cmaj9(no3), with brightness and no third.
Transpose & Capo — Need it in another key? Move the whole chart and find the easiest capo · try it in Chord & Fret
A family: inversions, add4 and chromatic basses
1st inversionOne of the most useful shapes for acoustic pop and ballad.1st inversionC#–D friction in the mid-high register.1st inversionLush and open; great as a tonic.1st inversionCountry-jazz, bossa and sophisticated sertanejo.2nd inversionA spaced voicing; the third and the fourth appear side by side.Outside bassA hybrid dominant, wide and dramatic; it demands a stretch of the hand.Outside bassA reading close to B9sus4(no5); a classic for preparing E.Outside bassMajor over a minor bass; a deliberate, cinematic C–C# friction.
E family and open-string drones
1st inversionB and E strings as drones; wide and modern.1st inversionKeeps G# and A simultaneously; a sweet tension.1st inversionA dense texture, yet clear thanks to the open E string.1st inversionA sophisticated tonic with a country-jazz sheen.Outside bassEadd9 over the b7; an expansive, unusual dominant.Outside bassA suspended preparation for F# or B; keeps B and E open.RootNo third; open, modern and cinematic.RootA double suspension; it defines neither major nor minor.
G family: extensions over different basses
1st inversionA large separation between the bass and the high ninth.2nd inversionMinimalist and crystalline.Major 7th in the bassDescending bass G→F#; gorgeous before Em.Outside bassSame notes as Em11; the reading depends on context.1st inversionRetains B and C; a subtle, folk tension.1st inversionFull, but without clutter in the low end.Outside bassFour open strings; also suggests A11sus.
F family: maj7, #11 and minor subdominant
1st inversionWarm, direct and singable.2nd inversionGood sustain for melodies in G.1st inversionA ballad classic; a smooth link to Am.1st inversionLydian, airy and cinematic; fifth omitted.2nd inversionOne of the most expressive open voicings in standard tuning.2nd inversionStable, full and sophisticated.Outside bassF over an E pedal; delicate, ambiguous and very resonant.1st inversionA dramatic minor subdominant; the natural D creates the sixth.1st inversionDark and romantic; excellent before C/E or Cmaj7.
Minors, m9 and m11 with an alternative bass
1st inversionSimple, open and very useful in a song.1st inversionDeeper than Am7/C without losing clarity.1st inversionModal, resonant and great for progressions in G or D.1st inversionLarge and pianistic; it pairs a defined bass with three open strings.Outside bassThe C on the 6th string works as an inner voice; a single-barred-fret shape.RootE and B drones; it sounds like an open tuning without retuning.
Upper structures and classic pedal points
Outside bassA common functional reading: G9sus4(no5). It resolves very well into C.Outside bassC9sus4; a wide soul, gospel and ballad sound.Outside bassA dark suspended dominant; it can prepare F.
Why these keys — and the ones that "are missing"
These shapes live off the open strings E–A–D–G–B–E: D, G, C, A, E and F are the keys whose chord tones land on open strings, and that is what produces the "open tuning without retuning" resonance. In B, F#, E♭, A♭ and D♭ almost no chord tone coincides with an open string — so resonant open-position versions do not exist in standard tuning (a beautiful open Badd9 simply isn't possible this way). To carry these ideas into those keys, use a capo; the resonant minors of that region (Bm, C#m) are already in the catalog.
Ready-made progressions to try
Chromatic bass under Dadd9
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Hold the four high strings and lower only the bass on the 5th string.
Romantic, with a minor subdominant
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Use arpeggios. The change from F major to F minor concentrates the drama.
Suspended pedal points
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Each upper chord sits over a bass that hints at the next tonal region.
Drones on E and B
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The B and E strings remain as common notes, creating unity.
Country-jazz and sophisticated sertanejo
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Play with the bass brought out and light attacks on the high strings.
Notebook — Build the genre's repertoire — save and organize in the Notebook · see it in Chord & Fret
How to discover new shapes of this kind
Choose a simple upper chord. Start with D, G, A, C or F and keep two or three high notes fixed.
Move only the bass. Test the root, third, fifth and outside notes a semitone or a tone away.
Preserve compatible open strings. Open E and B produce a 9, 11, 5 or major 7 in several keys.
Name it after listening. First confirm the notes; then choose the most useful name based on the bass and the function.
Record alternative names. Dadd9/B and Bm11 have the same notes but describe different intentions.
Identify Chord — Found a shape on your own fretboard? The app names it back · open in Chord & Fret
Want this in any key, no math? In the Chord & Fret app you drag and the whole neck rewrites itself — App Store and Google Play.
Selection criteria and references
The shapes were selected by three criteria: open-string resonance, voice-leading interest and usefulness in real progressions. Recent research on chord diagrams shows that a single label admits many positions and that the context of the previous chord improves the choice of voicing.
A shape can admit more than one correct name. The name adopted here favors the reading that best explains the upper chord and the bass. In another progression, the same collection can be renamed by function — for example, Dadd9/B as Bm11, Gadd9/E as Em11 or F/G as G9sus4.
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