D7/4 chord (is it the same as D7sus4?)

Rodney.

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 24, 2013
Messages
261
Reaction score
0
Location
Eindhoven, the Netherlands
I'm trying to make my own arrangment of a few songs, and while looking at different versions at various websites I stumbled upon a D7/4 chord.
Is this just a different notation for D7sus4, or is this a different chord?
And if different, how do I fret this one?
 
that's not a standard way of writing chords, so it's hard to tell what the original notator wanted. The slash is usually used for putting a different note in the bass, so it needs a letter, not a number. Like D7/A is a D7 with an A in the bass.

Yours is a good guess, though. Usually I see it as D7sus, not D7sus4.

I typed all these into "Band in a Box" because it accepts only standard chord symbols. D7sus4 became D7sus. D7/4 became D7/F. D7 with an F in the bass sounds pretty bad; and ukes don't have bass anyway. D7sus is a D7 with a G instead of F# and is nice for momentarily heightening tension. Try that and see how it sounds.
 
Yes, same chord, it is just saying the G is in the bass. There would really be 5 notes in the chord so you have to leave out at least one. I think to get the full flavor of the chord you need to get G, D, C and then the other note can be either A or F#. So a few ways to play it on a low G would be 0233 or 0223 or 0055. If you're playing on high G, it's harder to get a G really as the low note so you have to go up the neck so 7780 or 0785 or 0 12 10 0

BTW, I'm having fun with Guitar Toolkit on my iPad - not like I knew all that off the top of my head. :cool:
 
I found a guitar fingering which suggests to use F# A D G and C, so looks like you're right. Right now I'm experimenting with 2233 and 5335. I'm getting there, thanks for replying.
 
Just a technical thought: You need the necessary elements of the D7 chord and a G. With four strings, that leaves you only D, F#, C, and G. If you have a low G, 0223 will work. This actually gives you a G in the bass. With a standard tuning, the only way I can come up with to do that is 5789. If having G in the bass isn't necessary, this is a D11 chord. 2233 will work just fine.
 
Just a technical thought: You need the necessary elements of the D7 chord and a G. With four strings, that leaves you only D, F#, C, and G. If you have a low G, 0223 will work. This actually gives you a G in the bass. With a standard tuning, the only way I can come up with to do that is 5789. If having G in the bass isn't necessary, this is a D11 chord. 2233 will work just fine.

Thanks, I (kind of) figured that out to this afternoon. That's one of the nicest things about trying to make my own arrangments for me: practical use and a big improvement of my so-so musical theory knowledge.
 
Top Bottom