Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 17 hours ago
Compound chords explained on piano — what that chord symbol with a line through it actually means, and exactly how to play it with both hands. We learn it on That Girl Could Sing by Jackson Browne, in the key of D.
Try every lesson on my site for $1 for 7 days: webpianoteacher.com/subscription/offer
Classic rock, pop, country and worship — 20 years of lessons, every one with a sheet.
You have seen a chord written like G/A — a G, a line, and an A under it. Some people call it a compound chord, some call it a split bass chord, and I have even heard it called a fraction chord. It stops a lot of players cold, and it should not.
THE RULE, IN ONE LINE
The top letter tells you the chord your RIGHT hand plays. The bottom letter tells you the one note your LEFT hand plays, usually as an octave. G/A is a G chord — G, B, D — over an A in the bass. D/A is a D chord — D, F#, A — over that same A.
And here is the part nobody tells you: when a chord is NOT compound, when it just says G, you assume the left hand plays G. So a compound chord is only marking the one time the bass does something different from the chord name. That is all it is.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
• What a compound chord (slash chord, split bass chord, fraction chord) means
• The top letter and the bottom letter — which hand each one belongs to
• How to play G/A and D/A with a left hand octave, the way rock and country piano is really played
• Chord spelling — building any major chord by skipping letters
• Inversions — F#-A-D is still a D chord, because the recipe never changed
• Why a four-note chord is almost always a three-note chord with one note doubled
• Adding the bass guitar line when you play solo piano with no band
• The 2 finger trick — wherever your second finger falls in an octave, that is the fifth
WHO THIS IS FOR
Adult beginners and returning players who can find the keys but freeze when the chord symbol gets strange. You do not have to read music — every note is named on screen as I play it. If you play from chord charts, compound chords are everywhere and this is the lesson that makes them permanent.
That Girl Could Sing is from Jackson Browne's 1980 album Hold Out, and we play it in the key of D. My sheet is four lines a page, three measures a line, on purpose — traditional sheet music jams everything onto one intimidating page.
CHAPTERS
0:00 What a compound chord is
0:41 Split bass chord, fraction chord — same thing
1:02 The first letter tells you the chord
1:38 Spelling a G chord — G, B, D
2:17 The bottom letter is your left hand
2:47 Playing G/A with an A octave in the bass
3:20 D/A — same rule, new chord
3:44 What to play when the chord is NOT compound
4:29 Adding the bass guitar part on solo piano
5:00 The 2 finger trick — finding the fifth
5:34 Spelling a D chord — D, F#, A
5:59 Inversions — same recipe, different order
7:25 Counting when you don't have a drummer
8:16 Two G's in one chord — does it change anything?
8:49 Four-note chords are triads with an octave
9:22 A-D-F#-A and the fourth finger
10:19 Playing the whole first page
The complete lesson — all the way through the song, lyrics on the sheet — is on webpianoteacher.com with my other Jackson Browne lessons.
#compoundchords #slashchords #pianolesson #jacksonbrowne #pianochords #learnpiano
👍 Try 1,000 free lessons today on webpianoteacher.com ✅ Learn to play piano with Shawn’s revolutionary method
Read Google Reviews by Shawn’s actual students google.com/search?sca_esv=5009c1303de011b0&sca_upv=1&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS1008US1008&hl=en-US&q=web+piano+teacher+reviews&uds=ADvngMgvgkdrPGdvQSDLpEVP-ZodsumYvHbzDCPdZxu7y1dxdo5qqAYWcbG74nStvB1P7oPuKgMFxvRIzd_DZN3tMyxEyrPXSMvg62M7DhKnaOoXRrvMRlR2qOzpuVB5MFvbzhVxfpnLmeUii_UEMspRA9Sb2_UNlNmYcxD8gSa_9Y-ZrAhmC7PMo4dC-3yAW2NaRCTwbTkIJFF0zACFe0MmWygbXUnSyy4URj5yYn7f6Y92qL5F7C65sP-AwHchpQ_w3yruheB24nu-AvcfFQo-ckINkBqWAeio4R0dm9r8cmVn2A7RlUhPAPOZyHpYJ2DontEmnoCi9_eEmhwW9RpGrsajaR7u8_U58p0eD_M4AQtnaQce2g4_3U4ECJVG1OOQrlRFwR4byywOQYKXK-PF9b_wDOJ4wtlppDpfX1FhULjD2H_jbmF3keFLT-JjbHx5mU1wYAbm&si=ACC90nwjPmqJHrCEt6ewASzksVFQDX8zco_7MgBaIawvaF4-7tVxiqnhHYhqKwDDsP2tv6FAZ1fBoW06Zy-5I4bv_4sVUMNgTvp0JS4qCRvaokEGreiT-RV-opIxhvzKSE6856yE4kgwpddtdtU31HEpdWwEdq8gXg%3D%3D&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwik1uakreOIAxVxKkQIHU2mGhQQk8gLegQIKRAB&ictx=1&biw=390&bih=657&dpr=3
🎹 #learntoplaypiano #learnpiano #pianocover #pianolessons #pianoteacher #pianotutorial #easypiano #howtoplaypiano http:webpianoteacher.com
🎹 Testimonials from Shawn’s actual students: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCmQmIKv8_bI83Iun0tmCk-4IOSVAxm6S
🔥Billy Joel Song Lessons: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCmQmIKv8_bKGJ1HDqNoqdQ02-o579MQk
🔥Elton John Song Lessons: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCmQmIKv8_bJV-8LhjXDcX5W4XRLhFhQZ
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Compound chords explained on piano — what that chord symbol with a line through it actually means, and exactly how to play it with both hands. We learn it on That Girl Could Sing by Jackson Browne, in the key of D.
Try every lesson on my site for $1 for 7 days: webpianoteacher.com/subscription/offer
Classic rock, pop, country and worship — 20 years of lessons, every one with a sheet.
You have seen a chord written like G/A — a G, a line, and an A under it. Some people call it a compound chord, some call it a split bass chord, and I have even heard it called a fraction chord. It stops a lot of players cold, and it should not.
THE RULE, IN ONE LINE
The top letter tells you the chord your RIGHT hand plays. The bottom letter tells you the one note your LEFT hand plays, usually as an octave. G/A is a G chord — G, B, D — over an A in the bass. D/A is a D chord — D, F#, A — over that same A.
And here is the part nobody tells you: when a chord is NOT compound, when it just says G, you assume the left hand plays G. So a compound chord is only marking the one time the bass does something different from the chord name. That is all it is.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
• What a compound chord (slash chord, split bass chord, fraction chord) means
• The top letter and the bottom letter — which hand each one belongs to
• How to play G/A and D/A with a left hand octave, the way rock and country piano is really played
• Chord spelling — building any major chord by skipping letters
• Inversions — F#-A-D is still a D chord, because the recipe never changed
• Why a four-note chord is almost always a three-note chord with one note doubled
• Adding the bass guitar line when you play solo piano with no band
• The 2 finger trick — wherever your second finger falls in an octave, that is the fifth
WHO THIS IS FOR
Adult beginners and returning players who can find the keys but freeze when the chord symbol gets strange. You do not have to read music — every note is named on screen as I play it. If you play from chord charts, compound chords are everywhere and this is the lesson that makes them permanent.
That Girl Could Sing is from Jackson Browne's 1980 album Hold Out, and we play it in the key of D. My sheet is four lines a page, three measures a line, on purpose — traditional sheet music jams everything onto one intimidating page.
CHAPTERS
0:00 What a compound chord is
0:41 Split bass chord, fraction chord — same thing
1:02 The first letter tells you the chord
1:38 Spelling a G chord — G, B, D
2:17 The bottom letter is your left hand
2:47 Playing G/A with an A octave in the bass
3:20 D/A — same rule, new chord
3:44 What to play when the chord is NOT compound
4:29 Adding the bass guitar part on solo piano
5:00 The 2 finger trick — finding the fifth
5:34 Spelling a D chord — D, F#, A
5:59 Inversions — same recipe, different order
7:25 Counting when you don't have a drummer
8:16 Two G's in one chord — does it change anything?
8:49 Four-note chords are triads with an octave
9:22 A-D-F#-A and the fourth finger
10:19 Playing the whole first page
The complete lesson — all the way through the song, lyrics on the sheet — is on webpianoteacher.com with my other Jackson Browne lessons.
#compoundchords #slashchords #pianolesson #jacksonbrowne #pianochords #learnpiano
👍 Try 1,000 free lessons today on webpianoteacher.com ✅ Learn to play piano with Shawn’s revolutionary method
Read Google Reviews by Shawn’s actual students google.com/search?sca_esv=5009c1303de011b0&sca_upv=1&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS1008US1008&hl=en-US&q=web+piano+teacher+reviews&uds=ADvngMgvgkdrPGdvQSDLpEVP-ZodsumYvHbzDCPdZxu7y1dxdo5qqAYWcbG74nStvB1P7oPuKgMFxvRIzd_DZN3tMyxEyrPXSMvg62M7DhKnaOoXRrvMRlR2qOzpuVB5MFvbzhVxfpnLmeUii_UEMspRA9Sb2_UNlNmYcxD8gSa_9Y-ZrAhmC7PMo4dC-3yAW2NaRCTwbTkIJFF0zACFe0MmWygbXUnSyy4URj5yYn7f6Y92qL5F7C65sP-AwHchpQ_w3yruheB24nu-AvcfFQo-ckINkBqWAeio4R0dm9r8cmVn2A7RlUhPAPOZyHpYJ2DontEmnoCi9_eEmhwW9RpGrsajaR7u8_U58p0eD_M4AQtnaQce2g4_3U4ECJVG1OOQrlRFwR4byywOQYKXK-PF9b_wDOJ4wtlppDpfX1FhULjD2H_jbmF3keFLT-JjbHx5mU1wYAbm&si=ACC90nwjPmqJHrCEt6ewASzksVFQDX8zco_7MgBaIawvaF4-7tVxiqnhHYhqKwDDsP2tv6FAZ1fBoW06Zy-5I4bv_4sVUMNgTvp0JS4qCRvaokEGreiT-RV-opIxhvzKSE6856yE4kgwpddtdtU31HEpdWwEdq8gXg%3D%3D&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwik1uakreOIAxVxKkQIHU2mGhQQk8gLegQIKRAB&ictx=1&biw=390&bih=657&dpr=3
🎹 #learntoplaypiano #learnpiano #pianocover #pianolessons #pianoteacher #pianotutorial #easypiano #howtoplaypiano http:webpianoteacher.com
🎹 Testimonials from Shawn’s actual students: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCmQmIKv8_bI83Iun0tmCk-4IOSVAxm6S
🔥Billy Joel Song Lessons: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCmQmIKv8_bKGJ1HDqNoqdQ02-o579MQk
🔥Elton John Song Lessons: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCmQmIKv8_bJV-8LhjXDcX5W4XRLhFhQZ
webpianoteacher.com
instagram.com/webpianoteacher
facebook.com/shawncheekeasypiano
twitter.com/webpianoteacher
tiktok.com/@shawnthewebpianoteacher
