Hello,,

I`m new to all this Chord stuff on the piano, and I was looking at one Chord which read "G on F#" and others like "D on C", and was wondering what that meant...
Thanks!

Re: "I`m new to all this Chord stuff on the piano, and I was looking at one Chord which read `G on F#` and others like `D on C`, and was wondering what that meant...Thanks!"

Hmm...I`m very old to all this chord stuff, on piano and elsewhere, and I`ve never encountered that expression before. For what they`re worth, I have two guesses, however, the first of which seems to me more likely (offhand, that is).

Guess #1): "G on F#" might mean a G major triad with an F# in the bass voice (in other words, a third inversion G major seventh chord), which, of course, would make "D on C" mean a D major triad with a C in the bass voice (in other words, a third inversion D dominant seventh chord). These are more commonly notated G/F# and D/C.

Guess #2): "G on F#" might refer to a polychord, a G major triad above an F# major triad, which, of course, would make "D on C" mean a D major triad above a C major triad (in other words, a distinctive voicing of Cadd6/#11). These are more commonly notated:

G
-
F#

and

D
-
C.