Q: hey bill, when should i write a chord as a "slash" chord, like Fm/Ab? what i'm doing now is i try and see what the bass is doing, and if it's playing anything other than the root note i write it beside the chord. is that all there is to it?
A: pretty much if you can't think of any other good way to say it, but you can think of a way to say it as a chord over a bass note, then do it that way