These ones do not have a slash next to the chord name. One tip is to remove the lowest two notes from the drop 2 chords that have the root as their lowest notes. This will keep the focus of your playing on the color notes (3rd and 7th) that determine the type of chord that is played (major 7, minor 7, dominant 7, etc). Practice these chord grips then try taking out the root note and optionally the 5th of each chord as if a bass player was playing the root note. This is a very common Jazz chord progression. Now let us practice using some of these voicings in ii-V-I chord progressions. Ii V I Chord Progressions with Drop 2 Voicings See if you can identify how they are organized.

The ordering is different in these patterns. For example, measure 3 of line 2 is the 2nd inversion drop 2 C Major 7 chord on strings 2 – 5.īelow are the drop 2 patterns for the F chords. The four chords are derived in order from the Root Position, 1st Inversion, 2nd Inversion, and 3rd Inversion.

C Major 7 Drop 2 VoicingsĮach line below contains four drop 2 chords for a string set. If you need to lessen your practice, I would start with these string groupings first. If the bass player is playing the root, you can forego playing the root and play only the color notes to create the chord.Īs you play more and more, you’ll probably notice that the drop 2 chords on strings 1-4 and 2-5 are the most useful. If you’re interested in jazz, you’ll also notice that the color notes (3rd and 7th) are the two highest voices in the chord. This is effective in writing chord progressions. You can use this to form a bass line as you change chords or as a melody on the highest note. For example the 2nd Inversion drop 2 has the 1st, or root, as the lowest note and the 3rd as the highest note. To use these voicings, I recommend learning the highest note interval and the lowest note interval for each drop 2 voicing. They don’t stretch your fingers too much and they don’t repeat any notes. The theory of drop 2 voicings is dry, but the chords they produce are fantastic because they form compact and playable voicings.

Last, it shows the notes for the drop 2 chord (lowest to highest). Third, it shows the notes of the base chord (lowest to highest). Second, it shows the note intervals for the drop 2 chord. First, it shows the note intervals for the base chord. The table below shows the chord intervals and the notes that create the chords. There is a root chord and 3 inversions for any 4-note chord. C Major 7 consists of four notes: C, E, G, B. Let’s explore the theory behind the example. The important thing to realize is which note is dropped to the lowest note. The example below shows four C Major 7 chords and their drop 2 voicings in standard notation. I will describe how they are derived then I will show you the voicings. This is only important for naming the voicings. Drop 2 voicings are important because most of these chords are easy for a guitarist to play on 4 adjacent strings.ĭrop 2 is just a name for how the chords were derived from another chord.

Similarly, there are drop 1, drop 3, drop 2 & 4, etc. Drop 2 chord voicings are formed by taking a chord and then dropping the next to the highest note, or voice, to the lowest note of the chord.

A shape of voice 2