Drop-2 Chord Voicings On Guitar—Freeing Your Fingers
May 29th, 2007
Chances are that if you play any 4 or more note chords on your guitar, you are using a drop 2 guitar voicing—you just may not know it. Drop two guitar voicings are altered chord formations that make it easier to play 4 or more note chords on guitar. Drop 2 chord voicings are used almost all the time for 4+ note chords and their inversions.
So what is a drop 2 chords voicing you ask? Simple. As the name suggest, a drop-2 chord voicing on guitar is when you take the second note of the chord you are playing and drop it to the bottom, so it becomes the last note in the chord.
When you play a standard 4 note chord on piano the chord tones are typically played in order from low to high. So the notes go in order starting from the lower piano keys and move up. So the lowest note in the chord is the 1 (tonic), then the 3, then 5, and the 7.
The problem is that due to the nature of the guitar, you can’t play notes in order on a string because you can only play one note per string (the most notes you’ll ever be able to play on guitar at one time is 6). And your hands aren’t big enough to play the necessary notes in order while skipping guitar strings. In order to play the notes of a 4 note chord in order from low to high your fingers would have to play this (Numbers in dots represent scale degrees):
(notes in red can’t both be played b/c they are on the same guitar string)
So if we take the notes of D major 7: D, F#, A, C# and we take the 2nd note and “drop” it to the end we have : D, A, C#, F# or 1, 5, 7, 3. So now you can easily play the D major 7 chord on guitar:
(Numbers in dots represent finger numbers)
So next time you are trying to spell out a 4+ note chord and you can’t figure out how to apply that chord to the guitar, try using the drop-2 chord voicing, you will find that playing that chord will become a lot easier.
Tip: Drop two chord voicings on guitar can also be applied to chord inversions. I will discuss what chord inversions are and how to use them at a later date so stay tuned!
as i have read in other places 2nd highest note to the bass instead of 2nd lowest to the highest..so a drop 2 for D major 7: D, F#, A, C# would be A, D, F#, C# , but what you say sounds more logical.
Check your D major 7 chord diagram….1st string on 5th fret is A, not D
If you look at the diagram here the chord is clearly being played with the root on the second string (A string) so the root note is a D.
Thank you Randy D…..
Randy D, Tom Dammen is talking about the High E (1st string). In the blog, it’s listed as a D, but the 5th fret on any E string is definitely the A.
Agreed I noticed that typo as well. Confusing to anyone new to technique.
The 1st diagram is also incorrect…it shows the root note at the 6th fret, which is D#/Eb.
But, al in all, a good explanation of drop-2 fingerings.
DC
Ironically, you CAN play very easily the notes of this chord in order from the root up: x5422x
yup, and this higher voicing of notes 1 3 5 7 works too x-x-12-11-10-9
According to the second diagram , the first string 5th fret is “A”, not “D”.From bottom [string 5] to top, the way I see it, according to the diagram, the chord spells : D A C# F# and A [not D].
Would you kindly explain. Thanks. Joe
apyml41nike shox
abercrombie & fitch milano
abercrombie a milano
fitch abercrombie
abercrombie us
pJpct59fitch abercrombie milano
fitch abercrombie
abercrombie a milano
abercrombie fitch milano
abercrombie a roma
veYvh17abercrombie londra
nike shox rivalry
abercrombie e fitch
scarpe nike air max
abercrombie outlet
wakVx70abercrombie shop online
nike free run donna
nike shox nz
abercrombie online
abercrombie italia
vmQes62abercrombie fitch milano
abercrombie and fitch
abercrombie italia
nike shox uomo
fitch abercrombie milano
kuxfm82nike shox nz
abercrombie londra
felpe abercrombie
abercrombie fitch milano
abercrombie & fitch sito ufficiale
Pretty great post. I just stumbled upon your
blog and wanted to mention that I have truly enjoyed
browsing your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing for your rss feed and I am hoping you write again very soon!
web site (Charlie)
I leave a comment each time I appreciate a article on a blog or if I have something to add to the discussion. Usually it’s a result of the
I actually do have some questions for you if it’s
And, if you are posting
sincerness displayed in the article I read. And after this post Drop-2 Chord Voicings On Guitar—Freeing Your Fingers.
I was actually excited enough to create a thought
okay. Could it be only me or do some of these comments look
like left by brain dead individuals?
at other places, I would like to keep up with you.
Would you make a list all of all your social sites
like your Facebook page, twitter feed, or linkedin profile?
webpage; Catharine,