Every jazz student will eventually encounter the concept of “drop 2 voicings.”
If you want to become the best jazz player you can be, you’ll need to understand drop 2 voicings—even if you aren’t a chordal player! In this article, I’ll review everything you need to know about drop 2 voicings.
We’ll cover:
- What drop 2 voicings are
- Why drop 2 voicings are essential
- How to construct drop 2 voicings on piano and guitar
- Using drop two voicings in common jazz chord progressions
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What Are Drop 2 Voicings?
Drop 2 voicings are a four-note open position chord voicing where the second-highest note in the chord has been dropped down an octave, hence the drop 2. This turns a closed voicing into an open voicing.
Before going further into our explanation, let’s take a second to define open and closed position chords.
Close-Position Chords
Closed-position chords have chord tones spaced as closely together as possible. As a result, these chords do not span an octave.
Here is a closed-position C major 7th chord on guitar, piano, and the staff.
Notice how the notes are stacked neatly in thirds and the entire chord doesn’t extend past an octave.
Check out this article for more information on how 7th chords are built.
Open-Position Chords
On the other hand, open-position chords have intervals larger than a third present between the different chord tones. Therefore, open-position 7th chords span more than an octave from the lowest to the highest note.
Here, the lowest and second lowest notes, the G and the C, are a perfect fourth apart. The highest and second-highest notes are a perfect fifth apart. This opens up the chord, which spans more than one octave.
Transforming A Closed Position Chord Voicing Into A Drop 2 Voicing
Some readers may have noticed that the open-position chord example in the previous section is actually a drop 2 voicing! I also derived the second example from the first. Let’s briefly discuss transforming a closed-position chord into an open-position chord.
Let’s start with our closed-root-position C major 7th chord. We have C, E, G, and B from the bass note to the highest note. The entire chord spans an octave.
To transform this closed-root-position voicing into a drop 2 voicing, we must take the second-highest note, the G, and drop it down an octave. This effectively opens up the chord, increasing the span of its chord tones.
Drop 2 Chords and Chord Inversions
When you start with a closed root position chord and turn it into a drop 2 chord, you create a chord inversion. Chord inversions are chords whose lowest note isn’t the root note.
For example, a Cmaj7 chord in root position would go from lowest to highest note: C, E, G, and B. However, the chord is no longer in root position when we drop that second-highest note down an octave. Instead, it is over the 5th, or G, and is in 2nd inversion.
You can turn any four-note chord in close-position into a drop 2 chord regardless of its inversion. Let’s create a drop 2 voicing from different inversions of a Cmaj7 chord to demonstrate.
We’ve already covered root-position, so let’s start with a first inversion Cmaj7 chord.
First Inversion
Here, we took a first-inversion close-position Cmaj7 chord and created a drop 2 voicing. The original chord is unplayable on a guitar tuned in standard tuning. However, the drop 2 chord we made from it is a typical third-inversion voicing for a Cmaj7 chord on guitar.
Second Inversion
Here, we took a second-inversion Cmaj7 chord and transformed it into a drop 2 voicing. Notice how the original chord was tough to play on guitar—that’s a crazy stretch. However, the resulting drop 2 voicing is one of the most common stock Cmaj7 voicings you can play on guitar!
Third Inversion
We started with a third inversion Cmaj7/B chord and turned it into a drop 2 voicing. The initial chord wasn’t possible on guitar, but the resulting drop 2 chord is one of my favorite maj7 voicings!
So, we now know how to create drop 2 voicings from all the different inversions of a close-position 7th chord, but we haven’t discussed the why. Why choose to play drop 2 voicings over other types of chord voicings?
BEFORE YOU CONTINUE...
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Why Choose Drop 2 Voicings Over Closed-Position Voicings and Other Voicing Techniques?
Regular, old-fashioned closed-position voicings are legitimate options for players to express the harmony of any chord. However, they have limitations.
Close-Position Voicings: Pros and Cons
Closed-position voicings are dense. Because the chord tones in closed-position voicings are packed close together, they sound cluttered, concentrated, and dense. This isn’t necessarily a negative attribute. However, its appeal is situationally dependent.
For example, you could use denser block chords in solo guitar or piano situations where you lack harmonic support from other instruments. When you have that harmonic support, you can open up more and utilize space more effectively.
Additionally, close-position chords are useful in jazz arranging when you want tight harmonies between different voices. Closed-position chords sound more cohesive and unified than open-position chords and, therefore, are a suitable choice when opting for close harmonies and strong voice leading.
However, close-position chords are sometimes impractical, especially on an instrument like the guitar.
image source: Wikimedia Commons
The Physical Characteristics of The Guitar Make Some Closed-Position Voicings Impractical
You may have noticed that some of the close-position inversions in the previous section were impossible or highly impractical on the guitar. Though they work fine on piano, guitarists often struggle to voice close-position chords due to the physical nature of the instrument.
The image above shows a harmonized C major scale featuring closed root-position chord voicings. Though these voicings are a breeze on piano, any guitarist would struggle to manage the voicings boxed off in red above (unless you have massive hands!).
It’s not to say that those voicings are impossible. However, they are much less practical than other chord voicing options, especially in an improvisational setting.
As with anything in life, you want to set yourself up for success. So, the rule of thumb is “the easier it is to play, the better off you are.” Just because something is hard doesn’t mean it’s appropriate.
So, let’s open up this chord scale by reharmonizing it using drop 2 voicings! Remember, we take the second voice from the top and drop it down an octave to create a drop 2 chord.
Here are the first two chords of the chord scale. Let’s transform them from close root position chords to drop 2 chords.
Let’s go through this process for the entire harmonized major scale.
Keen-eyed jazz guitar players will notice that these drop two voicings are already widely used jazz guitar chord voicings. This chord scale is built from a second inversion chord group already widely used by jazz guitarists. In fact, you’ve probably played some of these jazz guitar voicings before!
Check out this article for a more comprehensive dive into jazz guitar chords!
Drop 2 Chords: Pros and Cons
As we learned above, drop 2 chords are way more practical for guitar players than closed-position voicings. But what other attributes make them a suitable choice for players and composers?
Because they are open-position chords, drop 2 voicings sound larger and more spacious because the notes in a drop 2 voicing are further apart than those in a closed-position voicing.
Again, this characteristic doesn’t make drop 2 chords better than other options. Rather, these chords have a specific sound compared to other chord voicings.
If you play in a modern jazz style that favors open-sounding harmony, drop 2 voicings are a great way to incorporate that open sound into your chord comping or jazz arranging.
Check out this chord voicings crash course for more information on other essential chord voicings, such as shell voicings, block chords, and drop 3 voicings.
Using Drop 2 Chords in Chord Progressions
Let’s apply drop 2 chords in a practical playing scenario. Here is a ii-V-I-VI chord progression voiced using drop 2 chords.
What are some things you notice about the chords in this progression? They are all drop 2 chords, but didn’t all start in root position! Starting in root position means your drop 2 chord would be in 2nd inversion.
Playing only 2nd inversion chords would require a bunch of jumping up and down the guitar neck or keyboard. To prioritize strong voice leading, we want to keep the distance each voice moves as small as possible with each chord change.
Check out this article to learn more about essential jazz chord progressions, and this one to learn more about strong voice leading.
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