What is a Drop 2 & 3 Voicing?

To create a Drop 2 & 3 voicing, start with a one-octave arpeggio of any seventh chord. Drop the second and third notes from the top down one octave each.

1. Start With a 7th Chord

   The four notes that make up a 7th chord are called the Root, the 3rd, the 5th and the 7th.

   1. Root

      The note that the chord is named after is called the Root. In a G Major 7th chord, G is the root. In a C Minor 7th chord, C is the root.

   2. Third

      The 3rd of the chord can be found an interval of a third above the root.

   3. Fifth

      The 5th of the chord can be found an interval of a fifth above the root.

   4. Seventh

      The 7th of the chord can be found an interval of a seventh above the root.

2. 7th Chord Qualities

   The term quality refers to whether the seventh chord is major, dominant, minor, half-diminished or fully diminished.

   1. Major 7th

      Major seventh chords contain the root, the third, the fifth, and the seventh (1 • 3 • 5 • 7)

   2. Dominant 7th

      Dominant seventh chords contain the root, the third, the fifth, and the flat seventh (1 • 3 • 5 • b7)

   3. Minor 7th

      Minor seventh chords contain the root, the flat third, the fifth, and the flat 7th. (1 • b3 • 5 • b7)

   4. Half-Diminished 7th

      Half-diminished seventh chords contain the root, the flat third, the flat fifth, and the flat 7th. (1 • b3 • b5 • b7)

   5. Fully Diminished 7th

      Fully Diminished seventh chords contain the root, the flat third, the flat fifth, and the double-flat seventh. (1 • b3 • b5 • bb7)

3. Constructing Drop 2 & 3 Voicings

   Here is a one-octave C Major 7th arpeggio. The second note from the top is G and the third note from the top is E.

   • B (7)
   • G (5)
   • E (3)
   • C (R)

   If we drop them both down an octave, we get this.

   • B (7)
   • (Gap where the G used to be)
   • (Gap where the E used to be)
   • C (R)
   • G (5)
   • E (3)

4. Drop 2 & 3 Practice Tips

   Use the interactive fretboard to explore drop 2 voicings on the guitar in every key, quality, inversion and string set!

   1. One chord, up the neck

      Choose a key and quality, then use the next and previous buttons to work your way up the entire neck of the guitar.

   2. One position, across the neck

      Once you have a good grasp of the shapes, choose a key and a quality and try to play it in a single area of the neck in as many different ways as possible.

   3. Through a key

      Try mixing and matching major 7th, minor 7th, dominant 7th and half-diminished 7th shapes to play all the way through each chord in a single diatonic key. For example: Cmaj7 Dmin7 Emin7 Fmaj7 G7 Amin7 Bmin7(b5).

   4. Play some tunes

      See if you can comp through one of your favorite tunes using as many drop 2 & 3 voicings as possible!