PRACTICE GUIDE · LEARN & TRAIN
Drop-2 Voicings on Guitar: Inversions and Voice Leading
A drop-2 voicing puts all four notes of a seventh chord on four neighbouring strings, one note each. It is the standard four-note chord system for jazz guitar, used for comping and for chord melody.
By Vincent Iannone · Updated
How a drop-2 voicing is built
Start from a close voicing, where the four chord tones sit within one octave: C E G B for Cmaj7. That is too wide to fret on four adjacent strings. Lower the second-highest note by an octave and the chord becomes C G B E, which fits strings 4–1 under one hand.
Each chord has four drop-2 voicings on one string set, one for each chord tone in the bass. From low to high they run R 5 7 3, 3 7 R 5, 5 R 3 7 and 7 3 5 R. Each inversion is the next one up the neck.
| Bass note | Strings 6 → 1 | Sounding notes |
|---|---|---|
| E (3) | x · x · 2 · 4 · 1 · 3 | E3 · B3 · C4 · G4 |
| G (5) | x · x · 5 · 5 · 5 · 7 | G3 · C4 · E4 · B4 |
| B (7) | x · x · 9 · 9 · 8 · 8 | B3 · E4 · G4 · C5 |
| C (root) | x · x · 10 · 12 · 12 · 12 | C4 · G4 · B4 · E5 |
Voice-lead a ii–V–I
Choosing inversions by voice leading keeps the hand in one place. Through Dm7–G7–Cmaj7 on strings 4–1, start Dm7 with F in the bass. G7 keeps F and D and moves C to B and A to G. Cmaj7 then drops F to E and D to C. Every voice holds or moves by a step.
| Chord | Strings 6 → 1 | Sounding notes |
|---|---|---|
| Dm7 | x · x · 3 · 5 · 3 · 5 | F3 · C4 · D4 · A4 |
| G7 | x · x · 3 · 4 · 3 · 3 | F3 · B3 · D4 · G4 |
| Cmaj7 | x · x · 2 · 4 · 1 · 3 | E3 · B3 · C4 · G4 |
Practise them in a useful order
- Learn root-position drop 2 for maj7, 7 and m7 on strings 4–1.
- Climb the neck through all four Cmaj7 inversions, naming the bass note each time.
- Play the voice-led ii–V–I slowly, holding common tones down.
- Move the same orders to strings 5–2, then try drop 3 on strings 6, 4, 3 and 2.
- Put a melody note on top: choose the inversion whose highest note is the melody.
Related lessons and practice
- Jazz Guitar Shell Voicings: Root, Third & SeventhMuted strings are part of a clean voicing. A shell intentionally omits the fifth. A shell uses the root, third, and seventh.
- Jazz Guitar Voice Leading with Shell ChordsFollow the notes on the same strings to hear a smooth line inside the chords. Voice leading follows individual notes through chord changes.
- Jazz Guitar Seventh Chords: maj7, m7 & Dominant 7A dominant seventh has a major third and a minor seventh. A major seventh chord uses 1 3 5 7; a minor seventh uses 1 b3 5 b7; a dominant seventh uses 1 3 5 b7.
- Jazz Guitar Shell VoicingsLearn playable root, third and seventh shell voicings with Cmaj7, C7 and Cm7 guitar shapes, muted-string guidance and a practical comping routine.
- ii–V–I Jazz Guitar PracticePractice major ii–V–I progressions with playable Dm7–G7–Cmaj7 shells, guide-tone movement, original phrase ideas and a four-bar guitar play-along.