This lesson is meant for advanced players, and it’s all about drop 2 voicings. What’s that, you ask? You’re probably already familiar with seventh chords, so that’s where we’ll start.
The Four Most Common Seventh Chords
There are different kinds of seventh chords. These are the four most common types, here built on C:
- Cmaj7 – major seventh chord (C, E, G, B)
- Cm7 – minor seventh chord (C, Eb, G, Bb)
- C7 – dominant seventh chord (C, E, G, Bb)
- Cm7b5 – minor seventh flat five chord (C, Eb, Gb, Bb)
Inversions Made Easy
Once you can play one of these voicings, you can also invert it. Let’s take Cm7 with the notes C, Eb, G and Bb – this is root position. Now I always move the lowest note up an octave, and that’s how I get the inversions of the seventh chord:
- Root position: C – Eb – G – Bb
- 1st inversion: Eb – G – Bb – C
- 2nd inversion: G – Bb – C – Eb
- 3rd inversion: Bb – C – Eb – G
The higher you go, the more uncomfortable it gets to play, but it’s still manageable. After that, it all starts over again, and the root is back at the bottom.
How a Drop 2 Voicing Works
These voicings have one small problem, I’d say: they sound rather dense, maybe even a little muddy. Of course, I can also play them with both hands. That means I simply spread the notes out and divide them between my hands. A drop 2 voicing is ideal for this.
Here’s how it works: I take the second voice and move it down an octave. The first voice is the top note, the second voice is the note right below it. This note disappears from its place in the chord and is played an octave lower instead.
An example with Cm7 in root position (C, Eb, G, Bb): the second voice from the top is G. Play the G an octave lower, and you get the drop 2 voicing G – C – Eb – Bb.
The Aha Moment
Played low on the keyboard, the drop 2 voicing still sounds pretty muddy. But if I move it up, I suddenly get a completely different sound, and you notice: “Ah, that already sounds quite nice.” And if I move the whole drop 2 voicing up once more, you’ll think: “Ah, yeah. That sounds really good.”
Try it yourself: play the same drop 2 voicing in a low, a middle and a higher register, and listen to how the sound becomes clearer and more open.
Drop 2 Voicings for Accompanying
This is especially useful when you’re accompanying – when there’s a bass player, or when you’re comping in a band. Instead of pressing down C minor in close position, I play it as a drop 2 voicing, for example – or in one of its other versions. These are the four drop 2 voicings of Cm7, each built from one of the inversions above:
| Close position | Drop 2 voicing (bottom to top) |
|---|---|
| Root position: C – Eb – G – Bb | G – C – Eb – Bb |
| 1st inversion: Eb – G – Bb – C | Bb – Eb – G – C |
| 2nd inversion: G – Bb – C – Eb | C – G – Bb – Eb |
| 3rd inversion: Bb – C – Eb – G | Eb – Bb – C – G |
Practice Tip: Hear the Top Voice
Play the versions slowly, one after the other. Over time, once you’ve practiced this a few times, you’ll notice that you start to hear the top voice. At least that’s how it is for me.
And one more tip for the lower part: there, I always simply leave out the middle note, and then my fingers find the right notes almost automatically. Sure, it takes a little while, but over time it really sinks in, and then you have many more ways to play a seventh chord.