Drop2 Voicings - How to Understand The Construction

[@JensLarsen]

Which Drop-voicings do you use? Are you going to add new ones to your playing? Content: 0:00 Intro - What is a Drop2 or a Drop3 voicing 0:24 Understanding Drop Voicings and how they sound 0:37 The Difference in Sound 0:50 #1 Drop2 - Wes Montgomery and George Benson 1:23 How We Assign Numbers to Voices in a Chord 2:00 Drop2 voicings 2:09 II V I Example with Drop2 2:25 #2 Drop3 2:57 II V I Example with Drop3 3:18 #3 Drop 4 4:00 II V I Example with Drop4 4:14 #4 Drop2&4 - Allan Holdsworth 4:57 II V I Example with Drop2&4 5:17 Drop2&3 6:05 II V I Example with Drop2&3 6:19 Different Voicing = Different Sound 6:53 Like The Video? Check out My Patreon Page!

[@JSustain]

Finally, I see a demonstration. I have the Randy Vincent books and was trying to get into drop voicings and I needed to SEE it demonstrated. This makes everything much more clear. It also exposes the limited voicings I can make with my screwed-up left hand. Oh well. I just need to think like Django, and be happy with the voicings I can make, and make them work for me. Thanks.

[@JensLarsen]

That's great! Go for it 🙂

[@RC32Smiths01]

Dang, this will be a new concept for many people indeed! Awesome work here man!

[@JensLarsen]

Thanks :)

[@RC32Smiths01]

@@JensLarsen You are welcome!

[@ChromaBlue13]

This is great man. I was literally doing research about drop voicing this weekend and wishing you had a recent video on this. Woke up today and here it is. Brilliant! Thx Jens, your material is always so concise and clear. Cheers from Denver CO.

[@JensLarsen]

Perfect! Glad you like it!

[@diegojosésilvabarroilhet]

Thank you for your work, Master. You keep and keep expanding my ears and that makes me really happy

[@JensLarsen]

Happy to hear that!

[@MilennialZero]

I'm glad I watched this. I had it completely wrong. I was numbering chord degrees from the bottom up (wrong), not top down (correct).

[@michaelnguyen3159]

Thank-you Jen Larson. I was so confused in past videos of you saying drop 2 or drop 3 voicings. I had no clue since i am a new jazz guitarist! Thank-you again for introducing and making videos. It has been soo much fun playing guitar, and Im getting better everyday because of you. THANKS!

[@bee5616]

very well made lesson thank you

[@JensLarsen]

You're very welcome!

[@lkda01]

when the Fdim appeared for the first time. you opened my eye ❤

[@jumemowery9434]

Fascinating! Thanks Jens

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you like it! :)

[@GJSsongsmith]

Very helpful Jens , thanks again . Cheers Gary

[@JensLarsen]

You're very welcome, Gary! I am glad you like it! 🙂

[@chrissguitarshow206]

I hear your book is great and cant wait for it to get here so i can learn more

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you very much Chris! :)

[@brad724p]

Ordered your new book; anxiously awaiting.

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you very much Brad! I hope you find it useful!

[@shawmiksapkota]

such a great lesson as always

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you like it!

[@vishyoutubevideos]

the video I've been needing for the last week or so finally got served up to me here. Been working on exercises from your last weeks Drop 2 video. It's been great, but I was confused as to what a Drop 2 was. no longer

[@Aalii6]

thank you very much for the explanations

[@JensLarsen]

You're very welcome! I am glad you like it! 🙂

[@Pablo-ft6un]

great stuff as always.

[@bcaz84]

Awesome thanks

[@JensLarsen]

No problem! 🙂

[@rocketpost1]

Great video Jens. I've always had a mental block on drop 2 voicings and they turn out to be really simple. Thanks.

[@JensLarsen]

Glad it was helpful!

[@simonfivez2947]

awesome lesson, Jens! Thanks :)

[@kasramoghaddam1389]

Tnx for the lesson!

[@JensLarsen]

You're very welcome! I am glad you like it! 🙂

[@toolisacommitment2429]

Love that you included Allan Holdsworth:) My guitar teacher introduced me to his music and it's incredible It opened a new horizon of music and possibilities

[@DeckardRJ]

Very good!! Very good content! Keep on the good work!!

[@JensLarsen]

You're very welcome! I am glad you like it! 🙂

[@MarkInLA]

So, it really comes down to this: The guitar is a very problematic instrument to have your cake and eat it too. When putting a song/piece on it we do whatever works..Sometimes it's this inversion. Sometimes it's that inversion..Sometimes it's in this position, sometimes that position...Bass/no bass... Why call chords 'drop this/drop that' when what we're doing is grabbing whatever we need in order to carry out voice leading so as to be copacetic

[@benllalarios6225]

Gracias maestro

[@joaopedrogoncalves6505]

Great lesson as always. Although I’m not such a fan of drop 2 or drop anything chords, I still find it important to understand what people mean when they say this. Thank you!

[@dannybarcenas9701]

I very much agree Educational indeed Not so popular for Samba I would think

[@JensLarsen]

Thanks, Joao :)

[@dannybarcenas9701]

@@JensLarsen Hi Jens just curious bout you...Larsen name, I would think is a Danish I play Chess and a popular GM I know of is Bent Larsen from Denmark ..I'm very grateful from what I learning from you Frankly am a novice at Jazz But following you in the past 2 years I reckon I've progressed from Grade O to 0.75 in the scale of ten But will go on God Bless you Jens Cheers from Haarlem

[@JensLarsen]

@@dannybarcenas9701 Thank you Danny! I am indeed Danish, though I have been living in the Netherlands for more than 20 years :) Keep at it!

[@RoyTheReplicant]

Thanks 🎉

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you like the video! 🙂

[@gunnarbergvall6502]

Hello, do you have a video describing the relations between inversions and drops?

[@JensLarsen]

Is that not already in this video?

[@gunnarbergvall6502]

@@JensLarsen Maybe I didn't understand. Will check again 😀

[@JensLarsen]

@@gunnarbergvall6502 Maybe the article is a better way to get an overview. There's a link in the description

[@plopzoppers3921]

thanks jens!

[@JensLarsen]

You're very welcome! I am glad you like it! 🙂

[@yanivgheber4566]

Thank you for the video Jens! Can you explain the theory behind this voicing of an Fmaj7 (played functioning as a Dmin7) at 2:09 ? Because it donwt think it's a drop2. Thanks!

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you like it! Since there is a bass on the backing I don't have to play the root, so for the Dm7: D F A C, I choose to play a Dm7(9) without the root: (D) F A C E and that is an Fmaj7 (the same is applied to all the chords in that example. Does that help?

[@yanivgheber4566]

@@JensLarsen Yes, definitely! But does the order of the notes in the voicing come from some system for arranging the notes of the chord in this order (like maybe a drop 2 or 3 or an inversion of anything or something like that)? or are they just played in this order out of convenience? Thanks again!

[@JensLarsen]

@@yanivgheber4566 They are still drop2 voicings. Whether you construct them from taking a closed voicing and dropping one down an octave or take a drop two voicing and replace the root with the 9th (maybe try, it is easier than you think)

[@yanivgheber4566]

@@JensLarsen I sure will! Thanks so much!!

[@onedavidonegopal]

Nice one

[@chrissguitarshow206]

Hey jens, just ordered your book on modern jazz guitar concepts when you get a chance could you do an analysis of ced by joe pass off sounds of synanon or montgomeryland funk a great jazz blues from wes Montgomery 1959 album with his trio.

[@solarwind1985]

Nice!!!

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you like it :)

[@innocentoctave]

This may be the clearest explanation of the drop chord voicing concept that I've seen. Many people who try to explain the idea don't bother to tell us that the voices in the original close-voiced chord are counted from the top voice down, as opposed to the chord tones, which are counted from the bottom note up. This immediately leads to confusion: which is often compounded, when in addition it is not explained that many of the more useful voicings have been refingered from the initial 'drop' spread. It can be almost impossible to infer the principle behind the construction of a finished chord voicing from a simple chord diagram, or sheet music.

[@oneeyemonster3262]

it's just RETARDED TERMS...You can stack whatever the FFFFFKKK above the root...God forbid I stack the b2 above or below the root. Im a clever bastard. Lets term it...the OneEyemonster voice :-P

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you very much Paul! I am really glad to hear that :)

[@shiv2033]

In drop 2 voicings we drop the 2 highest note of the chord then why the drop 2 voicing dm7(9) in the first example is starting with F instead of C because the notes in a dm9 chord are D F C E so C should be dropped right?

[@JensLarsen]

That voicing is an Fmaj7 and it is from a 3rd inversion Fmaj7: E F A C. Notice that there is no D in the voicing.

[@lmineralista]

@@JensLarsen Why aren't you playing the Dm7 voicing, instead an Fmajor7 3rd inversion voicing?

[@JensLarsen]

@@lmineralista Probably, because I want to have the 9th in the chord. But if you give me a timestamp in the video I can have a look?

[@KamilKisiel]

Great explanation, I’ve been trying to understand these for a while but have yet to see such a clear explanation. Do you happen to know how the numbering came about? Why drop-2 instead of drop-5 for example?

[@JensLarsen]

Thanks Kamil! For voicings it makes much more sense to just order the nots in pitch and not tie them to a chord. You can take a first inversion Cmaj7 and make a drop2 out of that and it would not be the 5th of the chord. Does that help explain it?

[@KamilKisiel]

@@JensLarsen Ah yes, I didn't consider drop voicings of inverted chords. Another missing piece of the puzzle!

[@sph33_]

Thanks for the lesson Jens. I've always wondered what this meant. Is this just another way to think of inversions?

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you like it Sean! They are a different from invesions because if you make inversions you stay within an octave. Here you get voicings that are bigger than an octave.

[@alexanderbennett1482]

Jens Larsen to piggyback on Sean’s question here. Does that mean you can apply this same concept to inversions and still get drop2/3/etc voicings?

[@JensLarsen]

@@alexanderbennett1482 Yes, and you can make all the inversions first and then do the drop thing or the other way around. You end up with the same voicings.

[@alexanderbennett1482]

@@JensLarsen Thank you! (:

[@onedavidonegopal]

How to add dim aug in traid of lead??

[@Abc-nz2yi]

Great video!. Can I ask you something? If i have the typical c minor 7 voicing which starts on the 10 fret of the 4 string ( C G Bb Eb) can I transform it to drop 2 = Bb C G Eb ? I ask this because I'm confused if I can transform some chord to drop 2 voicing with a different setup order than the typical 1 3 5 7 order. Thanks in advance

[@Abc-nz2yi]

To add something: I understand that 1 3 5 7 order means a closed position chord. So the question is ----> can I transform one chord that is different than the typical closed position variant to a drop 2 voicing?

[@JensLarsen]

That Cm7 voicing is already Drop2, but you can make it double Drop2 or something else like drop 2&3

[@Abc-nz2yi]

@@JensLarsen thank you very much!

[@prayashkerung]

Sir Dm7(9) it's without root? Intervals: m3rd|p5th|m7th|9. ?

[@JensLarsen]

Give me a time in the video :)

[@edesbalazs]

That was a very good explanation, thank you! I'm curious, why are we calling these drop 2? Why not just second inversion of the chord, or Cmaj7/G?

[@JensLarsen]

Well, maybe it wasn't that good an explanation then 🙂 2nd inversion is: G B C E Drop2 is G C E B Can you see the difference like that?

[@edesbalazs]

@@JensLarsen ah I see, thank you. Tbh I thought if you swap the root note with a different one from the chord, it's an inversion, and the order of other notes doesn't matter.

[@russelldougherty3054]

Not sure if this helps or hurts, but ... I think of all voicings as inversions and there are different ways of classifying them. Even CEGB is Cmaj7 first inversion. Cmaj7/G really just tells you the chord quality and the bass note. GCEB, GBEC, GCEGBG are all Cmaj7/G. The "drop voicings" are about taking a closed voicing (you can't place any more chord tones between the existing notes) and then selecting one or more (drop 2, drop 2/4, etc.) to move an octave lower to open up the sound a bit. So you can take the closed voicings of CEGB, EGBC, GBCE or BCGE (all closed inversions of Cmaj7) and move the second highest note an octave lower to get a drop 2 voicing. Each will sound different and some are more playable than others. Do these terms overlap? Well sure, they can. But the more ways you can put sounds together the better. But like I said, that's just me. Feel free to ignore everything I wrote if it's not helpful.

[@edesbalazs]

@@russelldougherty3054 Just came back to this again, that's very helpful!

[@russelldougherty3054]

@@edesbalazs Glad I could help, even if only a little!

[@bennyying5845]

Great lesson Jens! I have a question about what's the meaning of the chord in the bracket of the 2-5-1 example? Thx.

[@JensLarsen]

Not sure what you mean? Could you give me a time in the video?

[@bennyying5845]

Sorry, I think I asked my question wrongly. What I did not understand is the chord next to the 2-5-1 chord at the time 2:22. Thx a lot.

[@JensLarsen]

@@bennyying5845 DO you mean the chords in orange letters? That is a description of the voicing I use, so I am playing an Fmaj7 voicing on the Dm7. That gives me a Dm7(9) sound since we have: F(3) A(5) C(7) E(9) Does that help?

[@bennyying5845]

Jens Larsen Thx. It helps a lot !

[@endah08]

So is it fair to say that when we talk about drop voicings, we're really talking about a method of revoicing chords and not a fixed voicing? So there's no definite Cmaj7 drop 2 voicing, it depends on how you voiced it to begin with right? So a CEGB becomes GCEB. But if our first Cmaj7 was CBEG then the drop 2 is ECBG? The way it's first explained here is just putting the chords in 2nd inversion.

[@JensLarsen]

I guess you are trying to say that Drop2 voicings have inversions as well? 🙂

[@endah08]

@@JensLarsen Eh not exactly, just that the drop 2 isn't a singular thing like say a root position close voicing is. A drop 2 is dependent on the original voicing, or at least that's the question I'm asking.

[@endah08]

Thanks for the reply btw

[@JensLarsen]

@@endah08 Yes, I meant that you have inversions of Drop2 just like you have them of the closed voicings and if you invert a Drop2 then you get another Drop2. This is true for all the drop voicings. In general, you don't want to think of a Drop2 as derived from something, that is too many steps for it to be useful when making music.

[@kermarrecm8134]

Why did you marked Dm7: Fmaj7 and G7 : Bdim and then Dm7: Dm7 and G7: Bdim for the other drop voicing ?

[@JensLarsen]

That is the voicing I use for that chord

[@kermarrecm8134]

@@JensLarsen So if i get it right (regarding the first exemple) that means that by applying the drop 2 vocing on the ii and V chord which are indeed Dm and G respectivly you end up with Fmaj7 and Bdim ? thx for repplying btw

[@JensLarsen]

@@kermarrecm8134 no the other way around 🙂

[@rickbattle5706]

No doubt now what a Drop 2 and Drop 3 voicing is. Thanks for the clarity. My fingers are wishing I never saw this video! :-). I will let you know if they decide to move to Kansas City and leave me behind. :-)

[@JensLarsen]

That's good to hear, Rick :)

[@ichi921]

Hi Thanks for keep sharing videos, I did learn a lot from your post. I have one question about this video. Does Drop 2, Drop 3 voicing only applied in 7 chords? If I take C/E (C chord with E as lowest note) as example, whether it can be treated as Drop 2 voicing as well? Thank you~

[@JensLarsen]

You're very welcome :) If it is E/C as just the 4 notes in close position then you can also turn that into a drop2 by taking the lowest note and moving it down an octave :)

[@Adamfront]

Isn't a drop 2 ( fifth in the bass ) simply a second inversion chord, and a drop 3 ( third in the bass ) a third inversion chord? What is the difference?

[@JensLarsen]

No it isn't. An inversion has all the notes within one octave, which the drop voicings do not.

[@Adamfront]

@@JensLarsen OK! Thanks! Great lessons by the way. I have been following your channel for a while and the content is constantly improving.

[@zorkmarble]

⁠​⁠@@JensLarsenI’m surprised to read this. In common practice harmony (as of course you know!) you can certainly have an inversion with an open voicing. It’s an inversion if the bass is not the root, and that’s that: it doesn’t matter which octave(s) the other chord tones are in. So is this usage peculiar to jazz?

[@JensLarsen]

@@zorkmarble yes, but a think you will find that the 2nd inversion of 7th chord is not automatically a Drop2. That is what he is asking. Write it out if you are in doubt.

[@zorkmarble]

@@JensLarsen So every drop 2 chord is a 2nd inversion, but not every 2nd inversion is a drop 2?

[@carlpowell0]

The fact that the chord tones are labelled backwards is very unituitive and confusing. Why and how did that start?

[@JensLarsen]

It is because they are not very often backwards. Most voicings are built from inversions

[@damonshanabarger2604]

It's because of the order of the tones from lower to higher. Since two different inversions of the same notes could be named as being two different chords. C, E, G, A The same notes as A minor 7 but is a C6 chord. Usually the chord is defined by the lowest tone. Since there are so many inversions of chords that could change it's identity, it would make more sense to ignore the chords note value and number it according to it's bass to treble value. This would make more sense because you could then use the chord in different inversions without changing the way you use the chord. In my first two examples I may want to use the chord with an A minor 7 voicing in spite of the C being in the bass.

[@thinkpad20]

Why call them drop two voicing rather than inversions? Seems like the key concept is that something other than the root is in the bass… the “count from the top” thing is especially confusing if you’re talking about a chord with upper extensions, for example if you’re playing a Cmaj7 chord the “two” is a G, but if it’s a Cmaj9 then the “two” is a B? Very strange…

[@marciamakesmusic]

Because voicings and inversions are different

[@thinkpad20]

@@marciamakesmusic very helpful, thanks

[@josdurkstraful]

Wat wel grappig is: in klassieke harmonieleer gaat het over nauwe, gemengde- en wijde liggingen.... je vindt deze liggingen juist door vanuit een nauwe ligging een bepaalde toon/tonen een cotaaf HOGER te leggen, precies andersom maar eigenlijk hetzelfde. Dat kan uiteraard ook vanuit inversies.

[@kerrym9254]

Thanks for this information, but aren't we just talking about inversions?

[@JensLarsen]

No, not really, you might be missing something about inversions: let's take a Cmaj7: Root position: C E G B - 1st inversion E G B C But a Cmaj7 Drop2 with C as the lowest note is : C G B E and the 1st inversion would then be E B C G Can you see the difference, maybe even play it?

[@hovefactually7505]

I don't understand this at all. You're playing a drop 2 voicing, as I understand it - i.e. the fifth of the chord - at the root of some chords here but not others. In the first example you have an A (the fifth) at the root of the Dm chord and a G (the fifth) at the root of the Cmaj7 chord, which I understand, but at the root of the G7 chord you have an Ab (not the fifth). This is the case with everyone I've ever heard explain drop 2 voicings. Of course we all know some voicings for chords which have the the fifth at the root, and use them occasionally (for ease of fingering, or for interest) but I don't think that's what you mean. Or is it?

[@JensLarsen]

Drop2 does not always refer to the 5th, the same technique is used on the inversions of the chord as well. Try to write out some Am7 inversions and convert them to drop2 to see how you probably recognize most of them already. It is usually referred to as having the 5th in the bass, not "in the root"

[@hovefactually7505]

@@JensLarsen Sorry, still not understanding. 'The same technique is used on the inversions of the chord.' I thought the technique WAS a particular inversion of the chord. If not, what is it? I can't convert them to drop2 if I don't know what means. I thought it meant having (for an Am chord) E in the bass. What is drop 2 if not this?

[@JensLarsen]

@@hovefactually7505 This is in the video at 1:12. What you want to notice is that when you drop the G down an octave then it is not just an inversion, since an inversion is all within an octave and this is spread out. The Drop2 is (low to high): G C E B, but the 2nd inversion of a Cmaj7 is actually G B C E Does that help?

[@hovefactually7505]

@@JensLarsen Sorry, no. I still don't understand what your definition of 'Drop 2' is.

[@JensLarsen]

@@hovefactually7505 It isn't my definition :) Maybe go to this post and look at example 1 where you have first the inversions of an Am7 and then in the next bar the drop2 voicing of these inversions: jenslarsen.nl/jazz-chord-essentials-drop-2-voicings-part-1/ I think you need to realize that voicings are also about how the notes are placed within the chord, it is not just about the lowest note.

[@samshrestha9493]

✌👍

[@georgemorris4142]

damm!! dude man I need to hear u jamm!!( I'll have to whatch more time)

[@JensLarsen]

Thanks! You can find videos on the channel of me playing :)