Drop-3 voicings
Build drop-3 voicings on strings 6-4-3-2 and 5-3-2-1, play all four inversions of the main qualities, comp in the bass-note-plus-chord style associated with Joe Pass, and mix drop 2 and drop 3 in one position.
Why drop 3
Drop-2 shapes put four notes on four adjacent strings. Drop-3 shapes skip a string between the bass note and the other three. That gap is the point: the bass note is separated from the upper voices, so the chord sounds wider and the bass can be played on its own as if a bass player had struck it. Drop 3 is the sound of Joe Pass's solo playing, of Wes Montgomery's chord choruses, and of almost every "jazz chord" a rock guitarist learns first (the root-6 Gmaj7 and G7 shapes at the 3rd fret are drop-3 root positions).
With drop 2 on three sets and drop 3 on two, you will have every seventh chord in every inversion in every register. That is the complete four-note map, and from lesson 4 onwards the work is about choosing from it, not adding to it.
What "drop 3" means
Take a close-position chord and drop the third voice from the top an octave. From the close root position C–E–G–B the third voice from the top is E; dropped, it gives E–C–G–B, a first-inversion voicing with the 3rd in the bass. From the close third inversion B–C–E–G the third voice from the top is C; dropped, it gives C–B–E–G, the root-position drop-3 voicing.
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\ts 4 4
:4 2.5{ch "Cmaj7"} 3.5 2.4 0.3 | :1 (8.6 9.4 9.3 8.2) | :2 8.6 (9.4 9.3 8.2) |Because the dropped voice always came from the same place in the stack, drop-3 voicings have their own fixed layout of degrees. Compare it with the drop-2 table from lesson 1: the bass note of each inversion is the same, but the order of the three upper voices is different.
| Inversion | Bass note | Degrees, lowest string → highest string |
|---|---|---|
| Root position | root | R – 7 – 3 – 5 |
| First inversion | 3rd | 3 – R – 5 – 7 |
| Second inversion | 5th | 5 – 3 – 7 – R |
| Third inversion | 7th | 7 – 5 – R – 3 |
A useful way to see any drop-3 shape: the bass note on the low string, then a close-position triad-like cluster of the remaining three notes on the upper strings. In root position the upper three are 7–3–5, which is the shell voicing (7 and 3) plus the 5th on top.
Drop-3 voicings live on two string sets: 6-4-3-2 (bass on the low E string, string 5 skipped) and 5-3-2-1 (bass on the A string, string 4 skipped). The skipped string must be silent. With a pick, let the underside of the fretting finger that holds the bass note touch the skipped string; with fingers or hybrid picking, simply do not pluck it. Both sets sit higher on the neck than you might expect for the same chord, because the bass note is a whole string lower than the upper voices.
Strings 6-4-3-2
The Cmaj7 root position at the 8th fret and the G7 root position at the 3rd fret will be familiar. Now learn the other three inversions of each with the same discipline as in lesson 1: bass note first, inversion name aloud.
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:2 (3.6 2.4 4.3 1.2){ch "Cmaj7"} (7.6 5.4 5.3 5.2) | (8.6 9.4 9.3 8.2) (12.6 10.4 12.3 12.2) |alphaTex source
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\ts 4 4
:2 (1.6 0.4 0.3 0.2){ch "G7"} (3.6 3.4 4.3 3.2) | (7.6 5.4 7.3 6.2) (10.6 9.4 10.3 8.2) | (1.6 0.4 2.3 1.2){ch "Dm7"} (5.6 3.4 5.3 3.2) | (8.6 7.4 7.3 6.2) (10.6 10.4 10.3 10.2) |Strings 5-3-2-1
This set is the one for chord melody with a bass note: the top voice is on the high E string and the bass is far enough below it to sound like two instruments. The B-string shift applies to the upper three voices here, so the shapes are not simply the 6-4-3-2 shapes moved over.
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\ts 4 4
:2 (2.5 0.3 1.2 0.1){ch "Cmaj7"} (3.5 4.3 5.2 3.1) | (7.5 5.3 8.2 7.1) (10.5 9.3 12.2 8.1) |ii–V–I with drop 3
The nearest-inversion pairings are the same as for drop 2, because they depend only on which bass note comes next: ii in root position goes to V in second inversion and to I in root position; ii in first goes to V in third and I in first; ii in second to V in root and I in second; ii in third to V in first and I in third. The shapes in each position share the same frets for the common tones and the moving voices fall by a step, just as before.
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\ts 4 4
:2 (5.6 3.4 5.3 3.2){ch "Dm7"} (3.6 3.4 4.3 3.2){ch "G7"} | :1 (3.6 2.4 4.3 1.2){ch "Cmaj7"} | :2 (8.6 7.4 7.3 6.2){ch "Dm7"} (7.6 5.4 7.3 6.2){ch "G7"} | :1 (7.6 5.4 5.3 5.2){ch "Cmaj7"} | :2 (10.6 10.4 10.3 10.2){ch "Dm7"} (10.6 9.4 10.3 8.2){ch "G7"} | :1 (8.6 9.4 9.3 8.2){ch "Cmaj7"} |alphaTex source
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\ts 4 4
:2 (5.5 3.3 6.2 3.1){ch "Gm7"} (3.5 3.3 5.2 3.1){ch "C7"} | :1 (3.5 2.3 5.2 1.1){ch "Fmaj7"} | :2 (8.5 7.3 8.2 6.1){ch "Gm7"} (7.5 5.3 8.2 6.1){ch "C7"} | :1 (7.5 5.3 6.2 5.1){ch "Fmaj7"} | :2 (10.5 10.3 11.2 10.1){ch "Gm7"} (10.5 9.3 11.2 8.1){ch "C7"} | :1 (8.5 9.3 10.2 8.1){ch "Fmaj7"} |Bass-and-chord comping in the Joe Pass style
The gap in a drop-3 shape lets you split the chord into two parts: the bass note alone, then the upper three voices. Played as bass on beats 1 and 3 and chord on beats 2 and 4, this gives a two-feel that works for solo guitar or for a duo without a bass player. Joe Pass built whole arrangements out of this idea, adding walking lines between the bass notes.
Two rules keep it musical. First, play the bass note with the thumb or pick and the three upper notes with the fingers, so the two parts have different attacks. Second, use the skipped string for your second bass note: the 5th of the chord usually sits there, a fret or two from the root.
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\ts 4 4
:4 8.6{ch "Cmaj7"} (9.4 9.3 8.2) 10.5 (9.4 9.3 8.2) | 9.6{ch "A7"} (7.4 9.3 8.2) 7.5 (7.4 9.3 8.2) | 10.6{ch "Dm7"} (10.4 10.3 10.2) 12.5 (10.4 10.3 10.2) | 10.6{ch "G7"} (9.4 10.3 8.2) 10.5 (9.4 10.3 8.2) | 8.6{ch "Cmaj7"} :8 r (9.4 9.3 8.2) :4 10.5 :8 r (9.4 9.3 8.2) | :4 9.6{ch "A7"} :8 r (7.4 9.3 8.2) :4 7.5 :8 r (7.4 9.3 8.2) | :4 10.6{ch "Dm7"} :8 r (10.4 10.3 10.2) :4 12.5 :8 r (10.4 10.3 10.2) | :4 10.6{ch "G7"} :8 r (9.4 10.3 8.2) :4 10.5 :8 r (9.4 10.3 8.2) |The A7 bar uses the first-inversion drop-3 shape, with C# in the bass, so that the bass line runs C–C#–D between the first three chords: a chromatic bass line is one of the nicest side effects of choosing inversions by proximity.
Find a solo-guitar recording of a medium-tempo standard by Joe Pass and listen only to the bass notes for one chorus. You will hear roots and 5ths on the strong beats, chromatic approach notes before chord changes, and the upper voices stabbed short on the weak beats. Then listen to a Wes Montgomery chord chorus and notice that the chords are mostly drop 3 and drop 2 with the melody on top. That is the vocabulary of this lesson, used by two players in two different ways.
Mixing drop 2 and drop 3
In one hand position you now have both drop-2 shapes (on 5-4-3-2 and 6-5-4-3) and drop-3 shapes (on 6-4-3-2). A good comping player moves between them freely, picking whichever shape puts the common tones under the fingers that are already down, and whichever gives the top-voice movement they want to hear.
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\ts 4 4
:2 (5.6 3.4 5.3 3.2){ch "Dm7"} (2.5 3.4 0.3 3.2){ch "G7"} | (3.6 2.4 4.3 1.2){ch "Cmaj7"} (4.5 5.4 2.3 5.2){ch "A7"} | (5.5 7.4 5.3 6.2){ch "Dm7"} (3.6 3.4 4.3 3.2){ch "G7"} | :1 (3.5 5.4 4.3 5.2){ch "Cmaj7"} |In the first bar the Dm7 drop-3 shape and the G7 drop-2 shape share the F on string 4 and the D on string 2: the two notes that do not move in a ii–V are literally the fingers that do not move. Hunting for that kind of connection, chord by chord, is the subject of the next lesson.
How to practise this lesson
- Inversion drills, one quality per day on 6-4-3-2 for a week, then the same on 5-3-2-1. Add m7b5, dim7 and 6 on both sets by the end of the second week, from the chord dictionary.
- ii–V–I in three positions on each set, in C and F first (from the notation), then around the cycle of fourths. The drop-2 position drills from lessons 1 and 2 stay in rotation.
- Bass-and-chord comping on the turnaround above, then on a 12-bar blues in F and in Bb. Keep the bass on the beat and the chords short.
- Mixed-voicing comping: comp a ii–V–I–VI in C for two minutes, changing between drop 2 and drop 3 on every chord and staying between frets 2 and 8.
- Week 1, strings 6-4-3-2, 15–20 minutes a day. Inversion drills for maj7, 7, m7, m7b5, dim7 and 6 at 60 bpm, one chord per bar. From day 3, the ii–V–I in C, F, Bb, Eb, G and D in three positions at 80–100 bpm.
- Week 2, strings 5-3-2-1, 15–20 minutes a day. The same drills and keys. From day 3, bass-and-chord comping through the turnaround in C, F and Bb at 100–120 bpm with the metronome on 2 and 4, bass notes with thumb or pick, chords with fingers.
- Every day, 5 minutes: mixed drop-2 and drop-3 comping on a ii–V–I–VI in one key, staying in one position.
- Progress check: play any inversion of maj7, 7, m7, m7b5 and dim7 on either drop-3 set within three seconds, and comp a two-feel through a 12-bar blues in F without stopping.