Module 8: Voicings II: drop-2, drop-3 and rootless shapesLesson 5advanced⏱ 90 min + three weeks of daily drills

Extensions, rootless voicings and altered dominants

Turn your drop-2 shapes into 9th and 13th chords by replacing roots and 5ths, learn the rootless "A" and "B" forms for the ii–V–I, and voice 7b9, 7#9 and 7alt dominants that resolve cleanly to major and minor tonics.

Why rootless

A bass player plays the root. A pianist's left hand plays the root. If you also play the root, three people are playing the least interesting note in the chord. Every drop-2 shape from lessons 1 and 2 holds a root and a 5th, and neither of them tells the listener anything about the chord's colour. Replace them with the 9th and the 13th and you have a rootless voicing: the same four fingers, the same string set, the same voice leading, but the sound of a record instead of a chord book.

The second half of the lesson applies the idea to dominant chords, where the replacements can be altered (b9, #9, b13) to make the V chord pull harder towards the I. The shapes are the ones you already know, so the work is mostly in the ear.

The substitution principle

Two substitutions do most of the work:

• 9 for the root. The 9th is a whole step above the root. In any drop-2 shape, find the finger on the root and move it up two frets (on the same string) and the chord becomes a 9th chord with no root: maj7 becomes maj9, m7 becomes m9, 7 becomes 9.
• 13 for the 5th. The 13th is a whole step above the 5th. On a dominant chord, move the 5th up two frets and a 9 chord becomes a 13 chord (or a 7 chord becomes a 7 with a 13th). On major and minor chords the 13th is the same note as the 6th; it is used, but less often, because the 5th of a tonic chord is doing useful work holding the chord still.

Here is the transformation on the G7 root-position and second-inversion shapes. Nothing is added: one finger moves, then another.

\tempo 80
.
\ts 4 4
:4 (10.5 12.4 10.3 12.2){ch "G7"} (12.5 12.4 10.3 12.2){ch "G9"} :2 (12.5 14.4 10.3 12.2){ch "G13"} | :4 (5.5 5.4 4.3 6.2){ch "G7"} (5.5 7.4 4.3 6.2){ch "G9"} :2 (7.5 7.4 4.3 6.2){ch "G13"} |

The same first move applied to the ii and I chords:

\tempo 80
.
\ts 4 4
:2 (5.5 7.4 5.3 6.2){ch "Dm7"} (7.5 7.4 5.3 6.2){ch "Dm9"} | (3.5 5.4 4.3 5.2){ch "Cmaj7"} (5.5 5.4 4.3 5.2){ch "Cmaj9"} |

The rootless "A" and "B" forms

Pianists name two standard rootless four-note layouts for the ii–V–I, and the names are useful on guitar too:

• Form A stacks 3 – 5 – 7 – 9 from the bottom (for a dominant, 3 – 13 – 7 – 9 is the usual variant).
• Form B stacks 7 – 9 – 3 – 5 (for a dominant, 7 – 9 – 3 – 13).

Form A of one chord leads to form B of the next and back again, which is why they come in a pair. On guitar the close stacks are stretchy or impossible on one string set, so what we actually play is the drop-2 of each form: the shapes you have just built. The diagrams show one close form on the 4-3-2-1 set, where the open strings make it possible, and the drop-2 forms on 5-4-3-2.

The last diagram is the same G13 shape with the root added on string 6 for solo playing. On a gig with a bass player you would leave the low G out.

\tempo 110
.
\ts 4 4
:2 (7.5 7.4 5.3 6.2){ch "Dm9"} (7.5 7.4 4.3 6.2){ch "G13"} | :1 (5.5 5.4 4.3 5.2){ch "Cmaj9"} | :2 (5.5 7.4 3.3 6.2){ch "Gm9"} (5.5 7.4 3.3 5.2){ch "C13"} | :1 (3.5 5.4 2.3 5.2){ch "Fmaj9"} | :2 (5.5 5.4 3.3 4.2){ch "Cm9"} (5.5 5.4 2.3 4.2){ch "F13"} | :1 (3.5 3.4 2.3 3.2){ch "Bbmaj9"} |

Listen to the top voice of the C phrase: F, F, E. The b3 of the ii becomes the b7 of the V without moving, then falls a half step to the 3rd of the I. A top voice that barely moves is what pianists call "the lazy voice", and it is one of the most useful sounds in comping behind a soloist, because it stays out of their way.

7b9: the diminished shape

Replace the root of a dominant chord with the b9 instead of the 9 and the four remaining notes (3, 5, b7, b9) form a diminished seventh chord. G7b9 without its root is B–D–F–Ab, which is Bdim7, which is also Ddim7, Fdim7 and Abdim7. So every dim7 shape you learned in lesson 1 is already a rootless 7b9 for four different dominants, and moving the shape up three frets gives another inversion of the same chord.

\tempo 92
.
\ts 4 4
:2 (2.5 3.4 1.3 3.2){ch "G7b9"} (2.5 2.4 0.3 1.2){ch "Cmaj7"} | (5.5 6.4 4.3 6.2){ch "G7b9"} (3.5 5.4 4.3 5.2){ch "Cmaj7"} | (8.5 9.4 7.3 9.2){ch "G7b9"} (7.5 9.4 5.3 8.2){ch "Cmaj7"} | (11.5 12.4 10.3 12.2){ch "G7b9"} (10.5 10.4 9.3 12.2){ch "Cmaj7"} |

7#9 and 7alt

The #9 is a half step above the 9. A dominant 7#9 contains both the major 3rd and, an octave and a bit higher, the minor 3rd spelled as #9: the "Hendrix chord", which in jazz is a blues-flavoured altered dominant. The 7alt symbol (also written 7#9b13 or just "alt") means a dominant with altered 9ths and the b13 instead of the 5th: the notes of the altered scale. On four strings you cannot play every alteration at once, so a 7alt voicing is any four-note shape with the 3rd, b7 and two altered tones.

The custom shape with the b9 on top (x x 3 4 4 4) is the most common guitar "alt" chord: a one-finger barre on the top three strings at the 4th fret with the b7 on string 4. It has no 5th, no root, and both the b9 and b13, which is the darkest sound of the family.

\tempo 100
.
\ts 4 4
:2 (3.5 3.4 2.3 5.2){ch "Dm9"} (2.5 3.4 1.3 3.2){ch "G7b9"} | :1 (2.5 2.4 0.3 3.2){ch "Cmaj9"} | :2 (3.5 3.4 2.3 5.2){ch "Dm9"} (2.5 3.4 3.3 3.2){ch "G7#9"} | :1 (2.5 2.4 0.3 3.2){ch "Cmaj9"} | :2 (3.5 3.4 2.3 5.2){ch "Dm9"} (2.5 3.4 3.3 4.2){ch "G7alt"} | :1 (3.5 2.4 2.3 3.2){ch "C6/9"} |

The 6/9 chord is the tonic sound that goes with altered dominants: a major triad with the 6th and 9th instead of the 7th, bright and open, with no note that the melody can clash with. The minor version, m6/9, is the matching tonic for a minor key.

Altered dominants in the minor ii–V–i

In minor keys the V chord is almost always altered, because the b9 and b13 are notes of the harmonic minor scale. The ii is half-diminished, which has no root to replace in the same way (its 9th is a b9, rarely voiced), so leave it as a plain drop-2 shape.

\tempo 100
.
\ts 4 4
:2 (5.5 5.4 3.3 5.2){ch "Em7b5"} (4.5 5.4 3.3 5.2){ch "A7b9"} | :1 (5.5 3.4 4.3 5.2){ch "Dm6/9"} | :2 (5.5 5.4 3.3 5.2){ch "Em7b5"} (4.5 5.4 5.3 6.2){ch "A7alt"} | :1 (5.5 3.4 4.3 5.2){ch "Dm6/9"} |

A turnaround with everything in it

The I–VI7–ii–V turnaround with extended and altered voicings, in one position, with every change moving at most two voices by step:

\tempo 110
.
\ts 4 4
:2 (5.5 5.4 4.3 5.2){ch "Cmaj9"} (4.5 5.4 3.3 5.2){ch "A7b9"} | (3.5 3.4 2.3 5.2){ch "Dm9"} (2.5 3.4 2.3 5.2){ch "G13"} | :1 (3.5 2.4 2.3 3.2){ch "C6/9"} |

How to practise this lesson

1. Transformations. Take each drop-2 shape of a 7 chord on one string set, move the root up to the 9, then the 5th up to the 13. Say what you are doing. Then the same on maj7 (root to 9 only) and m7 (root to 9 only). Then on the next string set.
2. Rootless ii–V–I in twelve keys, on 5-4-3-2 first, from the notation and the chord dictionary rootless category, two beats per chord, around the cycle of fourths.
3. Alter the V. Play the same ii–V–I with 7b9, then 7#9, then 7alt, then listen back and decide which you like against a recorded bass line.
4. The turnaround above in all twelve keys, and the minor ii–V–i in D, G, C, F and A minor.
5. Comp a tune. Choose a standard with mostly ii–V–I motion and comp it entirely rootless; record it with a metronome and listen for whether the harmony is still clear without the roots.

Quiz