Voicings II: drop-2, drop-3 and rootless shapes
Build the complete four-note chord vocabulary of jazz guitar: drop-2 on three string sets, drop-3 on two, nearest-inversion voice leading through every progression, and the extended and altered rootless shapes that make a ii–V–I sound like a record.
- Explain and construct drop-2 and drop-3 voicings from close position, and name any inversion by its bass note
- Play all four inversions of maj7, 7, m7, m7b5, dim7, 6, m6 and mMaj7 on string sets 5-4-3-2, 4-3-2-1 and 6-5-4-3 (drop 2) and 6-4-3-2 and 5-3-2-1 (drop 3)
- Choose the nearest inversion for ii–V–I, I–vi–ii–V, iii–VI7–ii–V and the cycle of fourths in every key, with no voice moving more than a whole step
- Replace roots and fifths with 9ths and 13ths to turn drop-2 shapes into rootless voicings
- Voice 7b9, 7#9 and 7alt dominants and resolve them smoothly to major and minor tonics
Module 4 gave you three-note shells: enough to play any chart, not enough to sound like a jazz guitarist. This module adds the fourth voice and then teaches you to move it well. The order matters: learn one string set thoroughly (lesson 1) before spreading to the others (lessons 2 and 3), then spend lesson 4 on voice leading, which is the skill that separates players who know chords from players who can comp. Lesson 5 turns the same shapes into the extended and altered colours you hear on records. Every diagram and example is generated and checked by the course's theory engine, and the chord dictionary holds every shape in all twelve keys.