Drop 2 and 4 voicings - Guitar Lesson and Music Theory

Drop 2 & 4 Chords - Advanced Guitar Voicings

By Stef Ramin On 2018-09-14 Updated on 2026-09-11 0

Drop 2 and 4 chords are created by dropping down an octave the second and fourth note of a seventh chord in close position.

They can be very important tools for composition and arrangement.

This lesson with diagrams provides useful explanations on how to build and play drop 2 & 4 chords on guitar.

How To Built Drop 2 & 4 Chords?

Keep in mind that "close position" means that all the tones of a chord as close together as they can be. All types of drop voicings (drop 2 voicings, drop 3 voicings and drop 2-4) are built based on close positions.

The example below show how to construct a drop 2 & 4 voicing starting from a Cmaj7 in close position (1-3-5-7).

Theoretically there is nothing simpler and at the same time nothing more complicated than to build a drop 2 & 4 chord.

A very easy check is to look at the two red marks. You see that the second note (G) is dropped an octave down, as well as the fourth note which, is actually the root note (C).

So, we get a new voicing (1-5-3-7), the notes now appear in a different order, this is what we call a drop 2-4 chord.

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