Drop 2&4 Chords Chart
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Let's talk about drop 2&4 chords. These chords come from taking a closed position chord, 1357, and dropping the 2nd and 4th notes from the top down one octave. From the top, not the bottom. So then you'd have a configuration like 1537. It spans across five strings.
Let's start with a root position F maj7
Okay, so once you've got those down, you can play them all with the root on the fifth string instead of the fourth string. All you have to do is adjust the second note from the top up a half-step to account for the fact that it will now cross over the "B string territory". The shape of the top note remains unchanged because in the previous voicing it was already crossed over the B string territory.
You can also use voicings like this to take advantage of open strings. For instance, in my head I'm thinking that I've got this open G and I'm trying to figure out how to use it. Well, if I try to use it as the 9 of an F major7, it will actually be too low because the 1,3,5 and 7 will all be higher so that sounds kind of weird.
But I can come down to Bbmaj7 here and use the G as the 13 of the Bbmaj7. That sounds kind of cool.
Of course, if I want to make it the 9 of an Fmaj7 chord, I can turn it into a natural harmonic. That will lift it up an octave and it will sound pretty cool.
So practice that on the sixth string and the fifth string, and consider trying to use some of those open strings as tensions or chord tones.
Drop 2&4 chords are another way of playing seventh chords in a more “spread-out” fashion. They are the result of taking a closed-position chord (1357) and dropping by an octave both the second note from the top, as well as the fourth note from the top (i.e., the note that’s already on the bottom). The result is 1537 for a root position chord. This is the only 'dropped' chord where the root note does not change, because the root is dropped too, causing it to stay on the bottom.
These chords can be played on strings 65x32x as well as strings x54x21. They are most commonly played with the root on the 6th string, so that’s how they are presented here.
The Chord Configuration
Note that this is the same configuration, no matter what string set is used and no matter what chord type (major7, minor7, dominant7, min7b5, dimished7...)
| Strings | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Root Position | R | 5 | x | 3 | 7 | x |
| 1st Inv | 3 | 7 | x | 5 | R | x |
| 2nd Inv | 5 | R | x | 7 | 3 | x |
| 3rd Inv | 7 | 3 | x | R | 5 | x |
Drop 2&4 Chord - Root Position (Fmaj7)
Drop 2&4 Chord - First Inversion (Fmaj7)
Drop 2&4 Chord - Second Inversion (Fmaj7)
Drop 2&4 Chord - Third Inversion (Fmaj7)
Key Tasks
- Memorize all inversions of the drop 2&4 structure.
- Convert the root position chord to dominant 7th, minor 7th and minor 7♭5 forms.
- Practice all inversions with all chord forms.
As the creator of Hub Guitar, Grey has compiled hundreds of guitar lessons, written several books, and filmed hundreds of video lessons. He teaches private lessons in his Boston studio, as well as via video chat through TakeLessons.