Memorizing All Drop 2 and Drop 3 Chords
By far the most useful four-part chord structures on the guitar are from the drop 2 family and the drop 3 family.
While there are other noteworthy structures, such as drop 2&4 and drop 2&3, mastering the drop 2 and the drop 3 chords alone is perfectly sufficient to be an excellent accompanist, and this is a good place to focus your efforts.
Drop 2 Chords
Drop 2 chords can be played on any set of four adjacent strings: 6543, 5432, or 4321. The configuration for a root position Drop 2 chord is: Root, 5, 7, 3.
Here is a drop 2 on the lowest four strings.
| Strings | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Drop 2 | R | 5 | 7 | 3 | x | x |
Drop 3 Chords
Drop 3 chords can be played on any set of five adjacent strings: 6x432x or x5x321. When compared to the drop 2 chords, the drop 3 structure spans a larger range. The configuration for a root position Drop 3 chord is: Root, 7, 3, 5.
| Strings | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Drop 3 | R | x | 7 | 3 | 5 | x |
Comparing the structures
Starting with a drop 2 structure, we can expand it into a drop 3 structure by taking the second note from the bottom (for example, the 5th in the case of a root position chord) and moving it up an octave. When we do this on the guitar, the result is that the chord now spans 5 strings instead of four, and that the second lowest string is not played.
| Strings | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Drop 2 | R | 5 | 7 | 3 | x | x |
| Drop 3 | R | x | 7 | 3 | 5 | x |
Starting Drop 2 Cmaj7
If we take the “G” from this structure and move it up an octave to the 2nd string, it becomes a drop 3 chord instead. And we can do this with any drop 2 chord on the lower four strings.
Result: Drop 3 Cmaj7
The new chord spans a broader range, and excludes the 5th string entirely.
From Drop 2 On the Middle Four Strings
This works also on the drop 2 chords played on the middle four strings.
Starting Drop 2 Cmaj7
Result: Drop 3 Cmaj7
The Upper Four Strings
Of course, this doesn’t work for the drop 2 on the upper four strings, because there are only 6 strings on the guitar.
Other Uses
This comparison can be applied to any drop 2 chord on the bottom four or middle four strings. The chord can be of any quality: major7, dom7, min7, etc. It can also be any of the inversions.
Putting it Into Practice
Play through all of the drop 2 chords you know on the bottom four and middle four strings, including all of the chord qualities and inversions. Practice visualizing and turning these chords into drop 3 chords. In time you will be able to see both voicings as two slightly-different versions of the same chord, reducing the number of individual chord forms you need to remember and speeding up your recall of all of the 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.