Dylan Kay Lesson #2: Drop 2&4 Voicings for BbMaj7

[From Dylan Kay]
By the end of this series of lessons, we will have some great-sounding extended voicings for a II V I in the key of F major (Gm7 - C7 - Fmaj7).
** Warning – some of these voicings involve quite large stretches – be careful! **

Step one is to look at Drop 2 & 4 voicings for Bbmaj7. These will be superimposed over the Gm7 chord to create a Gm9 sound. (This works because the notes of Bbmaj7 are Bb, D, F, A – these are the b3, 5, b7 and 9 of the Gm chord).

Related links: Dylan Kay's Official Website


Yesterday : Lesson #1 - Drop 2 & 4 Voicings
Tomorrow : Lesson #3 - EMaj7b5


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Dylan Kay Lesson #1: Drop 2&4 Voicings

[From Az]
This week, I'm very happy to present a series of lesson by British guitarist-educator Dylan Kay. I talked to Dylan about a month ago about the possibility of him contributing a few lessons and was happy when he sent me a five-part lesson on Drop 2 & 4 voicings! I'm a fan of these sounds myself so when I received them, I too started practicing them! I hope you will enjoy the lessons too!

[From Dylan Kay]
The objective of this short series of lessons is to derive some great-sounding extended voicings for a II V I in the key of F major (Gm7 - C7 - Fmaj7). We are going to superimpose Drop 2 & 4 voicings to do this.

So first of all, “what’s a Drop 2 & 4 voicing?” Well, these are found by taking close-voiced inversions and dropping the 2nd and 4th notes from the top by an octave. (Similar to constructing Drop 2 voicings).

Shown above are root position and first inversion voicings for a Cmaj7 chord. Check out the notation to see how the Drop 2 & 4 voicings come from close voicings. You will notice you end up with 4 notes spread across 5 strings, “split” in the middle.

Related links: Dylan Kay's Official Website

Tomorrow : Lesson #2 - BbMaj7

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5 Ways to Practice A Chord A Day!

Today, I've decided to share five ways you can practice the chords in this blog and the ones you discover too! Most of these will essentially create a week or more of practice ideas from a single A Chord A Day lesson. Here they are:


1. Play the voicing in all twelve keys

Some voicings might be difficult (or impossible) because of the use of open strings or the stretches involved in fretting the chord. Should this be the case, try playing a simplified version of the chord by omitting one or more notes. Sometimes, the same voicing might be playable in a different key by using a different fingering. Keep an open mind and experiment!

2. Arpeggiate the chord

A chords sound different when arpeggiated differently, other moods might take over. Try different right hand fingerstyle patterns and textures!

3. Put it in a chord progression/song

Do you have a favorite chord progression? Try putting the voicing of the day into that context and find other chords that would voice-lead well into and out from the voicing of choice. If you have a favorite song, try using the same voicing for the chord type everytime it appears in the song, regardless of key!

4. Write a song

Sometimes a chord can invoke an entire song! Try using your new voicing in a song of your own. This is a great way to practice it as well as keep it in your long-term chord vocabulary!

5. Combine different days together

Pick two or three random days from #1-#88 (The first series of A Chord A Day) and see whether you can make up a chord progression, line or any musical idea that uses two or more of the voicings in one context! This can be both fun and challenging. I'm going to do this right after this!!

Enjoy!

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