Chords - drop 2 etc

[NSJ]

Roni Ben Hurr has an excellent 2 hour DVD (with accompanying PDF) on drop 2s and drop 3s, called "Chordability"

Jamey Aebersold Jazz: Chordability: Mastering The Art of Jazz Voicing For The Guitar - DVD

TOPICS covered:

"Section 1, The Drop 2 and Drop 3 Voicings

-What’s a Drop 2 Voicing
- How to Practice the Drop 2
- Examples for Using Drop 2
- What’s a Drop 3 Voicing
- How to Practice the Drop 3

Section 2, Upper Extension Voicings

-The Major 6 Chord as a Minor 7 & Major 9 Chords
- The Major 7 Chord as a Minor 9 Chord
- The Minor 6 Chord as a Minor 7(b5) Chord
- The Minor 6 Chord as a 7(b9 #5) Chord

Section 3, The Diminished Chord

-What’s A Diminished Chord
- The Diminished Chord /Drop 2 and Drop 3
- The Diminished Chord as part of a Dominant Seventh Chord
- The Diminished Chord with Borrowed Notes

Section 4, Chord Progression Using the Major 6 and Diminished Chords

- The Major 6, Diminished, Major 6 Progression
- How to Practice The Major 6, Diminished, Major 6 Progression

Section 5, The Major and Minor 6 Diminished Scales

-What are the Major and Minor 6 Diminished Scales
- How to Practice the Major and Minor 6 Diminished Scale
- Practicing the Borrowed Notes On the Major 6 Diminished Scale
- Practicing the Borrowed Notes On the Minor 6 Diminished Scale"

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Any suggestions on harmonizing the Melodic Minor scale with drop 2 voicings?

Some of the voicings are pretty difficult. e.g. III+(M7) on strings 1-4. The voicing with the 3rd in the bass reads from bottom to top: 3, 7, R, +5. With a Root of "C" that would be E, B, C, G#. Try grabbing that without rubber fingers! I've been replacing the root with the chord's 9th (D), which essentially turns the chord into an E7 (3rd relation substitution from parent scale). Is this the correct way to get around an unfriendly finger position? Are there any rules or guidelines to be followed in such instances? There are many fingerings in Melodic Minor that create difficult fingerings on all string sets. Looking for some advise!

Here are my usual suspects (all with that #5, of course).

9th chord, no root: xx2434
6th chord: xx2214 -- but that's harder to finger!
9/6: xx2234 -- coolest of the lot.

omit the root -- let the bassist handle it: xx24x4
triad -- xx2x14

[Bosko]

Randy Vincent has two excellent books on drop 2 block chords and 3 note voicings.

Amazon.com: randy vincent