Need general explanation of what is meant by Drop 2 and Drop 3 inversions

[Christian Miller]

If I had to generalise it I’d say, learn chords fr top down (guitar trio), bottom up (duo with sax or vocals), middle voices (ensemble) and top & bottom (solo)

it’s not about how many voicings you know, it’s about how well you know to use them. Many guitarists sort of plonk down voicings automatically, while thinking about the above makes you way more useful in various settings.

[ragman1]

Isn't the issue that G7/D might be any of the following? I couldn't begin to name them in drop-n nomenclature. I can name them as, say, 5R37

D G B F
D G F B
D B G F
D B F G
D F B G
D F G B

To be honest, I don't really think it matters as long as it sounds right in context.

[Paulie2]

If I had to generalise it I’d say, learn chords fr top down (guitar trio), bottom up (duo with sax or vocals), middle voices (ensemble) and top & bottom (solo)

it’s not about how many voicings you know, it’s about how well you know to use them. Many guitarists sort of plonk down voicings automatically, while thinking about the above makes you way more useful in various settings.

This is a great way to organize and think about this. Throwing down a bunch of drop 3's with a note on your low E string might get a piano and bass player giving you some side eye.

[Paulie2]

To be honest, I don't really think it matters as long as it sounds right in context.

This, the naming system is just a convenient way to universally communicate a sound through words (as is all theory really). Drop 2's are very commonly known and is a great system for learning voicing, but once you absorb them there is really no need to think about the name, if its a drop 2 or 3, etc. - it just becomes a sound at the point. The trick, as Christian mentioned above, is using the sound correctly once you have absorbed all the voicings.

[Paulie2]

Anyone want to have a go at C9? x3233x

Closed: C-E-G-Bb-D

Voiced: C-E-Bb-D

How do you get there by drop voicing?

Drop voicings are 4 notes, so you would either drop the C7, or the upper extension which is Em7b5. Put on a static C9 backing and play all the Em7b5 drop 2 inversions over it for some great sounds. Learning the voicing and the sound is more import than what note is dropped where. I remember all voicings based on the top note, so for example the voicing x-x-5-7-5-6. I don't know what is dropped where but I know that it is an upper extension of C9 that gives me the 7th, or Bb, in the melody. This makes it very helpful to harmonize melodies on the fly by only thinking of the top note.

[ragman1]

(as is all theory really).

Quite so.

The trick, as Christian mentioned above, is using the sound correctly once you have absorbed all the voicings.

But so is that, essentially.

The question is whether the voicing should suit the occasion or the occasion suit the voicing. I would say the first one because the second sounds awfully like rigid thinking.

[WILSON 1]

Drop voicings are 4 notes, so you would either drop the C7, or the upper extension which is Em7b5. Put on a static C9 backing and play all the Em7b5 drop 2 inversions over it for some great sounds. Learning the voicing and the sound is more import than what note is dropped where. I remember all voicings based on the top note, so for example the voicing x-x-5-7-5-6. I don't know what is dropped where but I know that it is an upper extension of C9 that gives me the 7th, or Bb, in the melody. This makes it very helpful to harmonize melodies on the fly by only thinking of the top note.

Agreed!

I'd just see xx5756 as G-6 and if you're a Barry Harris fan ( as I am ) with the G-6 dim scale, you get both harmonic and melodic minor scale sounds.