the big-band arranging tradition
Drop 2 Voicings
A close four-note chord cracked open — the second voice from the top dropped an octave.
All 12 keys
C major
Dm9 – G13 – Cmaj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
D♭ major (C♯)
E♭m9 – A♭13 – D♭maj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
D major
Em9 – A13 – Dmaj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
E♭ major
Fm9 – B♭13 – E♭maj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
E major
F♯m9 – B13 – Emaj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
F major
Gm9 – C13 – Fmaj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
G♭ major (F♯)
A♭m9 – D♭13 – G♭maj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
G major
Am9 – D13 – Gmaj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
A♭ major
B♭m9 – E♭13 – A♭maj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
A major
Bm9 – E13 – Amaj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
B♭ major
Cm9 – F13 – B♭maj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
B major
C♯m9 – F♯13 – Bmaj9
3 of 4 voices hold from ii to V · total resolve motion 5 semitones
The story
Drop 2 is the arranger's oldest trick for opening up a chord: take a four-note voicing in close position and drop the second voice from the top down an octave. The tight cluster becomes an open, ringing spread — enough air between the voices that a saxophone section can breathe inside it, and exactly the shape a pianist who thinks like an arranger reaches for. The colours are the same rootless tones you already know (here a Dm9, a G13, a Cmaj9), but cracked apart so the top line sings above a gap instead of sitting on a pile. Split two notes to each hand and it falls under the fingers; the open fourth or fifth that opens up in the middle is the whole point — that space is the sound. This is the DNA of big-band section writing and of every pianist who voices chords like a horn arranger.
Listen: The saxophone soli on any Basie chart; Clare Fischer's voicings; Barry Harris on four-part harmony.