Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom

Hi Tomo,

I have a quick question about drop 2-7th chord inversions. In the video you mention a number of times to pay attention to the highest note. Why? I have been, of course, learning the note names, intervals and singing with them but how does knowing the highest note help. I have, for example been doing it like this:

A7 at xx2223 is a 2nd inversion of A chord (5 R M3 or E A C#) with the b7 on the 3rd fret is a G, so when I move to the next one
an A7 at xx5655 is for me a 1st inversion of A (xxx655 or xxx C# E A) plus the G on the 5th fret of the 4th string. So I've been using the highest note G of xx2223 and know that since that is the b7 the next inversion of xx56555 the highest note is A which is just 2 semitones from G to A. And thus xx5655 moving to A7 at xx7989 with the highest note being the M3 or C# is 4 semitones away from A from the last inversion.

Is this the right way to use the highest note in each inversion, to know where the next inversion is and understand the notes and why you are moving to that particular position?

Thanks so much for sharing!

Simply highest not has a unique character of melody, voice leading or no need to know so much why.

For simple drop 2 voicings. You can have Root, 3rd, 5th and 7th as top. Simply fun to hear them!

I explained all intervals in all drop 2 voicing chords videos.

Fun to hear those notes in a few seconds and know which Drop 2 chords.... so your ear can react fast!

Please enjoy!

Thank you.

Tomo

Thanks Tomo!

Now I want to know why! I am getting better at knowing which note/interval the highest note is but how can we describe a drop-2 chord with the R as the highest note or for example a triad that has M5 as as the highest note. Is there even an objective description of such character or melody with voicings or inversions? I mean with Sus chords people talk of building tension but what does that really mean? I'm the type of person that wants to know why and how. If you can offer insight that would be great!

Hi Tomo,

Thanks for asking me to clarify my question. What I would like to do with my music is understand why for example do artists choose one particular voicing over another of the same chord. Your videos show four different A7 drop-2 voicings on strings 1,2,3,4 with different notes as the lowest and highest note, so aside from voice leading where you might want to choose an A7 that is closer to where you are on the neck, what other reason is there to choose one voicing over another? For example with triads, why choose inversion 1 over 2 or over root version? Is there are a particular mood that is given by inversion 1 over 2? Is the intervals between those notes define the chords function or feel or emotion?

I admit I'm still new to this but I just want to know if there is an objective musical quality one inversion or voicing has over another aside from voice leading? Can I choose one inversion and make a particular emotion and then choose another to make a different emotion? Eventually I'd like to write my own music or improvise over or comp with other artists and I'd like to know how to add or contribute to certain emotions or feelings of the songs.

I hope this make it clearer. If it doesn't don't worry but I hope it did a bit.

Thanks!

You're very welcome! Thank you for you reply!

This lesson is all about drop 2 chord voicings so 1234 string set. 4 types.
So do you understand them well on A Blues? You can choose only top 3 notes or less notes if you prefer.

If you want to go more... definitely you can add more voicings besides these.
You can mix any voicings if you wish. I mix with triads, other 9th chord etc.

Maybe you can check my original music where I mix these voicings.
As long as musically sound good then, all good!

Thank you for sharing.

Tomo

Thanks for sharing.

We can talk anything around Guitar Wisdom lesson video contents and related topics freely.

Only thing, you cannot post other people 's YouTube video or any links.

Sorry about that.

Tomo