C°7 Chord Voicings on Guitar: 3 Ways to Play It

C°7 voicings on guitar

C°7 is spelled C – E♭ – G♭ – A (1 ♭3 ♭5 ?) — passing chords between diatonic chords, and as a 7♭9 without its root. Here are 3 ways to voice it on guitar: drop 2, drop 3, shell. Every diagram is playable — press play to hear the chord, or “roll it” to hear the voices one by one, low to high.

3 ways to play C°7.

Sound

Root in gold, other voices in teal. Tap any note.

Drop 2

G♭ · C · E♭ · A

Take the close voicing and drop its second-highest voice an octave. The most-used four-note voicing on guitar and in piano left hands. Strings E-A-D-G, frets 2-3-1-2.

Drop 3

E♭ · C · G♭ · A

Drop the third-highest voice of the close voicing an octave: a wide, open sound. Strings A-G-B-e, frets 6-5-7-5 (position 3).

Shell (1–7–3)

C · A · E♭

Root, seventh and third only. The fifth is dropped — it adds nothing to the chord's identity — leaving a light, clear voicing. Strings A-G-B, frets 3-2-4.

Chord tone	Note	Interval
1	C	unison
♭3	E♭	minor 3rd
♭5	G♭	tritone
?	A	major 6th

Chord tone

Note

Interval

unison

♭3

E♭

minor 3rd

♭5

G♭

tritone

major 6th

Arpeggio: C°7 arpeggio on guitar. Scale: C Diminished (whole–half).

C°7 voicings FAQ.

What notes are in C°7?

C, E♭, G♭, A — chord tones 1 ♭3 ♭5 ?.

What is the easiest C°7 voicing on guitar?

The shell voicing (root, seventh, third) on strings A, G, B: three notes, one comfortable shape, and it still sounds unmistakably like C°7.

What is a drop-2 voicing?

Start from the close voicing C E♭ G♭ A and drop the second note from the top an octave: G♭ – C – E♭ – A. It spreads the chord so it fits the hand — and on guitar it fits four adjacent strings.

Where does C°7 appear?

C°7 is passing chords between diatonic chords, and as a 7♭9 without its root. Its character is symmetrical, restless.