Exploring John McLaughlin’s Jazz/Fusion Chords [Re/Edit]

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The Chords of Guitarist John McLaughlin

IMPORTANT: Please watch video above for detailed info:

Hi Guys,

Welcome to part 2 of the John McLaughlin Modern Jazz Chords series.

First we will have a look at making chords from the whole step half step diminished scale:

The Diminished Scale

A sheet of music notation showing the diminished scale, including a combination of clefs, note values, ledger lines, and guitar tablature.
Musical notation displaying the diminished scale starting on the note C, for creating modern jazz chords.

Within this scale are lots of Triads: [for instance]

diminished-scale-guitar-theroy-music

From these Triads we can add different Bass Notes and produce “Slash chords

Musical score displaying slash chords of the diminished scale, including  B/C, Dm7b5, F/F# and Ab/A with corresponding tablature.
Chord progression showcasing slash chords derived from the diminished scale.

Okay, let’s take three triads with different bass notes and join them together:

Sheet music excerpt showing modern guitar slash chords for F/F#, D/Eb, and B/C from the diminished scale in standard notation and tablature.
Triads with different bass notes from the diminished scale, essential for creating ‘slash chords’ in jazz harmony.

It’s important to realise that because we are employing chords form the diminished scale we have minor 3rd movement.

So, let’s add a little melody within the chords: This is the way that John McLaughlin gets that lovely Bluesy feel within the harmony. Again, this is due to the way that the minor 3rd’s work within diminshed scale harmony.

A musical sheet displaying three slash chords from the diminished scale: F/F#, D/Eb, and B/C, with marked notes and a tablature section showing finger placement on a guitar.
Musical notation showing triad slash chords F/F#, D/Eb, and B/C with finger positions on a guitar tab.

Now let’s create a Blues Composition from this diminished scale.

Musical notation sheet displaying various diminished scale slash chords including F#/F#, D/Eb, B/C, Bm7b5, and more, with labeled sections for harmonic rhythm.
Chord sequence with diminished scale harmonies for a blues composition.

For the last 4 bars we will make the Harmonic Rhythm Quicker by adding a new chord sequence that employs minor7 flat 5’s with slash chords.

Sheet music notation featuring various chords from the diminished scale including Bm7b5, B/C, Dm, and others, along with guitar tablature.
Chord progression using diminished scale triads creating slash chords

JOING CHORDS WITH SCALIC FRAGMENTS

It’s a good idea to join chords together with fragments of the diminished scale: This is also extremely useful when creating composition;

Musical sheet showing John McLaughlin's chord scale in a diminished scale context.
Musical notation illustrating John McLaughlin’s chord scale in a diminished scale context.

2x scale to chords:

Musical sheet showing John McLaughlin's chord scale guitar approach to the diminished scale.

All 12 Major Triads over One Note [C]

Here is an excellent exercise for hearing how all 12 major triads sound over the same single note;

Musical sheet displaying the 12 Major music triads over a C pedal note.  D/C, E/C, F/C, G/C, A/C, and B/C, including finger positions for various instruments.
Exercise showcasing all 12 major triads over the pedal note of C.

Lastly, here are some misellaneous John McLaughlin guitar chords:

Shakti Chord:

shakti-guitar-chord-john-mclaughlin
Diagram showing guitar tablature and notation for the Open E “Shakti” McLaughlin chord

Harmonic minor scale chords:

Music notation showing John McLaughlin's guitar chords from the Harmonic minor scale.
Example of harmonic minor scale chords for guitar, showcasing the E/A chord.

E/A

Sheet music notation showing John McLaughlin's guitar chords from the Harmonic minor scale.
Guitar chord diagram for slash chord E/A, illustrating finger positioning and fret numbers.

E/C

john-mclaughlin-harmonic-minor-slash-chord
Sheet music notation displaying John McLaughlin's guitar slash chords from the Harmonic minor scale.
Musical notation for slash chord taken from the harmonic minor scale.

Lastly, From the Whole Tone scale [Notice: 1 tone movement]

Sheet music featuring a treble clef, time signature of 4/4 displaying chords from the whole tone scale.
Musical notation example featuring chords from the whole tone scale..
Sheet music featuring a treble clef, time signature of 4/4 displaying John McLaughlin's guitar slash chords from the whole tone scale.
Musical notation demonstrating John McLaughlin’s slash chord sequences

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“In a Silent Way” Zawinul/McLaughlin Guitar Analysis

John McLaughlin/joe Zawinal “In a silent way” Guitar Analysis Lesson

Hi Guys,

Today, a look at the amazing performance/improvisation of “In a Silent Way” by John McLaughlin and Joe Zawinul.

The key to this is to look at the 16 bar structure and view the two main chords and acknowledge how the melody is/can be contained within them.

A notated piece of sheet music for Joe Zawinal and John McLaughlin "In a silent way" chords and melody.
Musical notation illustrating the chords E6/11 and Bm7/E for ‘In a Silent Way’ Zawinal/McLaughlin

So, from this simple chart we can observe that we have two main prominent chords. These are E6/11

Musical sheet showing an E6/11 John McLaughlin chord diagram with specific finger placements on a guitar neck.
Chord diagram for E6/11, highlighting its structure used in the performance of ‘In a Silent Way.’

and Bm7/E

Chord diagram for Bm7/E John McLaughlin chord featuring finger placements on the guitar fretboard.
Chord diagram for McLaughlin’s Bm7/E, illustrating finger placements and string usage.

Here, is how the 6/11 is exploited by John for the intro: So, instead of the plain minor 7th chords we have:

A music sheet showing chord progressions by John McLaughlin and Joe Zawinal labeled G#m Sub, F#m Sub, and Dm Sub with corresponding note positions indicated by numbers on the staff. This is for the song "In a silent way".
Chord chart showing G#m, F#m, and Dm substitutions with a pedal bass note for guitar improvisation.

Now, let’s loosely add some chords [Shapes] to the melody, and see what we can come up with,

EXAMPLE: Notice that the 1st note of each melody section [circled] fits perfectly within the chord shape.

A sheet of music by John McLaughlin and Joe Zawinal notation featuring various notes, chords labeled E6/11 and D6/11, with annotations indicating E/F# from "In a silent way"
Chord progression and melody outline for ‘In a Silent Way,’ highlighting E6/11 and D6/11 McLaughlin chords.

In terms of harmonising the melody and creating a nice ethereal or dissonant resonance on the guitar it is a really good idea to employ a pedal note.

In this case it is the low E string.

Example:

Sheet music displaying Joe Zawinal and John McLaughlin's "In a silent way" notes with a marked 'Pedal E Bass' section and tablature notation.
Notation example highlighting the use of a pedal E bass “In a silent way” in the chord sequence.

To conclude, we will cadence nicely with the 7sus4 chord and a little descending run back to the tonic chord of E Major.

A sheet of music featuring guitarist John McLaughlin's little bass run highlighted in red with annotations for A/B and E chords for "In a silent way" song.

Fripp Part 2 Download

Robert Fripp Guitar Techniques Lesson Fretting and Dynamics

Hi Guys,

Here, is the Pdf Download with the Music Notation and Tab for guitar for the Fripp Part 2 Guitar Concepts: