Alternate Picking “Off beat” Jazz Fusion Guitar Lesson

Posted on by Modern Music Theory

The key to alternate picking with the guitar pick when dealing with jazz improvisation and jazz fusion improvisation is to be aware of the off -beat. In these two little examples we simply miss the 1st beat.

Remember that the 2nd note of a group of 16ths will be an “Off-beat” and an “Upstroke”. But, if you start on the “Off-beat” with a down stroke then the patterns will be opposite to what they would be starting on the beat. This may sound confusing but is “paradoxically” natural and an easy way to create and control ‘syncopation”, literally cutting off the first note.

You can do this anywhere in the bar, but to begin with it is best explained through the two short example alternate picking exercises.

This phrase below is a little “Off-beat” phrase found in the John Mclaughlin album/CD called “Belo Herozonte.

off beat alternate picking john Mclaughlin guitar exercise
Silent “Off-Beat” alternate picking guitar exercise

 

Below we use sextuplets and miss out the first beat. [Count the silent beat but pluck the string starting on the 2nd off beat].

Sextuplets alternate picking guitar exercise "Off-Beat"
Sextuplets off-beat alternate picking guitar exercise

 

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Published by Modern Music Theory

Clifford Martin is a trained classical musician and composer. His 1st study being piano and composition and a deep study into the meticulous world of modern music theory. He also studied jazz piano and jazz drums privately. Clifford later came back to the guitar and studied in the jazz fusion style of John McLaughlin and Al di Meola. It was at this point that he put all of his years of learning together into one musical form This website is a sort of cataloging of ideas and musical concepts for exploitation and development in the arts of musical composition and improvisation. What started out as a jazz improvisation site has grown into a full blown, harmony, timbre, pitch and rhythm library. Peace, Enjoy!

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