Category: Jazz fusion guitar music theory lessons, guitar technique and improvisation.

How to improvise over altered dominant chords. How to employ chromatic jazz and fusion harmony. Apply twentieth century classical composition techniques to modern jazz music and improv. How to exploit modes of the major. minor and diminished scales. Lesson in alternate picking guitar techniques as used by John Mclaughlin and Al di Meola. How to do metal rock and all styles of alternate picking on the guitar. Plectrum pick technique for electric and acoustic guitarists. alternate guitar style of picking lessons.

Alternate Picking Guitar Acoustic Fusion

Posted on by Modern Music Theory and Application

This little alternate picking guitar exercise is taken from John Mclaughlin’s acoustic jazz fusion C.D “Belo Herozonte”.

Although this is a simple and short exercise it displays the way to open up and extend long fluid alternate picking improvised jazz fusion guitar lines.

https://youtu.be/v8a0OSXA8_o

You can either employ orthodox fingering or the fingering that I use.

John Mclaughlin Alternate Picking “Belo Herozonte’ Guitar lick/Exercise:

alternate picking jazz fusion john mclaughlin guitar lesson

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Alternate Picking guitar technnique PT 1

Posted on by Modern Music Theory and Application

GUITAR TRIO “Friday night in San Francisco” ALTERNATE PICKING guitar exercises and ideas.

https://youtu.be/Mvr9QsoqOUg

The Guitar trio consisted of John Mclaughlin, Al di Meola and Paco de Lucia.

They  performed and released the classic acoustic album/cd called “Friday night in San Franscisco.

As well as being a great album we are lucky that some bright spark took it upon himself to write a book of transcriptions of the classic concert!

Guitar Trio Paco de lucia John Mclaughlin Al di Meola alternate picking guitar lesson with tab, video and music notation
“Friday night in San Francisco” John Mclaughlin, Al Di Meola and Paco De Lucia

Guitar Trio alternate picking musical exercises.

Below are some examples from the guitar trio from their concert and C.D called “Friday night in San Francisco.

Line 1-“16ths” Alternate Picking guitar exercise starting on a “Down” stroke

John Mclaughlin Al di Meola Paco de lucia alternate picking

Line 2- Extended version of the above exercise

Guitar Trio alternate picking lesson

Line 3-Groups of “4” with strict Alternate Picking but this time starting with an “Upstroke” creating a “Rolling” effect as the plectrum glides across the strings.

Guitar Trio Paco de lucia John Mclaughlin Al di Meola alternate picking guitar lesson

 

In part 2 we will take a closer look at the use of “Sextuplets” [or groups of 6’s]

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For a closer look there is a complete transcription of “Friday Night in San Franscisco” Book available AMAZON

Guitar Trio Paco de lucia John Mclaughlin Al di Meola alternate picking guitar lesson with tab, video and music notation

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Alternate Picking “Off beat” Jazz Fusion Guitar Lesson

Posted on by Modern Music Theory and Application

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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