Please watch video above for detailed info:
Hi Guys,
Today, a quick look at some of John McLaughlin’s amazing altered, slash and ambiguous guitar chords.
Johns harmony is a very rich palette indeed.
In the little example above in the video, I play about with some of Johns harmonic movement and colour.
EXAMPLE 1:
Although, I could employ diminished harmony, I am instead aiming at “Implication”….Why?…This is in order to bring out the big “Rich” resonance of the guitar.
F/F# [/A]
Eb/E [/B]
It is an ethereal sound where the natural harmonics and overtones can ring out of the guitars sound hole harmoniously.
SHORT CONNECTING RUN:
Next, we employ a Bb Major run with a few chromatic notes. These being, the B natural and the E natural chordal tones.
EXAMPLE 2:
Now, let’s add two more resonant chords,
A/Bb
B/C
ARPEGGIO CONNECTION:
We will now connect to the next part together.
This will be with an arpeggio of Ebm mostly [or D#m] implying BMaj7. [Although there is an implied resolution to B7 also].
This juxtaposition, creates another ambiguous move that opens up a fresh and unique sounding harmony.
From here, we can manipulate and resolve into the Bb minor full barre harmony:
Now, let’s create a sequence. This will be, C#7sus4 to C7 with a sharpened 4th and a Maj7th.
Notice, the chromatic movement in the bass as we sequence this.
Finally, this resolves from CMaj7#11 to CMaj7 with open string guitar chords.
PDF DOWNLOAD:
IN CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, this was just a quick look at Johns unique take on harmony and how to apply some scale and arpeggio movement to connect it all together.
John’s harmony is a lovely combination of ambiguity and resonance with a sense of calm.
The magical ethereal tone opens doors to really interesting solo applications that exploit implied harmonies and dissonances. These I find are met with with lingering resolutions that are never quite met.
It’s a sort of pairing of opposites that you can’t quite put your finger on that give it that alluring yet elusive quality.
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