John Mclaughlin Altered scale left hand fingering Lesson and technique

The key to getting fluidity and developing the ability to play long jazz/fusion guitar phrases up tempo relies on good left hand fingering. Most people focus on the right alternate picking hand and then find it impossible to join/link up the improvised line phrasing /rhythm.

The phrases and guitar fingering get generally “Un-guitaristic” when weaving in and out of altered [Dominant] harmony on the guitar fingerboard. This is why without analysing the left hand fingering the very nature of jazz/fusion guitar improvising can seem and become complex.

Here is a very common John Mclaughlin fingering that he employs to get through fast uptempo phrases. It is actually quite repetitive and very useful for building any scale regardless of that scales intervals or complexity. This is the key to his explosive and ease at alternate picking fluid modern jazz fusion guitar lines. Also with this fingering it is possible to display excellent chromatic mastery with ease.

John Mclaughlin talks about fingering a lot in interviews and even said to Larry Coryell that “Fingering is everything”. When the fingers can move effortlessly and weave in and out of the complex harmonic lines it does become natural to articulate musical phrases into improvisation that way.