Mastering John McLaughlin’s Guitar Techniques

Hi Guys,

Today, Part 2 of the alternate picking patterns/numbers for John McLaughlin style guitar playing/picking.

These are all building off of the number 5 and starting on the “Up” stroke for strict alternate picking guitar technique in standard tuning:


john_mclaughlin_guitar_technique_example
john_mclaughlin_guitar_technique_example
john_mclaughlin_guitar_technique_example
john_mclaughlin_guitar_technique_example
john_mclaughlin_guitar_technique_example
john_mclaughlin_guitar_technique_example

These example like those above expand on the number 5 but start on a “Down”stroke this time.

john_mclaughlin_guitar_technique_example
john_mclaughlin_guitar_technique_example
john_mclaughlin_guitar_technique_example
john_mclaughlin_guitar_technique_example
john_mclaughlin_guitar_technique_example

Example 1:

john_mclaughlin_guitar_technique_example

Example 2:

john_mclaughlin_guitar_technique_example

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Happy Birthday John McLaughlin! 2 Guitar Licks/Lines

Modern Jazz Fusion Chords part 2. Steely Dan, Dan Chord and Slash Chords

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Hi Guys, and Happy Birthday John!

Here, are the two licks from the latest Youtube video!

I am starting this phrase on an “Up” stroke with strict alternate picking guitar technique.

The phrasing of this line feels like two groups of sextuplets. It’s a sort of juxtaposed phrasing as it is picked in 4 note tetrachord groupings starting on an up beat.

john-mclaughlin-guitar-lesson-alternate-picking

In the second part of the first bar, the fretting is simplified as it works into basic 2 notes per string pentatonic style phrasing:

john-mclaughlin-guitar-lesson-alternate-picking

In the last bar we are playing over the Dominant 7th chord with the the same mixed phrasing as the first bar:

john-mclaughlin-guitar-lesson-alternate-picking

Finally, we finished with 2 triads of Eminor and F Major:

john-mclaughlin-guitar-lesson-alternate-picking

This line, once again employs strict alternate picking guitar technique.

I am starting with an upbeat on the open E string. I am also starting my alternate picking on an upstroke.

As you will see, the “Up” stroke on the “Up” BEAT means that the 1st beat of the next bar will be on a Down Stroke.

From here, we can connect the Tetrachords [4 note groupings] together:

john-mclaughlin-guitar-lesson-alternate-picking

Finally, we have the same juxtaposed notes/groupings as in the first exercise. This line comes to rest on the tonic chord of C Maj7:

john-mclaughlin-guitar-lesson-alternate-picking

Modern Jazz Fusion Chords part 2. Steely Dan, Dan Chord and Slash Chords

12 Tone Pattern: Scott Collins Guitar Line:

Hi Guys,

Today, a quick look at a Scott Collins 12 tone guitar pattern and applying it to alternate picking guitar technique as an exercise in descending intervallic movement.

First of all, let’s look at the pattern.

I am thinking of these motifs as 3 note “Tri-chords” [as in John ‘O” Gallagher’s book 12 tone improvisation].

Here, are the first 3 pitches as a tri-chord.

What makes this line interesting is that the “Tri- Chords” move in “Tri-Tones”.

You could view this from a diminished perspective but from a picking perspective it is more like tritones and semitones. This gives it that unique angular sound.

If we look at the example below we can see a classic example of a tri-chord pattern/sequence with the same guitar fingering.

scott-collins-12-tone-symmetrical-guitar-patterns

In the next example, we can see the tri-chords, the tritones and the semitone movement.

scott-collins-12-tone-symmetrical-guitar-patterns

I am using strict alternate picking guitar technique for this exercise starting this on a “Downstroke”.

I am counting in groups of three note triplets, although, you could count in sextuplets.

There is a lot of one note per string and two notes per string picking. So, remember when you pluck down to pluck back up equally. This very much Robert Fripp style picking and hence you need to be aligned with the string you wish to pluck.

scott-collins-12-tone-symmetrical-guitar-patterns

scott-collins-12-tone-symmetrical-guitar-patterns

Lastly, we will use half of the patten and play it over a traditional ii V7 I

scott-collins-12-tone-symmetrical-guitar-patterns

scott-collins-12-tone-symmetrical-guitar-patterns

Below, is the original line I took this from. As, you can see from the fingering, this was more of a symmetrical pattern with tapping.

scott-collins-12-tone-guitar-pattern

scott-collins-12-tone-guitar-pattern-book