Tag: guitar chords

Blue in Green Chords:John McLaughlin Guitar Voicing’s

Posted on by Modern Music Theory and Application

Please watch video above for detailed info:

Hi Guys,

Today, a look at the unique chord voicing’s of John McLaughlin’s take on the Bill Evans/Miles Davis classic tune “Blue in Green”.

These, are taken from Rob Carroll’s transcription from live at the Royal Festival Hall London album.

PART 1:

Here, are the chord voicing’s with the odd variation.

The first chord voicing has a barred shape that has the 4th finger fret the high note of G

Musical notation image showing John McLaughlin guitar chord voicing of D minor 11. Diagram highlighting essential chord notes.
Chord diagram for Dm11, illustrating finger placements and positions on the guitar fretboard.

From here, we have a lovely G7b9 chord voicing.

Musical notation depicting a John Mclaughlin G7b9 guitar chord voicing with corresponding fret numbers and tablature.
Chord voicing for G7b9 featured in John McLaughlin’s interpretation of ‘Blue in Green’.

This shape then falls nicely into the Cm9 shape,

Chord diagram for C minor 9 (Cm9) with finger positions shown on guitar strings for John McLaughlin's interpretation of 'Blue in Green'.
Chord voicing diagram for Cm9 used in John McLaughlin’s interpretation of ‘Blue in Green’.

From here, we have one of John’s favourite chords the 13b9. [In this case it is F13b9]

Chord diagram for F13b9 with chord tones indicated on a guitar fretboard. John McLaughlin's guitar chord voicing for 'Blue in Green'.
Chord diagram of F13b9, showcasing the voicing for this jazz chord.

This leads us nicely to BbMaj#11

Music notation for B♭ major chord including #11, with tablature for guitar showing frets 5, 7, and 6. John McLaughlin's chord for Blue in Green
B♭Maj#11 chord diagram, illustrating its unique voicing in the context of jazz guitar.

The next chord is A13 where the C natural note is then added creating A13#9

Sheet music showing the A13 chord notation and tablature, featuring notes and finger positions.
Chord diagram for the A13#9 chord, showcasing its unique voicing.

Once again, we have a barred chord with quite a wide stretch,

Musical sheet notation showing John McLaughlin's D minor 7 chord with numbers 12 and 15 circled in red for blue in green.
Chord diagram for Dm7 showcasing finger placements and fret numbers.

Now we employ the classic 7#9 chord. In this case it is E7#9

And finally, we cadence to a lovely AmMaj7 with a 9th voicing

Guitar chord diagram for AmMaj7, showing finger placement on the fretboard with labeled frets for John McLaughlin's Blue in Green guitar chords..
Diagram illustrating the AmMaj7 chord with a 9th voicing for enhanced tonal richness.

PART 2:

OTHER VAIOUS CHORD VOICING’S USED IN DIFFERENT VERSES:

Here, we have another voicing for Dm9 with the bass resolving a half step to a 1st inversion A+ chord:

Musical sheet displaying the chords Dm9 and A/C# with a highlighted sharp note indicated by a red arrow.
Chord voicing for Dm9 leading to A/C# in a guitar lesson.

Here we have another simple barring chord for Cm9

Musical notation showing Cm9 and F7b9 chords on staff, with corresponding fretboard diagram for guitar.
Chord voicing for Cm9 and F7b9 in the context of John McLaughlin’s interpretation of ‘Blue in Green’.

The next voicing, is a lovely A7b9 voicing that resonates beautifully on the guitar

John McLaughlin's guitar chord diagram for A7b9 guitar chord showing finger positions and fret numbers.
A7b9 chord voicing for John McLaughlin’s Blue in Green guitar chords

This falls naturally into a diminished 7th voicing

Musical notation for E diminished seventh chord over A, showing finger placements for guitar.
Chord diagram of E7 diminished/A, showcasing a complex voicing that requires a wide stretch on the guitar.

This chord is probably the most difficult as it requires a wide stretch. [Please see video above for safe detailed fretting explanation]

John McLaughlin's blue in green Chord diagram for D7sus with tablature indicating finger placement on guitar.
Chord diagram for Dsus7, highlighting its voicing and finger placement.

To complete this verse we have a nice colourful cadence

Sheet music displaying the D7b9 and GMaj7#11 chord notations with corresponding finger positions on a guitar fretboard.
Chord voicings for D7b9 and GMaj7#11, including fretboard diagram.

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“In a Silent Way” Zawinul/McLaughlin Guitar Analysis

Posted on by Modern Music Theory and Application

John McLaughlin/joe Zawinal “In a silent way” Guitar Analysis Lesson

Please watch video above for detailed info:

Hi Guys,

Today, a look at the amazing performance/improvisation of “In a Silent Way” by John McLaughlin and Joe Zawinul.

PART 1:

The key to this is to look at the 16 bar structure and view the two main chords and acknowledge how the melody is/can be contained within them.

FORM and CHORDS Chart:

A notated piece of sheet music for Joe Zawinal and John McLaughlin "In a silent way" chords and melody.
Musical notation illustrating the chords E6/11 and Bm7/E for ‘In a Silent Way’ Zawinal/McLaughlin

So, from this simple chart we can observe that we have two main prominent chords. These are E6/11

Musical sheet showing an E6/11 John McLaughlin chord diagram with specific finger placements on a guitar neck.
Chord diagram for E6/11, highlighting its structure used in the performance of ‘In a Silent Way.’

and Bm7/E

Chord diagram for Bm7/E John McLaughlin chord featuring finger placements on the guitar fretboard.
Chord diagram for McLaughlin’s Bm7/E, illustrating finger placements and string usage.

6/11 as Substitutions;

Here, is how the 6/11 is exploited by John for the intro: So, instead of the plain minor 7th chords we have:

A music sheet showing chord progressions by John McLaughlin and Joe Zawinal labeled G#m Sub, F#m Sub, and Dm Sub with corresponding note positions indicated by numbers on the staff. This is for the song "In a silent way".
Chord chart showing G#m, F#m, and Dm substitutions with a pedal bass note for guitar improvisation.

PART 2: Chord Melody Barre Shapes:

Now, let’s loosely add some chords [Shapes] to the melody, and see what we can come up with,

EXAMPLE: Notice that the 1st note of each melody section [circled] fits perfectly within the chord shape.

A sheet of music by John McLaughlin and Joe Zawinal notation featuring various notes, chords labeled E6/11 and D6/11, with annotations indicating E/F# from "In a silent way"
Chord progression and melody outline for ‘In a Silent Way,’ highlighting E6/11 and D6/11 McLaughlin chords.

In terms of harmonising the melody and creating a nice ethereal or dissonant resonance on the guitar it is a really good idea to employ a pedal note.

In this case it is the low E string.

Example:

Sheet music displaying Joe Zawinal and John McLaughlin's "In a silent way" notes with a marked 'Pedal E Bass' section and tablature notation.
Notation example highlighting the use of a pedal E bass “In a silent way” in the chord sequence.

To conclude, we will cadence nicely with the 7sus4 chord and a little descending run back to the tonic chord of E Major.

A sheet of music featuring guitarist John McLaughlin's little bass run highlighted in red with annotations for A/B and E chords for "In a silent way" song.

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McLaughlin: Rhythm Guitar Revisited: Part 2

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Please watch video above for detailed info:

Hi Guys,

Today, the second part of the John McLaughlin style rhythmic guitar essentials.

ALTERNATE TIME SIGNATURES:

If we look at a composition like “Face to Face” by Shakti, we will find interesting rhythmic strumming patterns:

It’s unique how John creates interesting rhythmic riffs with just a couple of chords by employing a bar of 7 to a bar of 8:

shakti-face-to-face-rhythm-guitar-lesson

You may wish to count this in different ways. For Example, you could count this as: 15/16 to 16/16 [in groups of 3 to groups of 4 in the next bar]:

shakti-face-to-face-rhythm-guitar-lesson

And, also, Groups of 4 with the last being a grouping of 3 [or one note removed in a bar of 4/4 time]

shakti-face-to-face-rhythm-guitar-lesson

Here, are the two chords that I have used.

These being similar to McLaughlin’s “Face to Face” composition with Shakti.

shakti-face-to-face-rhythm-guitar-lesson

To complete this vamp I employ a little “Turn around” in the bass with a 4 note descending scale motif.

shakti-face-to-face-rhythm-guitar-lesson

Here, is the full 2 Bar Sequence with the turn around motif:

shakti-face-to-face-rhythm-guitar-lesson

CHORD SEQ VARIATION:

In this variation we have the previous bass scale notes played in the treble on the first string of the guitar.

We also have changed the first chord with a “Quartal” E minor voicing.

shakti-face-to-face-rhythm-guitar-lesson

John McLaughlin Concept # 2

John McLaughlin sometimes strums quickly between two chords and the open strings. Here are a couple of examples.

Firstly, we can see how John exploits 2 simple chords of A Major and D Major between the open strings:

john-mclaughlin-strumming-guitar-lesson

[This is strummed at a very quick pace by alternate strumming “Down Up“] etc

STRUMMING RIFF 3:

To finish, we will look at one last alternate strumming McLaughlin favourite.

This again follows the same principle with the quick “Down Up” fast wrist movement in the strumming hand.

john-mclaughlin-strumming-guitar-lesson

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shakti-guitar-lessonDownload

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