scales – Page 2 – Modern Music Theory Improvisation and Application

Master the Robert Fripp Cross Picking Technique | Guitar Lesson

Posted on August 14, 2024August 14, 2024 by Modern Music Theory and Application

Robert Fripp Cross Picking Guitar Technique Lesson

Please watch video above for detailed info:

Hi Guys,

Just a short blog to explain what I mean by employing the “Down Down Up” guitar picking technique.

If we look at the patten below we can see the “Down Down Up” Picking pattern:

fripp-guitar-cross-picking-lesson-example

This is a very useful picking pattern/device that will hold you in good stead: But the key is to employ it sparingly.

Why is this?

This is because sometimes the rhythms we see and sometimes feel can be different than our natural inclinations when picking/plucking the strings.

So, if we look below we will see that the picking hand/subconcious wants to pluck a group of 5 notes and 3 notes to make up the 4 and 4 groups of 16th notes.

This is because of the “Crossing” of the strings, the order of the notes or the way the actual groups of notes on the guitar fingerboard work out:

EXAMPLE:

OR:

Notation Example:

PICKING STROKES:

The other reason to put this “Down Down Up” into what would otherwise be an alternate picking pattern is because:

“Sometimes where you have a down stroke you may want an upstroke to complete the phrase”.

This can be because of one note that has to be played on a down or upstroke specifically otherwise the whole passage is awkward to play. So, to execute “Down Down Up” for that one part makes sense.

FULL EXERCISE:

Below, is the full exercise that deliberately mixes up “Down Down Up” and “Down up” Alternate Picking”. It’s only an exercise [Larks Tongues in Aspic III Style] but, hopefully it gets the point across.

Exercise:

fripp-cross-picking-lesson-guitar-technique-tab

fripp-guitar-cross-picking-lesson-example-tab

Conclusion:

This technique can also be found in Al Di Meola’s REH video from the 1980’s. Al di Meola employs this for chordal/Arpggeio Picking, [as does Fripp sometimes].

Again, if used sparingly this right hand picking pattern/technique is absolutely essential for this type of art/creative style guitar music.

Lastly, picking one note per string is way more difficult and precise than plucking standard 3 notes per string as there’s so much string crossing going on.

FREE PDF DOWNLOAD:

fripp-cross-picking-lesson-2 Download

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Pat Martino Unpublished Book: Intervallic Studies: NEW PAGES:

Posted on July 17, 2024July 17, 2024 by Modern Music Theory and Application

Hi Guys,

Many of you have asked me to publish more pages from the unpublished book on intervallic studies by jazz guitar legend Pat Martino:

Here are some excerpts/pages from the book that you might find interesting/insightful and useful:

SCALES:

Firstly, we see Pats thoughts on the many scales available to create his intervallic studies: [He seems to have had an impressive encyclopaedic knowledge of scales].

pat-martino-intervallic-studies-jazz-guitar-book

Here, Pat lays out the main/commonly used scales to his preferred/choice of harmony [inversions/voicing’s]

Here, his harmonic expansion is continued: Again, scale to harmony [chord voicing’s].

This page demonstrates once again, scales and harmony with possibilities and personal choices. It’s interesting to see Pats chord voicing’s available for development with his unique intervallic concept:

[It presenst a unique glimpse into Pat’s theoretical outlook, considerations and harmonic outlook].

Full Study: The Melodic minor scale EXAMPLE:

Now, let’s take a complete study. Here is the first one of the melodic minor set :

pat-martino-intervallic-studies-jazz-guitar-book-melodic-minor

pat-martino-intervallic-studies-jazz-guitar-book-melodic-minor-scale

Pat’s studies to be completed:

Towards the end of the book we find that Pat was either still working on the book or he didn’t have time to complete [in all 12 keys] everything that was in his mind.

Here is an Example:

Although incomplete, here we see Pat preparing studies for the Spanish Gypsy scale, with the key points of string order and correct guitar fingering:

LAST EXAMPLE: FULL STUDY

Lastly, we have a full study with the Hungarian minor scale: Once again notice the string order and Pat’s choice/recommended guitar fingering.

IN CONCLUSION:

In conclusion, these are some of the important pages of the book, although there are lots more studies of interest and some more interesting pages [chords/scales] that I will publish in a later blog. But, this is the main core for those interested.

Judging by this book, although, Pat was an amazing jazz guitarist/composer and improviser he also seems to have been a great theoretician and super creative individual with a vast knowledge of music and not just jazz:

Finally, I would like to say a big thanks to Mark Koch for sending me the book and making all of this possible.

PDF DOWNLOAD:

pat-martino-unpublished-jazz-guitar-book Download

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“Minor-isation”For Backing Track Improvisation:

Posted on April 30, 2024May 10, 2024 by Modern Music Theory and Application

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“Minor-isation”or the minor topic.[Backing Track]

Hi Guys,

Today, a quick look at applying minor-isation for improvisation over a backing track:

This is a very useful way to play over ambiguous harmony or Jazz fusion chord progressions, slash chords and sometimes illogical movement/chord shifts.

So, what do we do? and how does this work?

ANSWER=Employ the minor key for everything!

Let’s say we take this chord FMaj#11 – we will go to chord iii of F Major and use that for our improvisational point. In this case it’s A minor.

minor-topic-pat-martino-minorisation-track

Let’s apply the same principle to DbMaj7#11

If we apply chord iii we have F minor:

This time we will apply it to B Maj7#11

Chord iii being D#minor [Although I have notated it enharmonically with Eb minor as some people find that easier to visualise on the guitar fingerboard]

BARS 9 TO 12

In bars 9 to 12 you will see slash chords. For these we will go to chord Vi. So for instance on Db/Eb we will use Bb minor.

Bars 9 to 11: Chord Vi:

And on C/D chord Vi will be A minor:

We could also use chord iii as we did in the first 8 bars:

Bars 9 to 11: Chord iii Employed:

LAST 4 BARS

For the last part we will employ chord iii of Db Major throughout: This of course being F minor:

Here is the chart for the full backing track and you will see how all of this works:

IN CONCLUSION:

This is just a basic example of how “minor-isation” can be exploited to create really fluid improvisation especially on the guitar in a modern smooth jazz fusion context:

FREE PDF DOWNLOAD:

minor-isation Download

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