John McLaughlin-Prime Numbers-Alternate Pick Guitar Examples/Thoughts

Hi Guys,

Here are the Number groupings from the Youtube video I posted today as promised.

First of all we have the 4+1 or 1 e and a 2. [Hence nailing the next beat].

Sheet music showing rhythmic grouping of John McLaughlin's 4 + 1 with notes and time signatures for guitar technique.

This could also be transformed into a quintuplet. Or, Ta ka di mi thom from Johns use of Konokol.

john-mclaughlin-guitar-lesson

Here, we double this amazing “Prime number”.

NOTICE: We start on a downstroke for the first grouping and then start on an upstroke for the next grouping.

Musical notation with notes and tablature for guitar, showcasing various rhythms and groupings of John McLaughlin guitar techniques.
Musical notation and tab demonstrating alternate picking techniques and rhythmic groupings .

In terms of “Alternate Picking” guitar technique this creates some magic dust in our favour as not only are we two beats ahead of typical 4 note picking groupings, we are also connecting with both the up and downstrokes resulting in very quick and fluid picking.

From this, we can then start to break it up into musical motifs or phrases or riff/unison material.

john-mclaughlin-guitar-lesson

The next great number for interesting phrasing and alternate picking groupings is the prime number 7

Music notation showing a sequence of notes with a 7 for John McLaughlin alternate picking and time signature.

Now, let’s connect these two prime number patterns together!

Sheet music notation showing guitar tabs and rhythmic markings for musical phrasing, prime numbers and John McLaughlin's alternate picking techniques.
Musical notation illustrating the connection of two prime number patterns in guitar technique.

This next example is also useful, although, it’s not a prime number but a group of 6 notes “Sextuplets”

Musical notation illustrating a sequence of six notes. McLaughlin's  a rhythmic pattern.

From this, let’s add two more notes to form a common grouping of 8 notes:

john-mclaughlin-guitar-lesson

We will now add one more note for a group of 9

john-mclaughlin-guitar-lesson

9- Example 2

john-mclaughlin-guitar-lesson

Now, let’s go up one more again for ten notes.

john-mclaughlin-guitar-lesson

10-Example 2

A musical notation sheet showing rhythmic patterns and guitar tabs for John McLaughlin prime number guitar technique.

This time we will go back to prime numbers with a group of 13 notes

Musical notation showing a series of notes and tablature for guitar, with specific symbols indicating John McLaughlin's  rhythm and phrasing.
Musical notation illustrating a grouping of 13 notes [Prime number] for alternate picking techniques.

Finally, let’s exploit a whole bar of 4/4 time

Sheet music displaying a John McLaughlin guitar exercise with notes, including various groupings and techniques for alternate picking.
Guitar tablature and notation illustrating alternate picking techniques and rhythmic groupings of John McLaughlin.

In conclusion, this was just a concept related to alternate picking guitar technique specifically.

This is because sometimes the rhythmic motifs are not logical and need to be re-framed in order to make sense of the demands of the picking hand.

Also, sometimes starting on an upstroke works better than the down stroke or visa versa. These prime numbers generally put us a beat ahead which for alternate picking is extremely important because otherwise there is the age old tendency to just tremolo and hammer on willy nilly trying to catch up and this music is the antithesis of that.

So, in summation: These groupings help make sense of illogical phrasing for the picking hand whilst making sure that we are ahead in the music.

“Shakti/McLaughlin” Mid Tempo Guitar Exercise [Alternate Picking]

Hi Guys,

Today, a short “Mid-Tempo” [around 140bpm] JohnMcLaughlin/Shakti style alternate picking guitar exercise for scale connections in the fretting hand.

This is in regard to crossing the strings and connecting different scale fragments together.

The first concept is that of employing the open string. This gives the fretting hand a hundredth of a second to rest and hence easily get into position to fret the next note at a mid and fast tempo.

Note: fourth 16th note = Open String

shakti-mclaughlin-indo-jazz-guitar-exercise

In the next part, we can see both open strings employed to make it easy for the fretting hand to get into position and connect to the next scale fragment.

The last note in the bar, the open B natural, makes it easy for us to cross the string smoothly.

shakti-mclaughlin-indo-jazz-guitar-lesson

shakti-mclaughlin-indo-jazz-guitar-exercise

In this bar, we employ semitones as they are easy to finger/fret, and, also to cross the guitar strings when descending.

shakti-mclaughlin-indo-jazz-guitar-exercise

Here, is an extended variation that employs the same alternate picking John McLaughlin concepts that we have just looked at:

john-mclaughlin-indian-guitar-scales

These simple concepts for the fretting hand when alternate picking might not seem much, but, they are the little hinges that swing the big door when holding the tempo together. Especially, when playing with a tabla/drum.

It also makes it easier for the right picking hand to pluck the strings as the fretting hand is not under pressure, and, there are spaces for the fretting hand to rest and get into position.

PDF DOWNLOAD:

Indian Raga GUITAR SCALES John Mclaughlin SHAKTI STYLE

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John Mclaughlin Raga “Shakti” Indian Guitar Alternate Picking lines Lesson Examples

PLEASE WATCH VIDEO ABOVE FOR MORE DETAIL:

BELOW: FULL PDF OF BOTH SHAKTI GUITAR EXAMPLES

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Today, we will look at 2 “Shakti” Indian Raga-esque John Mclaughlin guitar lines. They both employ strict “Alternate Picking” starting on a “Down” stroke.

Indian Raga GUITAR SCALES John Mclaughlin SHAKTI STYLE

Remember to “Accent” the 1st note of each 4 note grouping.

Indian, guitar, Raga, Lesson, Shakti, John, Mclaughlin, Teen, Taal, Alternate, Picking, Lesson, examples
Indian Raga GUITAR SCALES John Mclaughlin SHAKTI STYLE

Indian Raga Line #1

Indian, guitar, Raga, Lesson, Shakti, John, Mclaughlin, Teen, Taal, Alternate, Picking, Lesson, examples
Indian Raga GUITAR SCALES John Mclaughlin SHAKTI STYLE

Indian Raga Line #2

Indian, guitar, Raga, Lesson, Shakti, John, Mclaughlin, Teen, Taal, Alternate, Picking, Lesson, examples
Indian Raga GUITAR SCALES John Mclaughlin SHAKTI STYLE

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