John McLaughlin - This Is Not Like Other Approaches

This John McLaughlin lesson is an analysis of his solo on the F blues Take The Coltrane. What you will see is that his approach to creating lines is often very different from the usual ways that we use scales and arpeggios and think about melodies that move from chord to chord. In this solo his use of chromaticism, shifting melodies and longer melodic stretches is extra-ordinary and really worth checking out.

John McLaughlin is among the musicians who invented what we call fusion today. He is known for his extra-ordianry technique, and for mixing jazz with both Spanish and Indian folk music. He has worked with everybody from Miles Davis to Jaco Pastorious and Carlos Santana.

But he also has a strong grasp of more mainstream jazz and in this video I am going to take a look at some parts of his solo on Take The Coltrane, which is a Blues in F.

This recording is from an album with Elvin Jones and Joey DeFrancesco where McLaughlin is exploring the Organ trio concept. An album which has a lot of material inspired by John Coltrane.

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[JensLarsen]

What do you think about this approach? Who else really does this? 🙂

[paullister]

Incredible analysis … 8 years ago, I was travelling in India and had the good fortune to meet John Mclaughlin in person. I was catching a plane from Mumbai to Goa, the plane had a fault and everybody had to disembark and wait at the gate for a replacement. To cut a long story short, the people I walked back to the gate with turned out to be the Shakti road crew. I told them I was a big fan, and they told me I could meet John if I wished. There were very few people waiting at the gate, and John subsequently appeared. I walked over to him, introduced myself and we started talking. I don’t think I have ever met anyone more comfortable in their own skin. We talked about many things, including Godin guitars, Carlos Santana and the Montreux Jazz festival. He asked his crew to get in touch with me in Goa, and to give me a ticket for the Shakti concert that evening. It was an incredible evening, very warm, starry sky, in old, open-air theatre … I had a front row seat. His playing was hypnotic to say the least. One thing that really sticks in my memory though, is his response to my question: ‘how do you do what you do on the guitar?’ … his answer was ‘I don’t intellectualise it’ … by analysing what he does, it most definitely serves to demonstrate just how incredible John Mclaughlin is … like you say, it’s way beyond the chords … so thank you.

[blucheer]

John was brilliant at fusing jazz blues and rock into a “haggis” all his own. John once said in a “guitar player” magazine interview something that encompasses life “you must know everything there is possible to know and understand about playing the guitar then forget it at the drop of a pin and play from the heart” after that I composed a practice jam I call “drop of a pin” and I practice then just let fly from the heart!

[Bral]

Everytime i look up for something about jazz, this man made a clear and accessible video about it. Thank you!

[robbromhead]

I loved that. Never in all my 35 years of loving his music has anyone ever given me so much insight.

[betterthantelly]

He is one of the most ridiculously brilliant musicians ever! Thank you for your kind generosity in presenting his brilliance.

[chrischoir]

McLaughlin is cool, when he plays it's like falling down stairs but he regains his footing before hitting his head. It's kinda like controlled chaos.

[Jameskeith]

He’s one of my favorite guitarists and biggest influences. Master of intervals and much more.

[RealDiaz]

Ive been a hardcore fan since the 70's and got to meet him in '84. He was light years ahead of everyone and is a true jazz master. I think it is futile to try and demystify his technique without a full understanding of Indian music and Bill Evans voicing technique. And that's not even mentioning his outside technique like from his Miles years. John will always be my favorite player. He plays direct from his spirit. Great video.

[Hollowguit]

More than JML extraordinary work on this tune, the first thing that I caught was the groove of Elvin and Joey. I defy anyone not to tap their foot to what they do together. And combine that with JML magic and you have a timeless classic.

[ilostmymind]

My favorite all time guitarist john McLaughlin brilliant

[winstonsmith]

Late to the party on this, but I know someone who knew John as a young player in a big band . They would call for him in his hotel room the morning after a gig, and he would often still be in his dinner suit, after being up all night, practicing, trying to correct any mistakes from the previous night! Lovely guy too, apparently. Fantastic musician. Thanks Jens. ( Take the Coltrane. 👍).

[patbreacadh]

This is a great lesson on one of my heroes.

[dkwvt]

John McLaughlin forever changed my approach to guitar in the early 70's, His work with Miles Davis blew my mind and I will take "Tribute to Jack Johnson" to the grave with me... It took me a while to learn JM actually played more traditional material as well. Great choice of a standard with some of his more creative thinking applied. His theory is always in [brackets] and I always wanted to believe he was just "playing". Thanks for this lesson, it is a treat! 😎

[priyas.]

I listened to Shakti and Mahavishnu Orchestra four years ago, life has never the same since then.
McLaughlin has always had that Knack to work with and find brilliant musicians from across the globe, it's absolutely fantastic. Be it his early albums with Miles Davis, Tony Williams, Santana and Joe Ferrell or his solo albums or his work with some of the most exceptional musicians from India, I guess it can't be compared with anything else.
Thanks for this wonderful video! :) Much appreciated.

[mellodc]

Hey Jens, Great job taking this apart! Love your clear explanations.

[HiwattW]

Thank you for a great, great tutorial...Miles once said that 'John goes to his knowledge...' John was great almost right from the get go, anybody in doubt should check out 'Binky's Beam' from his Extrapolation album. IMHO one of the greatest examples of guitar playing of all time- and this from 1969.

[vicentesalvadorpitrelli]

Excelente gracias Jens, no es facil analizar al maestro John McLaughlin pero tu lo ha hecho, su musica me acompaño toda mi vida tengo 64 años y he escuchado todo lo que ha grabado, te doy las gracias nuevamente y te mando un saludo afectuoso dese Argentina, ..cuidate mucho..

[ivonsmith]

This is an awesome approach and so thankful that you chose to break it all down Jens! So few people dare to try with John's music; yet there is such amazing scope of music that he's done since 1970 onwards...Brilliant thanks; would welcome even more Mclaughlin break downs please!

[ShaneParish]

Love your vids. I listen to them while I’m doing sport, and visualize the concepts. I feel that it is very generous of you to analyze some of McLaughlin’s lines where he seems to be just “going for it” and not being bothered by the changes at all. Again, love your concise and clear analyses! Lots of fun! Thanks!