The REAL Pat Metheny Lick

[14luisalonso]

Best 4 seconds on all youtube. thank you.

[gbtayc]

@gbtayc

I worked on the studio version of “Have You Heard” which has this type of lick.

It might be different than the lick you listened to.

In the lick I learned I think he is sliding into the fourth note from a step below which is picked then slid

That’s what it sounds like to me when I slowed it down to a snail’s pace with a program called transcribe

That is a generalization He mixes up things quite a bit

I think he has the ability to pick that fast in string skipping situations

???

[faopus14]

i find it easier to play without the hmmer on , instead i use economy picking , down , down , up , up(the hammered note)

[drainard]

The 2nd and 3rd notes of each beat can be played with a single upstroke. This makes the pattern very do-able at faster tempos.

[kuitarl]

@drainard i just discovered this myself! i've been learning and performing pat's music for years but thought i'd never overcome the technical hurdle of this lick. this shortcut unfortunately doesn't accommodate his increasingly frequent "string-skipping" variations of it, but it's a boon for us sweep-pickers. hooray, and thanks for posting!

[iamthewalrus911]

So you're hammering on every note on the 5th string with your middle finger? Is that what the notation says?

[drainard]

Yes. That's the ticket. There's a variation where the 3rd note is a pull off, meaning you only pick the first two notes. Pat is the very picture of efficiency.

[SPGGuitar251]

Very well done. Thank you.

[evascud]

Daniel, this is amazing! The sonic difference between a hammeron and a picked note are really what gives it that instant "This is Metheny" feel and sound. I totally relate to your 'holy grail' experience. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[drainard]

Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad that you found this useful.

[JOHNNYG99X]

does he use his little finger or this finger for the high notes.. seems fingering is really key here !

[drainard]

Yes.

[JOHNNYG99X]

this is hard to pull off.. thanks for sharing. back to practice !

[Brunototguitar]

yes, the context really counts, but it´s a really good lick.

[drainard]

I think it's useful to practice this idea over all the chord scales you can. Apply it over a tunes and make it your own. The reason it is Metheny's signature lick is that seemingly no one else has worked it up to a level of performance to make something new out of it. I think this is a technique that deserves more recognition. Like Wes and his octaves, Metheny's jumping positions or whatever you want to call it is a kind of revolutionary approach.

[drainard]

These two bars are F/G and resolve to G in the next bar. The technique is the thing but I agree that context is important. Thanks for asking.

[inky960]

@drainard Wouldn't F/G resolve to C? I guess it depends. Just playing an F/G, I'm hearing a G9sus4, so there's a dominant 7 thing, minus the B, but still... going to G just sounds a little "different" -- nice, though.

[drainard]

@inky960 Yeah. I hear G9sus4 too. Slash chords are just a convenience of writing. They're easier to fit in a score I suppose.

[thedwork]

cool dan.

would it be possible for you to add what the harmony is going on underneath the phrase? what tune it is that he's playing over in this example? that sure would be a good thing to know - for many reasonms.