GUITAR BLOG #13 - PAT METHENY's SECRET TECHNIQUE, explained and expanded for MODERN JAZZ GUITAR

[Arrayarr]

I think you're right on the money, dude! Excellent work; thanks for sharing!

[TheEvilskum]

I think Pat Metheny uses more of Hybrid picking and less of alternate picking.. I'm not too sure though.

[MortenFaerestrand]

@TheEvilskum Really? Why do you think that? I have never seen him use hybrid picking, he holds his pick with three fingers, and have a closed right-hand, so I don't see how he even could..

[TheEvilskum]

@MortenFaerestrand

You're right. I'm sorry, it was a hunch. But yeah, using hybrid picking might make it easier??

[CrazyKing89]

holdsworth does

[CrazyKing89]

@CrazyKing89 the hammer on to the unpicked strings

[kazuko32]

This is fantastic, Morten! You have made me want to play more, develop my style & see where the evolution takes me. There are loads of guitar vids on you tube but this in in the cream of of the crop! You are inspirational & just what aspiring musicians need. The most important aspect of it all is that you come across as a decent, compassionate & sharing human being which this world needs more of.

[ivormerven]

You just get more amazing Morten, Practice makes perfect eh ? I love jamming along either on the synthesizer or the guitar to Are You Going With Me ? Or au lait or the Bat, love Offramp must've bought it about 10 times since first heard it... Oh have a listen to mike stern on the steps ahead track Beirut !! The vibraphone solo is just pure joy, if I could send it to you I'm sure you'd like it.. How could I share some of my sounds ? Oh will you look at techno pagans on my page did it 20 yrs ago !

[SensibleMusician]

LOL I just noticed your dog sleeping through the whole video. Thanks for sharing this technique.

[rebbesoul]

One of the best instructional, guitar videos I have ever had the pleasure of watching. Thank you, Morten.

[Ryanoh44]

no wonder the dog sleeps in there epic playing, epic musician.

[GuitarGare]

Instead of knowing this stuff, I was asleep all these years. It strongly features that aspect of Pat's playing that makes him look like it's "not all there"...this fellow has opened a large door. Insight galore. :) ♫

[packfaz79]

Excellent lesson! Big PM fan here. Many thanks for breaking Pat's lick down for those of us consigned to be lessor mortals.

[guitarguy10000]

So That's how Pat gets his speed. Great lesson by the way, and hammering on the lower strings will easily give you a tone, so you can concentrate your picking energy on the high E, and B strings. Makes perfect sense.

[flypilot70]

Yes it seems that u have the patience to be an instructor.

[flypilot70]

This is a good lesson and might i say i think you convey the lesson very well.Thank You for your effort.

[favre4ever1995]

Great Lesson! What pick are you using man?

[rwmcjazz]

It's nice to leave the pick out of the equation at times, as things sound smoother and less (pick) percussive. Nice ideas. Thanks

[mauriciohorsth]

Very good! Thanks for shearing!!!

[acappellaworld]

revealing! Thanks!

[stringskippa]

Great lesson!

[rajuas]

pretty smart my friend, my respect... Saludos!!!!

[cgjensen9]

OF course you should give lessons via Skype. Great idea. Thanks for a great non-ego type of guitar feeling, really awesome.

[gbtayc]

I think Pat Metheny can actually pick those hammered on notes

Not sure but I think he can.

I think he does some of both.

[Flamencanta]

If this example was your own (3ab) you already are a high level person not only guitarist to me (: goodj and thank you anyway !

[sergicabedo]

Thank you very very very much man! Your video really opens the doors to a new and wonderful world for those people who, like me, love Metheny's way o playin'. And I love your quiet and kind way for teaching, and I think your dog loves it too!! I'm suscribed, keep in that line dude!

[sundaygbrown]

Great lesson!

Cheers from hungary,

Tamas

[issarakoat]

you're awesome!!!

and again. your dog is so cute.

[HermerTV]

you are the killer

[HermerTV]

its too much for me i will try to practice like you. you are a great player. thanks for this awesome lesson and the strange lines i love this :D and your way to teach guitar. awesome

[tcshea]

Nifty lesson I never seriously considered hammering while skipping more than one string over before now you have me practicing it!

[MortenFaerestrand]

@tcshea Awesome! It's a technique that really opens new doors! :)

[NyJazzGuit]

Great lesson and very interesting insights! Thanks for sharing!

[MortenFaerestrand]

@NyJazzGuit Thanks for watching!

[raljazz]

My friend - what kind of guitar are you playing there??

[MortenFaerestrand]

@raljazz it's a Campellone, all info on my gear is on the resource part of mortenslessons . com

[oceanjaws]

Fantastic lesson.

I've subscribed to you lessons.

Thanks so much.

But please stop schmatzen!

it's so hard to listen to!

nonetheless, thanks so much for your generous lessons!

[patfarlow]

awesome lesson!

[MortenFaerestrand]

@patfarlow Thank you!

[guitarjazzer1]

Incidentaly, this is a dominant 7 lick as it has the #, natural and b 5 in it (B7, Emaj9). you could also use it as a tritone substitution (F7, Emajor9). The notes that you choose to pick could be the ones that define its use. This opens a whole new way to define harmonic content within a line.

[guitarjazzer1]

This is a great teaching video. I try to find pieces of music that I can incorporate into my own style. I'll take major or minor arpeggios and do almost everything with them, floating on top of the chord harmony rather than learning licks that can only be used in limited applications. But this gives me a whole new prospect to be able to get to notes that are not accessable in the time available and a new chromatic way to get from one place to another.

thanks a lot, your tone is exceptional,

[MortenFaerestrand]

@guitarjazzer1 Thank you, glad to hear the video was helpful!

[StromboliKicks]

holdsworth likes to hammering too!

[MortenFaerestrand]

@rfwgtr You are stating the obvious here - of course very few are able to play as well as Pat, that's a given. The whole point of this lesson is not to make people try to emulate Pat, it is to teach an idea, the basic building blocks of it, so students can use whatever they want of it as a starting point of being creative themselves. Understanding this technique has made me able to play many things that doesn't even sound close to what Pat is doing, things I would not have thought of otherwise.

[et7waage1]

Thanks for explaining this great technique!

[philnigro]

Hi Morten, I think you can give us lesson via Skype :)

[MortenFaerestrand]

@philnigro not skype, mortenslessons . com

[philnigro]

@MortenFaerestrand I know, it was just beacause you asked in the vid :)

anyway, you are doing a great job

[800pieds]

Disappointed because I thought you would explain where to get his t-shirt, since everyone knows that's where his talent comes from.

Great lesson thanks :)

[MortenFaerestrand]

@800pieds oh, I wish..

[satch077]

greg howe does that too... i don't know who came up with this earlier, but i know, that howe also uses that a lot and he calls it hammer ons from nowhere...you can look it up on youtube, theres some explanation from him on that approach.

great lesson keep em coming up!

[SuperNoobTroll]

i heard pat has a line 6 unit hidden in his hair that makes that sound...i remember something about the top secret cable also being important

[jamesedwardtheobald]

I think the real secret to Pat's playing is the wincing expressions he makes with his face. won't sound the same without 'the face' . :)

[MortenFaerestrand]

@jamesedwardtheobald hehe, that's another one of his secrets I guess!

[jamesedwardtheobald]

@MortenFaerestrand i remember reading on some youtube post somebody hating on metheny because he was 'too happy', and his music was 'too beautiful'. maybe they were being clever, though!

[MortenFaerestrand]

@jamesedwardtheobald Well, some people like ugly music. Why they bother posting their hate on youtube is a mystery to me.

[breno72]

Congratulations on your musicality and sensitivity. His improvisation and compositions are really beautiful. What are the effects of combinations you use to leave the guitar with this sound

[MortenFaerestrand]

@breno72 Thanks so much! I use a little compression, reverb and delay.

[Untitled013]

hi Morten, I like your guitar blogs, please keep doing them ;)

but I do have a small request: i have the .pdf for this blog, and I really like it that you transcribe the licks you explain in the video, but in the future, could you maybe put chord symbols above the licks, or tell us what scale it is based on, so we don't have to figure out for ourselves over what chords the lick can be played.

[MortenFaerestrand]

@Untitled013 Thank you! I may put chord symbols in some of the lessons, but one of the main points I make is that is is not ONE chord it CAN be played over. If you're thinking about the "pat metheny lick" that one is kind of so chromatic in nature that I can't really say what scale, just look for chord tones. See, whenever a student ask me "Can I do this over that chord" my answer is always "You CAN do whatever you want.." ;-) Hope that clears things up a little.. :-)

[rbnlenin]

I like this technique. I'm having some trouble getting a good sound from it though. Not as clean as you get it. It may be due to my roundwound strings though.

[MortenFaerestrand]

@rbnlenin maybe, also, if you pull the tone control down a bit that kind of works like a natural compression, evens it out a bit. And I think you can't have the action to high either. Thanks.

[TheBassioso]

Mmm, I will practice this and incorporate it in to my playing/soloing! As you mention, it´s normally used when tapping, also when I play only legato stuff of course but never in combination with picking. The sound of playing sixteen notes and tapping every fourth sounds really fun and inspires to many combinations!

A new world has been opened, Thanks :)

[MortenFaerestrand]

@TheBassioso hehe, it opened a new world to me too:)

[RyanCmetal]

amazing lesson

[MortenFaerestrand]

@RyanCmetal Thank you, glad you liked it! :)

[ChrisHollandMusic]

Greg Howe uses this technique as well, he calls it "hammer-ons from nowhere".

[pabzum]

Excellent video!

On the three-string lick, doesn't PM hammer on the higher tone as well? I've always had that impression. I think that's why the body of his hand twists so much. He must pick the middle string only, and hammer on the two adjacent strings. I haven't actually watched him in slow motion to check that.

[MortenFaerestrand]

@pabzum Thank you! I'm pretty sure he picks the top tone. Not that it really matters, if that works for you, go ahead!

[ivanfranasovic]

You definitely have the tools to teach! Tnx for adding me as a friend.

[bobbysbackingtracks]

Morten, Hi brother enjoy your knowledge sharing you are offering here. Respect. have you checked out my site and my Pat backs?I would love to send you a few . Email?

[limagroup]

Hey, who's that guy laid down behind you??????

[MortenFaerestrand]

@limagroup that's mister Sam, the Bull Baiting Jazz Dog! :-)

[limagroup]

Hehehe, so cool man... My dogs love been besides me while I play too...

Where are you from?

Let's keep in touch, dude

[ScottFree37]

Good stuff Morten, you're a good player and teacher. So yeah, I think you should start skype lessons. Good luck

[MortenFaerestrand]

@ScottFree37 Thank you! I'm thinking about how I should do it, maybe more like a mentorship rather than regular single lessons.

[D3R3K1600]

8:55 I liked that sound!

[MortenFaerestrand]

@D3R3K1600 hehe, thank you, it'll be okay when I learn to execute it properly:)

[D3R3K1600]

I'm messing with this hammer on idea on different strings with your previous examples on paradiddles. My picking hand is so confused, what a cool way to progress though, thanks!

[MortenFaerestrand]

@D3R3K1600 hahaha, yeah, that's well put, the picking hand IS confused in the beginning! It's like it's saying "huh, I wasn't supposed to pick that tone? o-key, saaarrey.. shish.."

[IMBACHABRI]

hey!what's best metheny's album for a start?

[MortenFaerestrand]

@IMBACHABRI Depends on what you like. Still Life (talking) maybe? Or if you lke a jazz guitar trio maybe Tokyo Day Trip. Letter From Home is fantastic. If you like the early ECM style there is "Pat Metheny Group" or watercolors. The first I heard of Pat Metheny was the album First Circle. The title cut is still one of my favourite songs.

[fendermac]

I'm operating in a completely different area (and at a much lower level) than you but I really dig what you said about different attacks giving different sounds and thus more colour to your phrasing.I play blues at a quarter your speed but love to mix up and down strokes non-consecutively,the side of the pick,nails and/or pads,all to give me different sounds and a more 'vocal' and expressive feel.

[MortenFaerestrand]

@fendermac that's great, that this concept appeal to a blues player too, cool! Let's see where you can go with this! :-)

[MortenFaerestrand]

@Axemaniac thank you, glad you enjoyed it!! :-)

[stringlov]

it look"s like a Gypsy Guitar Pick ?

[MortenFaerestrand]

@stringlov it's a red bear, the thickest they make. I think they call the gauge "gypsy" yes

[brwnhornet59]

Sensei, i have asked you all along if you gave online lessons. I think it is a great idea.

Go for it!!!

[MortenFaerestrand]

@brwnhornet59 noted:)

[brwnhornet59]

I recognize your signature lick. Way cool. You did it in the etude in B min at your concert. I have been trying to catch it for several weeks. LOL

[brwnhornet59]

Awesome topic. Awesome instruction. Awesome playing! T/y Sir.

[MortenFaerestrand]

@brwnhornet59 Thanks bro!

[charlesneedham]

Morten I love this stuff and you're a great educator, but do you think you could mic your speech? It would help a lot with volume imbalance issues.

[MortenFaerestrand]

@charlesneedham Yeah, I may have to do something about it, I try to even the volume out with a limiter, but it may not be enough. Have you tried listening with head phones?

[ngertch]

This video is a good example of what makes the internet so amazing

Thanks Morten

[MortenFaerestrand]

@ngertch Thank you, yes the internet is indeed amazing! :)

[Rg1527]

Greg Howe Does these hammer ons from nowhere =]

[MortenFaerestrand]

@Rg1527 I was not aware of that! I haven't really listened to him, he does a bit of right hand tapping too, doesn't he?

[Rg1527]

@MortenFaerestrand just a little bit, not alot. He's more of a fusion player than a jazz one though

[MortenFaerestrand]

@Rg1527 exactly, that makes it a little bit different, when you play with distortion. But it works then too, obviously..:)

[RaerY1959]

for example:we all have to forget the technique for drivin' a car.well a guitar needs a little bit longer to forget!

[RaerY1959]

forget technlcs,play,what you've never played before.that's a key to your own playin'