@Troy Hi Troy, great job! - and a very scientific but practical approach to guitar picking!
I am Rod from Germany (Hope you understand me). I am an amateur guitarist for more than 40 years. My first Guitar Hero was John Mclaughlin and my second one was Paco de Lucia. Trying to copy them gave me a tendonitis before they played together on stage! Paco sadly died in 2014 but John is still alive. Is there any chance to give him the “cracking the code” treatment, so that he can show us how to play guitar? This man still is a mystery to me.
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Hi Rod.
I think many of us would like to see McLaughlin sit down with @Troy ! In the meantime, if you haven’t already, you’ll want to check out the below chapter from Antigravity, where Troy makes observations about McLaughlin’s technique from looking at concert and television footage:
https://troygrady.com/seminars/antigravity/chapter-21-john-mclaughlin/
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Hi Rod,
I am a fan of Paco too even though I mainly play with the pick. I had the chance to see him live at the Roman Theater of Carthage in 2013. It was sad to hear about his passing just a few months after the concert.
Willkommen!
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I’ve emailed John back in the day. At the time, his significant other wrote back saying that John believes that picking technique works differently for everyone, and therefore there’s no reason to do an interview like ours. We mailed him again last year I think, no response, though I have no idea if that message got through. If we run into him somewhere we’d be happy to broach the topic in person, probably more effectively.
It’s a common belief among the previous generation of players that technique is unteachable, and part of our work is approaching the subject with a delicate touch so as not to offend. Usually, you find that these players are happy to share their abilities if you can connect with them in a non-judgemental way. Our interviews with Marty Friedman and David Grier are good examples of this.
The good news about John’s technique it is very clear, and we understand most of it pretty well. As mentioned above, there is a chapter on it in Antigravity. We also do a bunch more of this in the Pickslanting Primer:
https://troygrady.com/primer/upward-pickslanting/john-mclaughlin/
Here we take a look at the hand setup, and explain one of the most common picking patterns in John’s vocabulary that works with uwps. You will not need to spend years of tendon-destroying practice to play these lines. Playing at John’s level of speed is less important than playing them smoothly and fluidly at whatever tempos you are already capable of.
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Hi Frylock,
many thanks for the link. I’d like to see John playing his licks in 4K. A little Shakti and a little Mahavishnu would be fine. I think I’m going to email him.
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Hi kounistou,
thank you very much for welcoming me! If you are interested in Flamenco Guitar played with a pick listen to Todd Kreuzburg. He was the best in this technique (he now plays flamenco in the traditional fingerstyle) https://youtu.be/pnK6zadL0-I
@Troy
Hi Troy, maybe you should ask Jimmy Herring to do a double interview together with John the one? I think it is time for John to pass his technique to the next generations of guitarists. Shakti and Mahavishnu licks in 4K! It’s a dream and a must! Come on Troy, call Jimmy today.
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Jimmy is on our list but his technique is nothing like John’s - he’s a crosspicker and worthy of a discussion of his own.
@Troy
Fine, Jimmy and John are Buddies. If you do an interview with Jimmy, there surely is a chance to get in contact with John. But you should not wait to long.
I got This Is The Way I Do It the day it got out…definitely worth checking out. Among other things you get very clear close ups of his right hand.
Hi Ernest, I would love to have this course on my Ipad, but it’s only available on DVD.
Still, worth every cent. The man share his concepts on technique, harmony and rhythm very clearly. Great camera work-both hands-plus real time score of every solo, plus analysis by Johnny Mac himself.