It is a repeating 8 bar chord progression in C minor. The song is called ‘Tones For Elvin Jones’ and it’s in 5/4. This is a guitar solo transcription of an absolutely killing solo by guitar wizard John McLaughlin.
This month I decided to really give everyone a challenge.
Or reach me at my social media profiles, ( Instagram or Facebook).Bass Transcription – John McLaughlin Guitar Solo on Tones For Elvin Jones Remember to leave a comment or share your thoughts in the comment section below. Understanding these basic concepts in his playing will open a lot of doors for us to build upon. The phrases feel like they’re left open up in the air, creating a lot of tension.Įlvin Jones was one of those drummers who brought many innovations to the drums, and his influence can not only be felt in jazz but in every musical genre. On examples 1 and 2, notice in the recording, how he stresses the second triplet on all of those ideas.Īlso, check the third bar in example 4, he lands the phrase on the kick drum in the second triplet of beat four, giving a deceiving resolution. Throughout Elvin’s playing, we can hear him stressing or even landing phrases on the second triplet. The Middle Tripletįinally, here is another trademark from Elvin’s playing: the use of the second triplet or middle triplet.
#Elvin jones transcription how to#
In the previous Elvin lesson, there are many exercises and ideas on how to develop this concept. He would play the polyrhythmic idea, and keep the ride happening, creating contrast by playing the two rhythmic layers, the ride cymbal in 4/4 and the motif in 3/4 underneath. He would play intricate rhythmic patterns between his left hand and feet, keeping the jazz ride pattern all the way through.įours #2 is a fantastic example. This is another concept for which Elvin is known. When you listen to Elvin’s solo, you may think he’s playing free, (no tempo, no structures) but in reality, he’s keeping track of the song’s form. These first two soloing concepts or devices (Rate Shift and Polyrhythmic Phrasing) would give Elvin that floaty and loose feel. Some of the most common of Elvin’s polyrhythmic ideas were 3/4 and 5/4 phrases on top of the 4/4 bar. He starts the motif at beat four of bar number 2 and keeps playing it till the end of the trading. He plays the idea three times and changes it at beat two on bar three. Notice the first two bars of Fours #2, Elvin plays this three-beat phrase that goes over the bar line. Polyrhythmic PhrasingĪnother contribution from Elvin’s playing is his polyrhythmic phrasing.Įlvin would play odd meter phrases on top of the 4/4 bar.įours #2 and #3 are great examples. Those shift rates from 8th note triplets to 16th notes is one of Elvin’s trademarks. If you analyze Elvin’s playing, you’ll notice he does this quite a lot, both comping and soloing. That type of rate shift gives the impression of the phrasing speeding up, and also a feeling of flowing over the tempo. In Fours #1, notice how he uses 8th notes triplets for most of the phrase, and suddenly in beat 2 of the last bar, he goes into a run of 16th notes. Rate ShiftĪlthough I wouldn’t say Elvin was the first to do this, the way he introduced the shifts was unique.Įlvin would make the change in unexpected or uncommon places, like on beat 2 or beat 4 of the bar, giving the impression of playing odd phrases on top of the 4/4 bars. There are four aspects of this solo that I would like to point out, which I feel are essential if we want to absorb and understand Elvin’s playing. Here is the track, so you have an idea of how it sounds like. It looks simple, but getting the right vibe and understanding the phrasing takes a while.
Nevertheless, it has many of the elements we want to learn from when studying Elvin’s playing. I find this solo simple enough to get your feet wet with Elvin’s style. I transcribed the trading-4s section from the track “Anthropology” from Elvin’s album “Dear John C.” In this lesson, we’ll be breaking down some Elvin’s phrasing and orchestration which made his sound so unique within the jazz drumming language. His innovations transformed the way drummers approached the drum set and up to these days Elvin we can feel his influence in pretty much every jazz drummer playing in the scene. His work with The John Coltrane Quartet in the 60’s changed the jazz drumming world. Understanding Elvin’s comping style is going to make it easier for you to understand what his soloing is about.Īs I said before in the previous lesson, Elvin Jones is one of the most innovative and influential drummers of the post-Bop era. If you have not checked it out, I recommend you do so before moving forward they are highly related. A few months ago, I shared with you a lesson on Elvin Jones, entitled How To Comp On The Drums Like Elvin Jones, in which I discussed the comping side of the great late Elvin Jones’ playing.
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