John McLaughlin “Hearts and Flowers” By Tom Kalb + lead guitarist of the les Davis Group, John Me aughi helped spear- head the jazz-rockffasion move ‘ment of the late '60s. Inthe early 70s his brillant work wthhisown ‘band, dhe Mahavishnu Orchestra, sete stage or thefutureoffasion guitar. With his double-neck | Gibson plugged into cranked Marshals, he effortlessly wove complexmelodiefiguresand fiery altered-seale lines lnrough ever shifting time signatures. Then, in themid'70s Mel aughlin shocked | his fans by switching to acoustic | guitar and playing Indian music THE FORM MeLaughlios*Heartsand Flowers" ‘sacondensed and reharmonized version of Theodore Toblanislate 9dheenury laste. Performedin 6/4 ne, itfollows this form: a 16- ‘rough the head);a return tothe head:andafiee-time outro. | ride the chord tones of the changes. He closes the first eight bar section with another set of melodic motifs, each of whichisa Jhalfmeasire in length Inmeasures9-10:he spotlight shifts to rhythm, as @ succession of ose 8 notes fuels the swing factor. These notes lead to 4 fiery E Phrygian G-A-B-C-D) display over the Bm7-F13-£789613) changes in measure 11-12, Interspersing, a few passing tones, MeLaughlin closes the section (measure 13-16) with chord/ scale relationship tactics: A7HIIIA Lydian dominant (A-B-Ct-D#-E-F#-G); C9/C. Mixolydian (C-D-E-F-G. A-fh); PAVS13/F4 altered scale (FE-G-A-Be-C-D-E); FmIL/P Dorian (F-G-As-Bb-C-D-E), Midway through the solo a serles of 32nd note-fueled sym- metrical pull-off figures outline the changes in measures 17-18 From this point on, MeLatighlin cruises in-and-out ofthe bounds of tonality via chromatic figures (bars 20-21), altered extensions (oars 22, 24, and 31), and & Phrygian (bar 28) and A Lydian dominant (bar 28) passages. Following a return to the head, MeLaughlin goes out with afer vent FDorian cadenza inthe fe time outro section. ‘THE COMPING Asyouperuse thestunningsingle: string work in “Hearts and Flowers" dontavesiookthe genius of McLaughlin's comping, Granted the voicingsarestandard jazefare buttheman- rerinwhichhearpeg, siates them and the Thythms he employs make te background really wing Ityoue not used tophayinginsystime, start very slowly. Tap your foot wie per ‘measute; count “one, two, three, four five, six, ete." (adding an ‘and” where 16th-note sub- divisions occur), and feel each three-note grouping as a set of elghth-note triplets. Fig. offers fan example of this procedure as itappliestoGur-2,The figurealso includes right-hand fingering suggestions if you wish 10 play the part fingerstyle ery Pir co THE soLo Every measure of John Me Laughlin’ solo on “Hearts and Flowers” isa lesson in itself in acoustie-jazz improvisation. ‘MeLaughlin opens with a patr of descending, melodie lines (mea | sures 1-2 of section sting up a string of one-measure melodie \withhisnewgroup, Shakti. inactu: | ality is 1870soloalbum, MyGoal’s | Tie. Beyond, foreshadowed this bold | es a Se nid pivotal nove. The album fea ‘ures McLaughlin performing with ‘band and then by himself in coilectionofintimate"solo duets” One of these overdubbed duets “Hearts and Flowers” provides a sfimpseinto hemaestros breath ‘aking rhythm style and blazing single-string technique. 1190 GUITAR ONE « guitaronemea.com < APR 2008GNX3 Guitar Workstation Powered ee HEARTS AND FLOWERS As Recorded by John McLaughlin (From the Kiting Factory Reissue MY GOALS BEYOND) Transcribed by Adam Perlmutter Public Domain GCPAD [A] Heaa APR. 2008» G1 The Magazine You Can Play. 131Posen Hearts and Flowers ca chm? Gut cn rents 8 192, GUITAR ONE G8 The Magazine You Can Play 133,Hearts and Flowers [B) Guitar Soto te 2:6 Rhy Fg tines, sie) En? Dm? cin? 9 Ba? cin coi. 2 om? ce En, Br 124 GUITAR ONE «guitaronemagicom « APRIL2008Hearts and Flowers o a a wp, te p Et nip Pee et = ae * peri 2008 » @1 The Magazine You Can Play 195Hearts and Flowers cimt j fle (ror _ be o _——S— Fen Br Ent Dm? emt Fr am Got cy DO. al Coda BH Fail 4196 GuTrAR OME « gutsronemag.com « APRIL 2009Hearts and Flowers cous [2] onteo Free Time re ‘APRIL 2008 » G1 The Magazine You Gan Play 137