Add some Pat Martino to your blues playing

Here are some great Pat Martino blues licks from his El Hombre album. His playing on this album is absolutely burning. Check out some licks from "Blues for Mickey-O".

Pat Martino Blues Licks (http://www.samsmileymusic.com/pat-martino)

Great choice of 'introduction to Pat' licks. Thanks!

I've always found it cool that he tends to start his 'jazzier' lines on the 6th (of the tonal center he's in or going to), especially when he's playing blues or bluesy type stuff.

Here are some great Pat Martino blues licks from his El Hombre album. His playing on this album is absolutely burning. Check out some licks from "Blues for Mickey-O".

Pat Martino Blues Licks (http://www.samsmileymusic.com/pat-martino)

This guy just kills me. Not that familiar with his work, but it's just mind boggling that he was a monster player, had an aneurysm, then had to re-learn everything and became a monster player again.

So basically (so far) he's already learned "from scratch" how to play better than me twice.

Fantastic. Martino is such a hard rocking player. He's got such a cool laid back drive to his playing to my ear. For me those sixteenth note runs especially help to define his sound. Every note is precise and pushing the beat a bit.


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...plus it is fun to listen to Pat Martino talk about improvising.
"I play the harmonic degenerate equivilant of the refracted transverse melodic paradigm." Translation? "I play the relative Melodic Minor of everything."

In all seriousness though, I really dig Pat's style. When I was at GIT, Pat was considered sort of universally important regardless of what style of music you were studying. I remember I had a page of about 10 Pat Martino licks that we had to learn in all keys and positions, and to this day I could be playing a country tune and bits of those licks still work their way in, especially a lot of the bebop phrasing.

Tru dat!
Pat Martino is probably the artist I personally transcribed the most and I've had to consciously 'limit' my Martinoisms in my own playing.

Great site Sam, thanks!

This guy just kills me. Not that familiar with his work, but it's just mind boggling that he was a monster player, had an aneurysm, then had to re-learn everything and became a monster player again.

So basically (so far) he's already learned "from scratch" how to play better than me twice.

There's a documentary on Pat that's very interesting. After the surgery, he didn't even realize it was himself playing on his old recordings!

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/138888/Pat+Martino.jpg

Scary chops, too! :lol:

I've always found it cool that he tends to start his 'jazzier' lines on the 6th (of the tonal center he's in or going to), especially when he's playing blues or bluesy type stuff.

Thats some of the most "Wes-like " stuff you'll hear PM play - but the 16th note stuff is pure PM - straight and 'on it'!

It's easier to play licks 4 and 5 on the 1st and 3rd string rather than the 1st and 2nd like on the tab, especially if you're playing lower down on the neck. But maybe Martino never uses his fingers.

but the 16th note stuff is pure PM - straight and 'on it'!

Yes exactly. That's what I really meant to say. He's 'on it'.

When I said
For me those sixteenth note runs especially help to define his sound. Every note is precise and pushing the beat a bit.

I didn't mean he was ahead of the beat but that he's just driving it so hard by being right on it that it has a pushing effect to my ear.

He treats those sixteenths like they owe him money. :lol:

I didn't mean he was ahead of the beat but that he's just driving it so hard by being right on it that it has a pushing effect to my ear.

The way PM , Wes or Benson et al play 16ths are real signatures I reckon. I used to think Martino was a bit 'machine gun' but over the years I appreciate the precision and groove in it even more . Conversely - Wes could be really loose and uneven - with 16ths - thinking of his solo on Canadian Sunset for instance; its so dynamic - no two notes have the same volume and he plays some of it super lightly . Bensons' 16ths are the most 'drum like' - organic and funky - lots of accent and dynamic change but really controlled too.

Pat's duo album with Gil Goldstein is one of my all time favourites....

Pat's duo album with Gil Goldstein is one of my all time favourites....

Me too, it s one of my 10 desert island albums. And "conversation" with Michael Sagmeister is great.

The old PM album called the Visit is where it's at! That is just straight up PM burning!

I recall reading a GP story long ago about Pat (y'all are right -- what an amazing life story!) that discussed his guitar set up. At least at the time, he used some of the heaviest string gauges I had ever heard of. I was a rocker then and that was back in the days of "Slinky's", and I was astonished to hear that someone was playing like that on .014 or .016's!

Just did some Googling. Pat has a signature GHS brand of strings: http://www.juststrings.com/ghs-cu-pmartino.html .015-.052

The Gibson website sells his signature guitar, "Set-up with Pat’s personal string preference: Flat wound .016, .018, .026, .032, .042, .052 or .015, .017, .024, .032, .042, .052" which is interesting in that it's only the top two strings that are significantly heavier than your typical sets.

Yeah I tried that set up once - not on the tele! But on an old ES 350.

Going back to 12's was like losing 30 pounds :mrgreen:

Yea I can't handle 12s! I had them for so long on my jazz guitar, but after my pinky would never stop hurting I tried going to 11s, then 10s, now 9s (!) No more finger pain, and don't freak out I still use 11s on the 335. Funny how 1 makes such a difference