Chordplay - The Chords Of Mahavishnu Orchestra

Here's the next episode of Chordplay with The Chords Of Mahavishnu Orchestra. I've had a number of requests to feature some of John McLaughlin's music, so I figured it would be wise to target some of his extensive chord vocabulary first, while also hitting some classic fusion music by Mahavishnu Orchestra at the same time.
This lesson centers around an assortment of classic McLaughlin-isms, including lush and interesting chord-based moments from songs such as Birds Of Fire, Meeting Of The Spirits, Sanctuary, Lila's Dance, You Know You Know, and much more!
There's something artistically free and magical surrounding fusion's early rise in the late 1960s and continued into the 1970s. Along with other early fusion artists/groups such as Return To Forever, King Crimson, Allan Holdsworth, and various others, it was John's distinct style and Mahvishnu's intense musical influence as a band that captured something unique at the time, while also spawning numerous copycats and imitators of John's playing style.
There are some challenging chord-based moments hiding in this lesson, so be sure to take things slowly until you gain a feel for the unusual and interesting chord shapes and advanced tonalities on display in this lesson.
Give this episode a view, leave some comments/feedback, and please subscribe to Late Night Lessons - THANK YOU!

[@richardtoland2624]

I was fortunate to see the Mahavishnu Orchestra perform Birds of Fire. The word intense comes to mind. This band was my gateway into jazz.

[@jimdep6542]

Your assessment of the Mahavishnu orchestra is right. It's beyond rock / jazz fusion. I saw the Mahavishnu Orchestra several times in the 70's and there was that huge religious vibe that went along with it. Wherever they played, they turned that venue into a cathedral.....and the evil spirits that normally lingered in those establishments didn't appreciate it much....especially at a place like Winterland in San Francisco. One with an awareness could sense that strong "good vs evil" battle that would take place while they were playing, My group of musician friends always simply referred to John McLaughlin as " Mahavishnu" back then. That was a very unique and special time for music and then faded fast by the late 70's. I never experienced any time period like it since.

[@Emlizardo]

"Something like that. . ." Proceeds to play it perfectly.

[@George-yj9zs]

Cheers for this, just what I was looking for! Once I found John McLaughlin I never looked back.....

[@CitizenofMelee]

Inner Mounting Flame blew me away. It really changed my playing.

[@kwgm8578]

I noticed that the cover of Mahavishnu's first album, The Inner Mounting Flame, is hanging on the wall. What a great band. Thanks for this video.

[@Smoke3380]

For me Mahavisnu, is it. There will never be another, especially in this times.

[@rum_bongo]

Inner mounting flame was the album that made me “get” fusion. Changed my musical life profoundly.

[@greg77hot]

Unbelievable guitarist... I loved how he threw a blues riff in there .thank you David

[@kevinthornton4495]

"You know you know" sounded even better played on the 12string of his Gibson double neck when I saw them live ,those open string arppeggiated patterns had a more sonarous affect on the Iner mounting flame stuff & on the Birds of fire album and a few after that.. loveed those two Marshall days, what a beautiful raw tone.

[@absolutebeginner2733]

thank you for making this difficult, fascinating art of guitar a bit more accessible to us mortals

[@radewar]

We need a Robert Fripp/King Crimson video!

[@Buddha075]

I second that!

[@tomasmarques1851]

Wonderful, thank you 🙏

[@armonepaiomar6243]

Chords of Larry Coryell in the future?

[@genepozniak]

I have this great memory of playing the first part of "Dance of Maya" on an acoustic guitar while my 7-yo Godson played a zombie video game that was so scary for him that he didn't want to play it if I wasn't in the room with him; but he LOVED how "Dance of Maya" was enhancing the scariness in a way he could still handle (as long as I was in the room). 😱🎃👹🧟‍♂💚🧟‍♀🎶🎵

[@jimdep6542]

Well done ! First time I've heard somebody playing these chords..besides McLauglin. Brings back those great memories and feelings when I first heard this material back in the 70's. The phase shifter is set just right too.

[@elbecko7969]

I've had Apocalypse playing in my car pretty much since January

[@Smoke3380]

The beginning of vision is a naked sword, truly changed my life, it's like I was deaf, then all of a sudden that sound.

[@HarlanHarvey76]

Did you do a Zappa Chordplay yet??

[@tubemank]

I can see where John's ears were going, from experimenting with these lush Zawinul-type chords and especially the particular modes he overlaid while soloing, which isn't always the obvious mode unless you're hearing it. The droning and tesselations of notes in the chords is reminiscent of Indian music. It all came together brilliantly. What ears, man! And he practiced 8 - 10 hours a day. It shows.

[@WindsOfNeptune]

Amazing to see/hear someone playing these mesmerizing guitar parts I've been listening to for years! Who writes parts like these? It's like music from another dimension. Btw 'Lila's Dance' is pronounced "LEELA"

[@alphonsomartinez8235]

I've listened to this music a million times and he's spot on Bravo to him

[@chrismonteleone9953]

Did you know there are recordings of Jimi Hendrix and John Mclaughlin jamming! Great stuff. How doing a Alvin Lee segment now.

[@MadamOst]

I love and adore John Mclaughlin and his music.

[@simondavies6270]

Thank you for making this video giving an insight into John McLaughlin's chord playing. I too became enthralled by it when in the late eighties I took up the guitar discovering those fusion players of a decade earlier. You are right it is not quiet jazz nor rock or blues which I love but something other worldly and I loved it. This video was a real treat to watch waking up this Easter morning reminiscing my youth.Thanks

[@jamessator5564]

Great episode!! Gary Richrath, I know I’m not the only one that would see your take on his playing, I was born in the Midwest, he’s the reason I hold a Les Paul in my hands 😎 Thanks Dave for all you do !

[@ganazby]

John is on a whole other level, a musician who continued to grow and evolve throughout his incredible career. His absolute mastery of the guitar is evident in every note he plays. Not only a mind blowing virtuoso, but also a wonderful composer, who successfully married jazz, rock, flamenco, blues, classical, and Indian music (and he was one of first to use synth guitars). Thanks for demonstrating these haunting and epic chord sequences. They are difficult to execute properly, but getting them nailed is the best picking practice I could possibly recommend to any guitar player. I guarantee a quantum leap in technique.

[@PetraKann]

Carlos Santana said John McLaughlin was a rare guitarist that could play fast but still retain melody

[@jovianfusion]

Love your playing first of all. Secondly, very informative as I am a huge fan of JM. Those Chords are indeed challenging, but instantly they take you into another haunting place.

[@MikeCindyWhite]

Awesome Dave, I have listened to John McLaughlin but never the Mahavishnu Orchestra, New music day for my wife and me! As always thanks for the lesson bro 🎸🎸👍

[@STRAT62]

I was an army bandsman (guitar) in the early eighties. Besides having to audition to be accepted as a player, all players from all branches of service had to attend and graduate the school of music (six months of intense study and practice), located in Norfolk, VA. This was after you successfully completed basic training. Anyway, on the percussion instructor's door were copies of Billy Cobham's progress reports...all A's. (I believe he was in the Navy)You already had to have some chops and musical experience before you were even given the chance to audition. It had been a long time since his attendance and my attendance, yet to those of us in the know, it was super cool!

[@TheHumbuckerboy]

" Spooky and mysterious" ... absolutely .

[@VALINOR24]

Great lesson David and thank you. Exactly the kind of lesson I hoped to see. If you don't mind, check out Pierre Bensusan, he plays in DADGAD tuning and I'd enjoy a lesson on his chordal work. Once again, thank you for the John McLaughlin lesson. Wonderfully done!!

[@shirleymental4189]

This is not easy music but you play and teach it very well. Thank you.

[@deke61sg]

How is it possible? Only 57,000 followers? Love this channel! Keep it coming.

[@mervynhowell7784]

Yeah, completely agree. There isn`t much, if anything, this fella can`t do on guitar. Always impressive.

[@arturoromero8585]

Bird of fire blew my mind first time i listen to it🙉🎸👌

[@cfibanez]

Nice video. Thanks. Speaking of that time in the 70s when fusion came up, Larry Coryell's 11th House must be mentioned.

[@LarsonGuitarPlayer]

Great chordplay! Had those albums when I was young. Have never thought it could be played. It’s a different universe for me. Loved the Shakti years.

[@pomod]

Thanks for this. Love John McLaughlin's playing. Would there be a 3-Licks vid in the future? ;p I'm obsessed with the record he did with Santana in '73 lately. (Love, Supreme Surrender) - it's so great.

[@victorwong9622]

Thanks for mentioning Robert Fripp!!

[@azstanp]

I would love to see you do a Fripp/Eno video featuring some material from "Here come the Warm Jets."

[@drax13]

The first time you hear 'The Noonward Race', it'll blow your hair back.

[@ivonsmith4255]

Utterly fantastic! Love your work!!

[@TheHumbuckerboy]

The chords and indeed the music of the classic M O are pure genius ... mind blowing and wonderful !

[@rvanstar]

Brilliant .. more please!

[@augustwest2002]

I just found out about that Gmaj13#11 after seeing Shakti last month. He played the Lila's Dance intro and I was determined to finally figure out how to play it. Great video and channel! Your chords of Steely Dan vid was awesome, too.

[@jboughtin7522]

Thx. Liked this lesson. I am a long time fan of this band.

[@MrTubularBalls]

Anything with McLaughlin in it gets an instant thumbs up from me!

[@HarlanHarvey76]

That last passage is just too cool sounding!

[@johnhoward2687]

Very interesting and very cool lesson. I will have to listen to these guys. Thanks Dave.

[@VixCrush]

I saw him play with Dave Brubeck. Sick show....

[@teresathomley3703]

Meeting of the spirits....great video!!

[@kennybeckett]

Love the mahavishnu orchestra Riffs your playing so well,the right tempo as well bravo also love the inner moulting flame framed album cover on the wall 😢🎸

[@azstanp]

Superb! Bravo for choosing such an excellent--if sadly obscure--group of musical artists.

[@gil84rs]

Great lesson, thank you for sharing your knowledge

[@noahbryanmccutcheon7625]

Different and interesting, thanks!

[@ashevilleguitar]

Nice video but one thing I noticed is you played “Sanctuary” straight, I think it has more of a swing triplet feel if I remember correctly ? :) 👍

[@parithrush7921]

Excellent post.

[@timjohnson3877]

Great stuff -- not enough people know about this history!

[@mikedodge7012]

For the second part of You Know You Know, the Em is from the 7th fret, the D from the 5th, and then the Bm A and Em are the same as the beginning. So it’s a straight shot down the fretboard on the A string...7 5 2 open and the down to the E string. I don’t mean this negative at all, I love how you are bringing these tunes to your fans (which I am one) and your delivery is always excellent. Another note for influence...JM is Jeff Beck’s biggest modern influences. There a many articles and interviews with Jeff where he details how JM the MO influenced his playing as the future of guitar and music, leading him right into the recording the Blow by Blow album. For Wired Nawarda who drummed with the MO plays and wrote most of the album, and Jam Hammer played and wrote on it too of course. As a matter of fact, one of Jeff’s biggest tributes to the MO is, Jeff starts almost every single concert with a Mahavishnu tune. It’s like every tour he picks one of two JM tunes to open his shows.

[@renedewael9703]

Hi ! Great demo, since I’m struggling with the thumb technique, witch is unusual for me 🥵, and saw lot of time how easy JM play like this. Also, one stunning chord arpeggio progression is on Apocalypse, after the orchestra storm. Very tricky. Fast, patterns like Dance of Maya, incredible ambiance !

[@samchase1295]

another stellar lesson! Did I miss the explanation of the new playing position?

[@alexguitarfan6447]

Cool lesson Dave, i think i can hear Johns lead guitar influence on Eric Johnson and i think i might of heard Eric say it himself in an interview:) Please do a chordplay on Mike Landau?.. many thanks, alex

[@Kevin-the-Just]

My first experience of John McLaughlin and Mahavishnu Orchestra was actually Inner Mounting Flame, from where some of your selections originated. Very intimidating guitar parts for a novice player as I was back in the 70s. Jazz-Fusion was interesting to me for a while back then in the 70s-80s. I really enjoyed Scofield, DiMeola, Clarke and Corea et all, but I find that style can be a challenging listen now. I must have spent too long in the pentatonics.

[@watchingyoutube7330]

The Mahavishnu period was and is so unique. Do you have the TABS for those pieces? Thanks.

[@mikedodge7012]

Love this stuff, I’m a huge JM fan. John plays Meeting of the Spirits with his thumb on the first chord. He also keeps the open G string ringing through both chords. So the only thing that changes is the bass note.

[@renedewael9703]

Sorry but no. On the second chord G string ringing go to B fourth fret same string, with the pinky.

[@daniellerussell9876]

I would love to learn more about the chord progression on the song "Resolution."

[@EarthAltar]

Ha! As soon as I saw the thumbnail I said he's going to do Birds of Fire.

[@jimhagler3716]

saw them live twice. once with Jerry Goodman and once with Jean Luc Ponty. saw the one truth band later.

[@odyssey99999]

YES!

[@FunkadelicPancho]

Meeting of the spirits. Phrygian awesomeness

[@ivonsmith3095]

John uses his thumb most of the time in chords as in MotS, Lila. Beautiful work tho. Thanks for putting it up. Some of the best guitar music ever written

[@dripstein6130]

PLEASE do Jason Becker, he deserves it

[@wulfenii64]

Thank you man. There's very little info on John on YT.

[@wulfenii64]

There is a video of him somewhere where he's talking about harmony and he plays 2nds, 3rds, 4ths and 5ths to demonstrate. His playing is so fluid when he does it. I can't find it anymore.

[@singsang9460]

12:00 ! please play G# the major third, not G . Apart from that ,thank you for the excellent video.

[@gokberkmusic6865]

Chords of pat metheny...

[@rodiebobwilliams1330]

Wow.. Ive never heard any. I did hear the violin player once but that was with the Dixie Dregs in Fort Worth in 1991.. Great show. Huge Dregs fan as well< I still think Steve Morse is way underated guitar player, at least by the public unless you been going to deep purple concerts..lol

[@Scottocaster6668]

Speaking of 60s-70s era guitarists, how about a WOODSTOCK chordplay with Alvin Lee, CSNY, Canned Heat, Arlo Guthrie, etc. Thanks B🐓!

[@straightshooter8662]

Hi do you do any stretches etc for your hands either before you play or in general and if so can you share please thanks

[@ivonsmith3095]

Please include another demo of MO’s Trilogy part 1 at least. That’s be awesome. Eternity’s Breath?? Miles Beyond.

[@inkve1979]

Dave...Is this a top mount bridge on your prs...??

[@Cordmichael]

Can you possibly show us what these chords look like a bit closer up? Immhaving trouble seing what you ar doing exactly.Thank You.

[@getransistor]

Really?! How awsome are you?! Are you my spirit animal????

[@mvjonsson]

Meeting with the spirits.

[@NoLegalPlunder]

The beginning stuff does sound similar to Rush's No One At the Bridge.

[@jefft.7937]

Chords of SHAKTI next :-P

[@samwisegamgee4659]

You Know You Know....Count it: 9(Chords)+15(Silence) = 24/4?

[@guntherdoblies4357]

Thank you for all this! One comment: I'm rather sure, that concerning You Know You Know there is something lacking in your chords. The first chord (Em79/B) has both notes: f-sharp (4th string) AND g (open 3rd g-string) TOGETHER. Analog for the B-Part: the first chord (Am79/E) has both notes: c (string 3) AND b (open 2nd b-string). What is your opinion? 🙂 Guenther Doblies from Switzerland

[@trabrex7697]

What are you going through? What is Your set up? Talk about your guitar and amp set up please

[@francinebacone1455]

by the way, if you could check out the chords of bands like Martyr, Gorguts/Negativa, and Cynic that would be awesome

[@gktde9874]

Ironically, guitar players like Jeff Beck and Chris Poland `re more influenced by Mahavishnu`s keyboard wizard Jan Hammer. His Minimoog-solo style like the bendings and the major pentatonic with the minor seventh runs was a huge influence (for me too)!

[@jackcockburn8259]

Birds of Fire-so that’s what guitar can be when one knows how the heck to really play guitar Thank you all

[@gsandell]

Would help with some form of music notation, at the very least tabs with chord symbols, but music notation even better. The most characteristic chord of McLaughlin’s is a major chord with a bass a half-step below the chord’s root…I was surprised that you didn’t mention it.

[@guntherdoblies4357]

Sorry: First chord (part A) is of course Bm7(b13), and the first chord from part B is Em(b13)

[@manjay49]

Great chanel. Thanks so much for featuring JM and MO. So important in the developement of modern music. I saw JM with Tony Williams 3 times in 1970 and also MO original lineup in July 1972. They are my favourite band of all time. Here is a clip with JM's fingering choices on Meeting of the Spirits. The use of his thumb for the low G makes things a bit less challenging. m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXilimeeorOUo68. For me, a lot of the dissonant chords and use of open strings comes from his very early love of, and devotion to, flamenco. But he used tremolo picking with a plectrum instead of finger style. To me, this seems much more difficult. Thanks again.

[@williamdillard8330]

Could you call off the notes in the chords please?

[@waynegram8907]

They have vault tapes of Jimi Hendrix with John Mclaughlins jams and going to make an album. That is somewhat sad that people don't know who is Mahavishnu Orchestra is but it doesn't surprise me because most of the new generation doesn't even know who is Richie Havens or CSNY and half the bands at Woodstock. David Crosby first solo album has a bunch of people on that album that the new generation wouldn't even know who they are or which bands they are from, let alone all the weird chords David Crosby was doing and Joni Mitchell chord voices and guitar tunings back then. To me its very sad that all those chord voicing and chords used not many people notice or look into because those bands and albums are 50years ago now that people don't get into because its a big gap now. Those weird chords from John McLaughlin are nothing what David Crosby, Richie Havens and Joni Mitchell were doing 10years earlier and that is just naming a few from that era.

[@jamiemorgan4146]

John’s last name is MAHKLK-LihN. Yes, I know him. 🙄

[@markrobinson8410]

Jeff beck said McLaughlin is the best guitarist alive.

[@TheHumbuckerboy]

True

[@cfibanez]

Pat Metheny said the same thing.

[@TheHumbuckerboy]

@@cfibanez Pat Metheny is a wonderful composer and guitarist IMO

[@jhlz]

reminds me of pasqua's san michele kzbin.info/www/bejne/gnmTY3SlibZrb5o

[@francinebacone1455]

ugh, you are really treating us lately... holdsworth and mclaughlin... we're unworthy!