Pat Martino's "Mind-Bending" Licks: A Lesson in Rhythmic Displacement
Having begun reading Pat Martino's autobiography, I am listening to more of his music and have started picking up some of his vocabulary. Pat Martino is a master at constructing complex lines with an impressive ease of articulation. While these fast and complex lines often leave my jaw dropped, I find that another technique he uses can lead to exciting and sometimes "mind bending" results- repetition of a simple phrase with rhythmic displacement. While the phrase is repeated, the rhythm section can build energy and excitement to the solo, which then leasts to an energy burst when the soloist ends the repetition. Pat can also "spice up" simple lines by repeating them and introducing interesting rhythmic displacement, as well as chromatic notes.
This first example is from "Sunny" and is simple Am7 arpeggio. Because the phrase is technically in 6/8, this simple arpeggio is made more interesting due to rhythmic displacement with the underlying 4/4. So the repeated phrase begins again in the middle of the second bar, creating confusion to the mind about where the downbeat actually exists. It takes three times playing this lick for the downbeats to sync back up.
The "bumblebee lick" from "Sunny" but also played in "Impressions", sounds to me like "The Flight of the Bumblebee." I love this lick, and Pat likes it so much he plays it for over 20 seconds in his "Sunny" solo! Note that while the lick is in 4/4, he introduces rhythmic displacement (highlighted section) to restart the repeated phrase on a different starting beat. The use of chromatic notes also make this lick interesting. Note I like to play this lick on the 2nd and 3rd strings so you can keep your hand in position.
Note that you can play as he played or start from the 5th instead of the root (or you can play both in the same solo!)
This lick from "Impressions" is also in 6/8. Note that you can introduce additional rhythmic displacement, as shown in the highlighted section.
This lick from "Impressions" is in 6/8 and features a major 7th, emphasizing a melodic or harmonic minor (non-dorian) sound. Both of these features make the line very interesting to hear.
My Example- using what I learned from Pat, I crafted this line in 5/8. Each time you repeat it the phrase starts on a different beat, giving it a really head spinning sound. The 5th time you play the phrase it resets, beginning on the downbeat like the first time- the whole cycle then repeats. It can even be hard to play if you are not used to this kind of rhythmic displacement. Once you get the sound firmly in your ears, it becomes much easier.
When does Pat use these "mind-bending" licks? Since they're repeated over several bars, you may think the only time to use them are when you have several bars of a static chord ("So What," "Impressions," "4 on 6"...). While you can use these phrases in those situations, they're also effective to play over diatonic chord changes. For example, when Pat plays over "Sunny," the progression Am7-Gm7-C7-Fmaj7. So you can think of these licks in F. Another helpful way to look at is is everything in Am7 and use the Am pentatonic shapes. Either way you look at it, it does not matter if you play a repeated phrase over changes so long as the changes are all diatonic to each other. More examples include the first few chords of "Fly Me To the Moon," or "All the Things You Are," and countless more.
This first example is from "Sunny" and is simple Am7 arpeggio. Because the phrase is technically in 6/8, this simple arpeggio is made more interesting due to rhythmic displacement with the underlying 4/4. So the repeated phrase begins again in the middle of the second bar, creating confusion to the mind about where the downbeat actually exists. It takes three times playing this lick for the downbeats to sync back up.
Here's a second example in 6/8 from "Sunny." The phrase starts on an eighth rest, creating initial syncopation. Again, you must repeat the phrase three times before the line syncs back up with the eighth rest on the 1.
The "bumblebee lick" from "Sunny" but also played in "Impressions", sounds to me like "The Flight of the Bumblebee." I love this lick, and Pat likes it so much he plays it for over 20 seconds in his "Sunny" solo! Note that while the lick is in 4/4, he introduces rhythmic displacement (highlighted section) to restart the repeated phrase on a different starting beat. The use of chromatic notes also make this lick interesting. Note I like to play this lick on the 2nd and 3rd strings so you can keep your hand in position.
Note that you can play as he played or start from the 5th instead of the root (or you can play both in the same solo!)
This lick from "Impressions" is also in 6/8. Note that you can introduce additional rhythmic displacement, as shown in the highlighted section.
This lick from "Impressions" is in 6/8 and features a major 7th, emphasizing a melodic or harmonic minor (non-dorian) sound. Both of these features make the line very interesting to hear.
My Example- using what I learned from Pat, I crafted this line in 5/8. Each time you repeat it the phrase starts on a different beat, giving it a really head spinning sound. The 5th time you play the phrase it resets, beginning on the downbeat like the first time- the whole cycle then repeats. It can even be hard to play if you are not used to this kind of rhythmic displacement. Once you get the sound firmly in your ears, it becomes much easier.
When does Pat use these "mind-bending" licks? Since they're repeated over several bars, you may think the only time to use them are when you have several bars of a static chord ("So What," "Impressions," "4 on 6"...). While you can use these phrases in those situations, they're also effective to play over diatonic chord changes. For example, when Pat plays over "Sunny," the progression Am7-Gm7-C7-Fmaj7. So you can think of these licks in F. Another helpful way to look at is is everything in Am7 and use the Am pentatonic shapes. Either way you look at it, it does not matter if you play a repeated phrase over changes so long as the changes are all diatonic to each other. More examples include the first few chords of "Fly Me To the Moon," or "All the Things You Are," and countless more.
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