Secret to McCoy Tyner pentatonics Using forward motion

**jzucker** · 04-18-2024, 09:41 AM

Secret to McCoy Tyner pentatonics Using forward motion

There really is no single secret to McCoy Tyner pentatonics but there is one thing that makes his pentatonics
sound sweeter than the typical guitarist. Most guitarists start their pentatonics on the beat. McCoy Tyner rarely
played pentatonics on the beat. He always started them on the off-beat (the & of a beat) and you should practice
that technique too. This is called Forward motion...

I have done several lessons on this style of technique where I take a pentatonic sequence and move it up or down
by a fret (1/2 step displacement) to take it in and out of the key. Additionally, whenever there are 2 notes on a
string, I like to slur the 2nd note to give it a legato feel. I use hybrid picking when I do this but it sounds just as
good using alternate picking. The important part is the slur (the pull-off).

When I play over a static chord, I create my own chord progression using 1/2 step displacement and other
techniques. In this example, I am playing over Gm7 but superimposing Abm7 and GbMaj7#5 pentatonic.

The latter of which outlines a D7Alt chord which sounds great and leads back to the Gm. And just to annoy
the guitar forums, I judiciously use F# over the Gm7 chord because it sounds great! ???

Gm pentatonic | Abm Pentatonic | GbMaj7#5 pentatonic
| GmMaj9 arpeggio

#sheetsofsound #twofiveone #standardjazzprogression
#mccoytyner #pentatonics
#jazzguitarlessons #guitarlessons
#jazzguitar #modernjazzguitar #jazzguitarriffs
#IbanezArchtop #IbanezGB10 #altereddominant