Pat Martino - The Nature of the Guitar

Pat Martino was the first guitarist in history to arrive at a systematic view of the fretboard's layout: a view with a logical underpinning, not a mass of patterns to be learned by rote.

Driven by numerological concerns, he arrived at a system that describes the disposition of notes throughout the guitar fretboard. He called his system "The Nature of the Guitar."

The amazing thing about his system, as well as its flaw, is that it is based on symmetrical patterns.

It is amazing, because symmetry appeals to us in a unique way. We are able to grasp and work with symmetrical layouts very efficiently. The flaw lies in the following misconception:

Think of our diatonic scale: its second mode is perfectly symmetrical. It is so only along one axis. Yet, the Dorian mode is symmetrical.

So, Pat Martino, looking only at one of the aspects that determine the layout of notes on the guitar, along the fretboard, concludes that the guitar is essentially a non-tonal instrument. As I have written elsewhere on this site, the layout of notes across the fretboard makes it a quintessentially tonal instrument: the basic character of the guitar is pentatonic minor!

This is not to say that Mr. Martino's work is wrong. Quite the contrary! By simply applying his mode of thinking with a broader view, one can gain far greater insight into the nature of the guitar, and the guitar fretborad.

I used to have a link here to Pat Martino's very own explanations, but it is gone! Even from his website! I'll put the think back up ASAP.

Attention Guitarists!

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