Customer Reviews

John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra (Mini Scores)

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I have been waiting for this book for thirty years. I missed it the first time around when it was published in the late 1970s. Luckily it has been reprinted.

It is fairly complex due to the nature of the music and the mini score notation. However, should you want to play some of John McLaughlin's music and or understand its structure this book is a good place to start.

The scores have been produced with a great deal of care. Most of the scores are laid out with the 'normal' early Mahavishnu Orchestra instrumentation (bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, and violin). The scores seem to have been faithfully produced from the original recordings, and additional parts have been given where necessary. Useful key/mode guides for ad libbing have also been given.

Birds of FireThe Inner Mounting FlameBetween Nothingness and EternityVisions of the Emerald Beyond

This is the sheet music for The Inner Mounting Flame, Birds of Fire, Visions of the Emerald Beyond, and the song "Dream" from Between Nothingness and Eternity. The music is an exact reprint of the book originally printed in the 1970s and it has the same photos inside. It has a new cover and the text has been reset, but they tried to make it as close in appearance to the original as possible. (Oddly, they misspelled the word "album"--perhaps too young to know what albums were?)

As to the music...well, if you ever tried to tap along with a Mahavishnu song trying to figure out what time signature it is in, this book is the answer key. It also includes some notes from John McLaughlin concerning modes, including some that weren't actually used in the songs.

If you are fascinated by the music on these albums, you know you need this book.

Anyone who might be looking to emulate the MO should know this book is where it all begins. This is an exact reprint of the original scorebook and maintains all original dimensions except for a stronger spine and a gloss cover on the front and back. My dad's original copy of this songbook has seen better days so I was excited to discover and order this new printing.

Guru McLaughlin has included nearly every MO song within this book. The mini-scores give an excellent musical vantage from which one can start to understand the complicated nature of creating this incredible music. Even the most avid sightreader will need to take some time to work out all those insane 64th note arpeggios in 13/8, 9/8, 7/4, 6/4, 5/4, etc...

Of course, included in the front of the book is the key to this treasure map. McLaughlin has laid out the modal structures one can use to derive, create, and exploit in the many areas calling for improvisation. The theory page is an excellent reference for practicing and deriving modes that are crucial if you're gonna try to sound like these masters. Even those with little theory knowledge or experience can begin to utilize and understand some of the basic functions of these modes after studying this page.

If you're a musician, and you like the MO, there is absolutely no reason to not buy this book. It's perfect, they're perfect, and you'll be on the road to perfection if you spend enough time studying this glorious masterpiece.

While this is a great effort to transcribe the first 3 Mahavishnu albums, there are somethings that the other reviewers are not saying. I did buy this book in the 70's and hung on to it, although, it is in pretty rough shape these days. Two points I would like to add to the other reviews:

1. First of all there is no tab. This pretty well a given these days with guitar transcriptions. However, if you are in this kind of territory, that may not matter to some. It is too bad that when the publishers decided to re-release this that they didn't go the extra step and tab it with John's input. Some the chords that are in the "Meeting of the Spirits" and others, have some pretty tricky fingering. It would have been nice to see some kind of a chord chart for those tunes at the very least.
2. There are no transcriptions for the solos. So if you're hoping to crack John's solos or Hammer's for that matter, you're on your own. However, it does contain suggested modes and scales that can be used in the tunes and in one of them he includes a Astrology chart of types with the right scales to tune you in with your sign.

I feel these should have been addressed rather than just a re-issue. Having said that, I do not want to diminish the effort it took to transcribe John's incredible creative offering from that time. His music truly blew a lot of worlds apart when it came out and it echoes to this day. Many great guitarists followed suit after these albums came out - Santana, Beck, etc. John Mclaughlin is one of the Godfathers of fusion, and probably the Godfather of fusion guitar, for sure.

One final word on this book. If you are thinking of purchasing it, I would highly recommend buying "The Gateway to Rhythm" with Mclaughlin and Selva on DVD explaining the Konokol rhythm method that John uses in writing his tunes. To try and count or feel your way through this stuff in a traditional manner, is almost impossible, especially on some of the very odd meters. There are transcriptions for free download at Mclaughlin's website on the Konokol examples.
Together with the book and the DVD. I would say you are going to be very busy for quite some time. Good luck with your music.

Love, Peace and Happiness,
Jeff

Many years ago before I began my music website I first transcribed this complete book, including even making my own solos for it, as the score indicated. It was the greatest music education I ever got. The music, and many others like it (Larry Corryell's Eleventh House, Chick Corea's Electric Band, Weather Report, The Flock, Jeff Beck, etc.) had a profound impact on my musical development. But then I "moved" on to my current 19th century public domain music transcriptions and arrangements. It still has the same effect on me though which I've always appreciated. Highly recommended for any serious composition student, and more so for guitarists (which I also play <g>).

What better way than to have the original score sheet from the composer? I have been learning some MO pieces by ear off and on for a few years. The fact that you get the parts for bass, violin, keys and even drums makes this an incredible value. I spent at least 2 hours trying to figure out the perfect 4th run at the very beginning of One Word and this shows exactly how it is played. The chords you will find in here are fantastic. Use this book with Ted Greenes Chord Chemistry and you will be astounding your friends and students with how wide you can stretch your fingers on some of these chords. As one guy wrote, the time signatures are out of this world, so get the recordings to hear how to play. Or if you have mastered a few dozen bebop riffs(heads) then you should be able to read and play through some of the more complex single note lines. I am surprised this book has not sold out, this is the closest thing to be able to play modern jazz as the Real Book.

I wish this book existed back in the late 70's/early 80's when I was trying to learn to play this stuff with nothing more than a turntable, lifting the needle on and off over and over trying to figure out what was going on. This book contains true to the album(s) arrangements of 28 classic Mahavishnu Orchestra pieces from "The Inner Mounting Flame", "Birds of Fire", "Visions of The Emerald Beyond" and "Between Nothingness & Eternity". I've already used the arrangement of "Resolution" with my Jazz Quintet and I'm looking forward to trying some of the others. Just running through these pieces on my own is a pleasure. Great book!

John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra (Mini Scores)

I had a very old copy of this score but it was hard to read & the binding was falling apart so I bought a new one. I recently joined a Mahavishnu Orchestra tribute band as a keyboardist so the purchase of this item was a must. Very accurate transcription by John McLaughlin with a separate section with explanations of all the modes to use in the ad lib sections.

I had a soft spot in my heart for this music, having heard it from my youth (now waining). Back in the day, this same book was available from Warner Brothers (I believe) which I lost track of some time ago. This publication is the same book, only the pictures look a little grainer, as if they had been simply "zeroxed" - a term that surely ages me further - from an original WB copy.

Nonetheless, its good stuff. If you love this music as I do, its nice to have it in conductor's score. I've played this with other musicians, and having accurate charts saves a lot of time. The composers verbal notes are also interesting. As the author points out, these provide insight to the serious music student. But, don't analyze the fun out of this, that's the best part!