Augmented and
Diminished Forms
BY PAT MARTINO
Since his first recording as a leader in 1967, Pat
Martino has constantly pushed the limits of jazz
guitar with his flowing technique and powerful,
muscular tone. Showing no signs of slowing
down, Martino still travels the world perform-
ing and giving lectures about his approach to
the guitar. Currently, Martino is working on an
autobiography and serving as adjunct faculty
at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
For more info, visit patmartino.com.
There are elements within an instru- ment’s architecture that initiate a
continuous source of valuable information.
For the guitar, there are two. The first is
the major third interval, and the second
is the minor third interval. Once we view
their repetitive information, they begin
to appear as a series of automatic func-
tions. The guitar, like an automobile, is a
vehicle that should remain neutral to the
destination it’s used to reach. There are
many forms that open different directions
in music, but when we come down to it, a
study of the instrument itself is much more
effective when it’s no longer influenced by
any of these styles.
Fig. 1
C&
Augmented Forms
(on 7 common sets of strings) C&
Augmented Forms
(on 7 common sets of strings)
C&
Augmented Forms
(on 7 common sets of strings)
Augmented Forms
(on 7 common sets of strings)
Diminished Forms
(on 5 common sets of strings)
Diminished Forms
(on 5 common sets of strings)
Cº
Diminished Forms
(on 5 common sets of strings)
4fr
4fr
231
4fr
231
Cº
2fr
2fr
321 321
321
321
211
321
321
231
211
211
2413
2413
2314
2314
1324
1324
2fr
2fr
3 14
2fr
3 14
2fr
2fr
2 131 2 131
2 131 2 131
3 14
2 14
2 14
2 14
2 14
2 14
2 14
Fig. 2
Horizontal Alterations horizontal Alterations
Fig. 3
C
G©&
A‹
(higher and lower string sets)
Vertical Alterations
identical fingerings
Vertical Alterations
(higher and lower strings sets)
identicial fingerings
3fr
4fr
C&
F&
B¨
231
Descend
231
Ascend
111
6fr
321
(higher and lower string sets)
Vertical Alterations
identical fingerings
6fr
6f
321
321
(C, E, or G# Augmented)
C&
F&
B¨
E¨‹
6fr
6fr
6fr
6fr
5
5
3
5
5
4
5
5
5
321
321
321
321
