Pat Martino’s music, mastery of the fretboard, and enlightening improvisational concepts have inspired musicians since the early 60’s when he first took to the bandstand as a teenager. Sadly, Pat Martino passed away today at the age of 77. The world has lost a genius, a gentleman, and a guitarist who inspired so many. Pat will be missed yet his legacy, insight, and inspiration will live forever.
Guitar Player Magazine summed Pat’s musicality up very accurately; “Martino’s awe-inspiring technique, endlessly inventive lyricism, and driving feel – thanks to a wicked picking hand that can deliver endless streams of notes with a stunningly beautiful and powerful attack – have made him one of jazz guitar‘s most dynamic, singular exponents.”
“True music, like all true art, is an experience to be shared, not judged, for praise cannot make it better, as blame cannot make it worse.” – Pat Martino
Many of us here at TrueFire had been privileged to attend his fascinating and enlightening workshops and seminars over the years. We’ve read and re-read practically every interview and article related to the way he sees and feels music. These are very deep waters but those brief workshops and relatively short articles just don’t seem to dive deep enough to achieve a true understanding of Pat’s iconoclastic teachings.
As educators, we yearned to immerse ourselves in his presence and teachings and then document that exploration for other students of music and guitar. Fortunately, Pat was willing to undergo the process with us with his masterclass, The Nature of Guitar.
We spent hundreds of hours with Pat in Philadelphia and in our Florida studios and hundreds more in post-production piecing together what we can only describe as an amazing, life-changing stream of consciousness. The Nature of Guitar documents that experience.
“The guitar is of no great importance to me. The people it brings to me are what matter. They are what I’m extremely grateful for, because they are alive. The guitar is just an apparatus.” – Pat Martino
The Nature of Guitar was a dream come true for all of us here at TrueFire. We can’t thank Pat enough for trusting us with the project. Most of all, we hope with all our hearts that you discover what you’ve been yearning to learn from Pat Martino and appreciate his brilliance.
Watch the Pat Martino video guitar lesson below for a great glimpse of his genius
