“McLaughlin’s ferocious picking and mastery of the fretboard raised the bar for what could be achieved on the guitar”: Learn the trailblazing style of John McLaughlin, one of the true pioneers of jazz-rock fusion

John McLaughlin wears a black waistcoat and white shirt as he plays his PRS signature guitar onstage.

It’s fair to say that among fusion aficionados, John McLaughlin is the father of jazz-rock guitar.

His experiments with complex harmony, Eastern scales, and chromaticism in conjunction with the rigs associated with the rock and proto-metal players of the late 1960s and early 70s, such as a Les Paul and Marshall stack, cemented his position as the well-spring of fusion guitar at a crucial moment in 20th-century music’s evolution.