Using Licks and Phrases in Your Solos

The first video in this lesson demonstrates how to play a 2-5-1 phrase in the key of F. Gm7-C7-FMaj7. The concept that I used to create this phrase is the same as with the phrase that we learned last time. I’m basically using a Gm7 arpeggio and then transitioning to a diminished substitution to the C7 and then resolving to chord tones in the FMaj7. I like using diminished because it’s a great way to start using some tones outside of the harmony without sounding too outside.

Video 1 – 2-5-1 Lick in the Key of F

 

You can download a pdf chart for this phrase at the end of this lesson.

In the second video, I’m improvising over a 2-5-1-6 chord progression also in the key of F….

Now, I pretty much played this solo off the top of my head. But my goal here was to give you and idea of how I inserted the lick from the first video into an improvisation. Also, instead of using a swing groove, I’m using a R&B Smooth jazz backing track that I created. (By the way, this backing track will be included with my upcoming DVD).

Video 2 – 2-5-1-6 Solo – Key of F

 

I’d like to make 2 important points:

1. Don’t get stuck on Swing.

The reason I’m playing this solo over a funk groove is first because…well, I like it. That’s obvious. But also because to become an effective jazz player you have to be able to play various styles effectively. Even bebop players like Dizzy Gillespie were masters at playing other styles like Latin, Afro-Cuban, etc.. And modern jazz players play all kinds of rhythmic grooves… even grooves with unusual time signatures like 5/4 or 7/8. If all you practice is swing, you’ll never be prepared when your friends say for example, “Hey let’s play a funk version of Take Five”.

2. Always Playing a Lick the Way you Learned it, is a Recipe for Disaster

If you watch the second video carefully, you’ll see me play this lick maybe 2 or 3 times. See if you can find where I play it. It’s recognizable. But you’ll also notice I did NOT play it like I showed it to you in the first video. In fact, the ways that I played it during the solo varied from each other. Why? The simple answer is, I felt like doing that way. And that’s exactly how it should be when you learn and play phrases and licks. It’s not enough to simply regurgitate what learn during a solo. To be a true improviser, you have to be able to manipulate phrases when you want to for any number of reasons…..For example… You’re girlfriend left you or… you dropped your pick and you still want to play the lick but now you have to use your thumb…..the drummer ate his Wheaties this morning and decides to play the song 50bpm faster than you anticipated….you break your high E string during a song where you really liked to use that lick.

These are all situations where you either might want to or have to change the lick somehow while playing it. Don’t be a one trick pony. Don’t be the guitarist who can only play that lick when the moon and 2 other stars have formed a perfect right angle. Believe me, perfect times like that will rarely if ever happen.

I see a number of guitarists out there that can play 1,000 licks all over the fretboard with amazing precision. And looking at them is impressive. But the players that truly impress me are players like Wes Montgomery who could just take a few simple licks or ideas and just work and rework those ideas throughout the course of a solo while at the same time telling an amazing story.

What type of player would you want to be? I don’t know about you but I’d take the latter any day.

Until next time,

Leon

Click the link below to gain free access to a downloadable PDF chart for this lick: