5 must know barney kessel licks

8/13/2019 5 Must Know Barney Kessel Licks

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5 Must Know Barney Kessel Licks

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Barney Kessel was one of the greatest jazz guitarist that ever lived, and he left us with alifetimes worth of material to study as jazz guitarists in his recorded output.

In todays lesson, well be looking at 5 classic Barney Kessel Licks that explore variousaspects of Barneys improvisational approach to 7th, m7 and ii V I chords in both adiatonic and chromatic fashion.

Check these licks out in the woodshed and break them down in order to get a bit of aBarney vibe in your playing this week, and make sure to check the practice guide at theend of this lesson to help you dig deeper into each of these licks in the practice room.

Barney Kessel Licks 1

As you will find this chord in Blues, ii-V-Is and many other jazz situations, learning howto solo over Dominant 7th chordsis an essential skill to develop when studying jazzguitar.

Barney had a deep vocabulary when it came to 7th chords, and in this Kessel-inspiredphrase, you can see an enclosure over the first three notes, as well as lower neighborsbeing used in bar three of the phrase.

The last thing to notice and explore further in this phrase, is the use of various rhythmicdurations, such as 8th notes, quarter notes, and mixing those two durations together.

Mixing common jazz guitar rhythmstogether in this way was not only a characteristic ofBarneys soloing approach, but it is an easy way to break things up and prevent yourlines from becoming rhythmically predictable.

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Click to hear audio for Barney Kessel Licks 1


Here is another G7 Barney-inspired lick that adds in a number of chromatic notes thatbring a tension and release vibe to this line.

Notice the enclosure at the start of the line, the passing F# in the third measure, theenclosure that resolves to the first beat of bar four, as well as the lower neighbor A# onthe & of 1 in that same bar.

When exploring this lick in the practice room, make sure to take these smaller ideasoutside this phrase and work them separately in order to develop an understanding ofthe building blocks of this phrase, not just the lick itself, allowing you to build your ownlines usingjazz guitar scales, arpeggios and chromatic patterns.


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As well as digging into 7th chords, learning how to solo over Minor 7th chordsis also anessential part of any developing jazz guitarists practice routine.

Here is a Barney-inspired phrase that outlines a Dm7 chord, with mostly diatonic notesapart from the C#, which is part of an enclosure, in the opening 3 notes of the phrase.

Note the mixture of scale sections, as in bar one, and arpeggio phrases, as in bar two,that prevents the line from becoming monotonous while not stepping outside the basicsounds of the chord at the same time.



Well now take a look at a Barney lick played over aii V I Jazz Guitar ChordProgression.

This line uses the Dm7 arpeggio in bar one, fairly basic approach, that then leads into achromatic line in bar two, which adds passing notes between the 5th and 6th, as well asbetween the 7th and root of the G7 chord.

The last item to notice, is the large interval skips in bar three and four. Barney was a bigfan of large interval leaps in his solos, and so using 6ths, and 7ths between notes inyour licks is a great way to bring a Barney vibe to your jazz guitar solos and phrases.

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The last Barney Kessel ii V I Jazz Guitar Lickthat well take a look at uses a fewinteresting arpeggios that are a staple of the Bebop guitarists vocabulary.Notice the use of the G7 arpeggio that starts in bar one, before resolving on thedownbeat to bar two.

Superimposing the V7 chord over the iim7 chord is a common technique used by manyjazz guitarists over the decades to add color to the iim7 chord without stepping outsidethe diatonic key center.

As well, there is a 3 to b9 arpeggiothat builds a bit of tension in the second half of bartwo, before it is resolved to the note G, the 5th of Cmaj7, on the downbeat of bar threein this phrase.


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Practicing Barney Kessel Licks

To help you get started with these five Barney-inspired jazz guitar licks, here are fiveexercises that I like to teach and use myself when learning these, or any, jazz guitarlicks in the practice room.

1. Sing the root notes of the underlying chord(s) and play the lick on guitar on top of thatroot note, repeat in 12 keys.

2. Improvise over a Jazz Blues Chord Progressionand use the 7th chord licks from thislesson as thebasis for your lines over those changes.

3. Solo over a modal tune such as Maiden Voyage, So What or Milestones, and use them7 lick in this lesson as the basis for your lines over those tunes.

4. Play a solo over a ii V I chord progression, using a backing track, and use the licks inthis lesson as the basis for your lines.

5. Begin to alter any/all of the licks in this lesson by adding in notes, taking notes away,changing the rhythms etc, so that you begin to take these licks off the page and makethem your own in your solos.

Barney was a master player, leaving us with many legendary recordings during his longand illustrious career.

By studying these, and other, Barney Kessel Licks, you can get into the head of this

master player, dissect his approach to jazz guitar soloing, and bring those ideas intoyour own playing as you continue to learn how to play jazz guitar.

Do you have a question or comment about this lesson? Visit the Matt Warnock GuitarFacebook Pageor Matt Warnock Guitar Twitter Pageand post your thoughts, Ill behappy to answer any questions that you have.

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5 must know barney kessel licks

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