50 jazz licks

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50 Jazz Guitar Licks IntroductionWelcome to 50 Jazz Guitar Licks You MUST Know! Of course, its no easy task to select these 50 jazz licksbecause of the endless variety of styles and players that comprise the genre. So, my approach was to supply youwith a range of licks that you would find extremely useful as you dive into the each style of jazz and study theartists that distinguish those styles. Ive included licks from some of my favorite players; Joe Pass, Barney Kessel,Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt and George Benson to name just a few.

Major 7th Lick 1This is a classic Major 7th lick that all the greats have used. The concept is outlining the Major 7th arpeggio. Thislick ends with nice little major 9th to a major 7th. The major 7th is a great ending note for a major chord. Tryinverting this lick to create a descending pattern instead of an ascending pattern using the major 7th arpeggio. Auseful way to create cool licks and a concept that jazz guitarists from all genre's use to this day.

Major 7th Lick 2This lick is a must know. It is a famous jazz lick straight that I first heard Barney Kessell use on a recording. Thelick starts on the 5th then a chromatic pattern leads you from the D note up to the E or third. The phrase ends withanother essential lick that ends on the 9th or 2nd or D note. Try this one in other positions to enhance yourknowledge of this lick and your knowledge of the fingerboard. And always be able to sing the lick to help youinternalize it.

Major 7th Lick 3This lick starts on the 9th or high D note. Pull offs are used to get down to the B note or major 7th simply by pullingyour fingers off the strings one at a time to get down to the B note then a scalar pattern is used to descend downto the lower B note. Another hammer and pull is used and you end on the 6th or A. This is an essential jazz licktaken from Joe Pass. Try it other keys and at different tempos.

Major 7th Lick 4Here is another variation of the descending Major 7th lick. We start by repeating the C to B and then descenddown the arpeggio to create a classic jazz lick that all guitarists should know.

Major 7th Lick 5Here is a classic Major lick using more of a scalar pattern than an arpeggiatic lick. It is important to find as manyfingerings as possible for this lick as it is a great starting point for any solo. We will play along with a cool little

Bossa Nova groove for these licks in F major.

Major 7th Lick 6Another classic scalar pattern jazz lick. This one is also a great starting point for a solo. It is also a great way tomusically get to another area of the fingerboard as well as a different octave range. Try combining this lick with theprevious lick to play a 4 bar phrase and also to hear what this essential lick sounds like in the context of a musicalphrase.

Major 7th Lick 7In this lick we start with a scale starting on the 5th-C- and then mix it with the Major 7th arpeggio creating somemovement in the lick. Again using an arpeggio after a simple few notes of the scale is a great way to get around onthe fingerboard.

Major 7th Lick 8

This is another classic jazz lick using the scale and arpeggio. Starting with the scale on the 3rd-A-and mixing itwith the simple major arpeggio and ending with the scale. Always be sure to find a bunch of different fingerings forthese licks all over the fingerboard so that when you hear it and want to play it your fingerboard knowledge doesn'tget in the way.

Jazz Blues Lick 9Here is a classic Blues based jazz lick that I've heard all the great players use from Charlie Christian to GeorgeBenson. The Blues was the beginning of Jazz. Early pioneers of the guitar used an abundance of Blues in thereplaying. This lick uses the Bb Pentatonic Blues Scale. You can use the Blues over Major, Minor, Dominant, etc... Itis a great lick to have under your fingers at all times so make sure you learn in a bunch of positions and all 12keys.
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Jazz Blues Lick 10This cool Blues/Jazz lick uses the descending classic blues scale and ends the phrase with a few chromatic notes.In the play along section, use this lick as a question and answer it with one of your own blues/jazz licks. Tryconnecting the various classic jazz licks you learn in this DVD and always learn all your licks in different keys tofamiliarize yourself with the lick even more.

Jazz Blues Lick 11This riff is straight out the Bebop Blues style of playing. Using a slide into the F notes (or 5th) you get a cool effectthat is inherent in the style. The slide back at the end of the phrase is also pretty guitaristic and inherent in thestyle.

Jazz Blues Lick 12In this lick we use the Bluesy flat 3rd combined with the Natural 3rd sound of the major to create some very coolhybrid sounds. I first heard Joe Pass play this. He liked to incorporate techniques that were used by saxophoneplayers. THese techniques and licks inhereted into the guitar by not only Joe Pass but swing/bebop icons CharlieChristian, Barney Kessel and Herb Ellis just to name a few.

Jazz Blues Lick 13Here is another straight out the play book of Charlie Christian. Charlie liked to use the major 6th added to the

Blues Scale to create some swinging sounds. Charlie was the first electric guitarist to incorporate Blues guitar in toSwing music. This is a lick that you surely want to have ready for the next jam.

Jazz Blues Lick 14This is a must for any student of the jazz guitar. Notice the chromaticism used in the first bar and in the 3rd bar.Again, this is a Charlie Christian style run using the 6th and the chromtic lead in the 1st and 3rd bars.

Minor Vamp Lick 15Minor licks are really easy as there isn't much you can do wrong except hit the major 3rd in a minor chord. You canuse all of the Blues licks we went over as the Blues Scale is simply a watered down Dorian scale. We'll start theMinor Vamps off with a typical Minor Jazz lick that you have probably heard all the greats utilize. We'll play alongwith a straight 8th note groove in the style of Wes Montogmoery and George Benson using octaves as well.Octaves used with this lick is a must know.

Minor Vamp Lick 16Here is a classic jazz lick using the A Dorian which is simply a G Major Scale so please don't make too much outof it. It utilizes the Major 6th or F# which is a cool sound played over the A minor chord or vamp. Miles Davis usedthis major 6th tone over a minor chord quite a bit in his solos as well as guitarists Charlie Christian and DjangoReinhardt. Check it out.

Minor Vamp Lick 17Here is a great classic jazz lick concept utilizing the 9th. It is simply a minor 9th arpeggio starting on the 2nd andending on the 9th. Many great guitarists have used this minor 9th arpeggio as a springboard for their solos. It is aneasy fingering and please notice that this lick is a C major 7th arpeggio which is super imposed over the A min7vamp. Simply put, it is an A min 9 arpeggio without the A note in. Same notes, different chord. Learn this one in all12 keys and in many different positions. It's an important one.

Minor Vamp Lick 18

This lick is a simple pattern using 4ths and ending with a cool blues riff straight from the George Benson bag oflicks. This lick should also be played with octaves in the style of Wes Montgomery. You can try using rhythmicvariation meaning play the same notes using a different rhythm. This is also a cool melodic lick that can be thespringboard to a great solo or solo break so try combining it with the other minor vamp licks.

Minor Vamp Lick 19Here is a four bar version of the previous lick. As you can see it moves nicely and kind of can throw you offbalance as far as rhythm but it ends up sounding pretty cool when you complete the phrase. Barney Kessell usedto love this concept as well as Joe Pass. They used this concept quite often. You can start this pattern on anychord tone. I chose to start it on the 9th as this creates a nice tension in the feel, then it evens out to ending on theRoot.

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Minor Bop Lick 20The Blues can be used as a tool for playing minor bop licks. Again, the Petatonic Blues Scale is simply a watereddown Dorian Scale. To start, well use a Grant Green lick that he was famous for and that just about every guitaristafter him stole. You gotta love invention. The groove we will jam with is a classic walking bop groove.

Minor Bop Lick 22

This cool lick starts on the off beat or the and of beat 1. It uses neighboring tones playing the notes below andabove the chord tones. A must know concept that all guitarists use. This concept will the phrase a little moretension using the tension release theory.

Minor Bop Lick 23This lick is direct from Django Reinhardt. You are playing the lower neighbor tone to each chord tone and then theactual chord tone. F# to G. A to Bb. Etc Perhaps because he only had two fingers on his left hand this forcedhim to create this killer lick. jazz guitarists after him have used this technique. This is a good lick to increase thespeed on and to learn in all areas of the fingerboard. This is one of those licks that you can access at anytime andit will sound musical and effective.

Minor Bop Lick 24In this essential lick we utilize neighboring tones. We play the tone one half step below each chord tone in the

chord. F# is one half step below G. A is one half step below Bb or the third. And D flat is one half step below Dwhich is the 5th of the G minor triad or chord. Utilizing neighboring tones are an essential part of any guitarists bagof tricks. This lick is right out the Gypsy Django bag. The concept dates back to Mozart who in his Turkish Marchused negihboring tones like this to create beautiful memorable melodies.

Funk Jazz Lick 25This funky little groove is a perfect vehicle to learn some essential l icks. This first one is a common bluesy stylefunky lick using in part the mixolydian scale. The D mixolydian scale is simply a G scale starting on a D note. Isuggest you practice your mixolydian scale along with this cool funky jazz groove. Also utilized is the 6th (B) in thiscool lick. Learn in all keys and many positions to get this common sound in your fingers at any point on thefingerboard and in any key.

Funk Jazz Lick 26This lick is straight out the Joe Pass bag of licks. Starting on the 7th and 6th, this lick is based again on the

mixolydian scale or G scale starting on D. 7th and 6th (B) are repeated before going down the scale then endingon the Root (D), 7th Root (D) pattern. A very cool sound and an essential swinging lick. Try connecting this lickwith the others to create a longer phrase and to get the feel of it in the context of a solo.

Funk Jazz Lick 27This lick is a funky blues riff that all the jazz greats and rockers use. This blues based riff uses the 6th (B) alongwith the flet 3rd (F). Charlie Christian loved this flat 3rd, 6th tones and used them quite often. Get used to thesound and have fun with this riff. You can repeat the lick over and over again to create a blues based rhythmicsolo. Try it out with octaves as well.

Funk Jazz Lick 28In this lick we use rhythmic displacement. We start with the classic 7th to Root repetitive lick using the 7th. Werepeat the pattern starting on different beats to give us a different feel for each time played. It is a great lick to usewhen you want to get the rhyhm section involved as it sparks and fuels the groove using this rhythmic

displacement method.

Funk Jazz Lick 29This lick is basically a straight mixolydian scale descending but then using the Be Bop technique of neighboringtones. A neighboring tone approach is simply playing notes close to and leading to chord tones. Notice the E, Fnatural to the 3rd or F# at the end of phrase. Using chromatic neighboring tones is a great way to have yourphrase or lick finish on a chord tone. It creates tension and release. Tension during the chromatics and releasewhen the phrase is finished on the chord tone.

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Shuffle Blues Lick 49Here is a Joe Pass lick that moves chromatically from the flat third (b3) to the fifth (5th) then ends with a bluesyRoot (1) to flat third (b3) repeat pattern. This is a perfect lick to experiment with rhythmic alteration. Try playing allthe notes on the off beats extending the phrase to a four bar phrase. Don't forget the pick up notes.

Shuffle Blues Lick 50

Here is another one of my favorite licks to use. Playing the same pitch alternating between strings. The Ab note isplayed on the second string then the first string alternating between the two strings. The second measure we endthe phrase with a cool little Blues lick utilizing the 6th (F) instead of the Blues flat 7 (Gb) which is usuallyassociated with the Pentatonic Blues Scale. The second half of the four bar lick uses a chromatic neighboringapproach to the third (3rd) and a must know pull off blues lick making this four bar lick a great one to learn in allthe keys in as many positions as you can find on the fingerboard.

50 Jazz Guitar Licks ConclusionWell cover bebop, gypsy, funk, blues, straight ahead, bossa and swing. But dont limit the lick to the style itspresented under. Youll find all of these licks extremely versatile across all styles if you alter the rhythm, phrasingand application. Take a bebop lick and apply it over a gypsy jazz feel. Apply the blues and funk jazz licks acrossust about any style. Add and delete notes. Play the licks in different positions across the neck. Do what all of theazz masters have done before you --- twist, turn and make them your own!

50 jazz licks

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