showing you how to play three single line classic jazz blues licks used by ...
Learning bebop heads is not only a great way to increase your repertoire of tunes
, ...
3 Step Guide to Mastering Jazz/Blues Part 3: Three Must Know Classic Jazz Blues Licks In last week’s lesson we looked at how to develop good comping chops over the jazz blues form by learning three different jazz blues chord etudes. For a more detailed study of how to play better jazz guitar chords and comping techniques, click the link below. http://www.jamieholroydguitar.com/30-days-to-better-jazz-guitar-comping To view last week’s lesson ‘4 Blues Chord Etudes’ and week 1’s lesson ‘Understanding and Outlining the Blues Form’ click the following link: http://www.us4.campaignarchive2.com/home/?u=d21efb101336bd4fd1b1d1c4d&id=44ba7ca65c In this final instalment of the 3 Step Guide to Mastering Jazz/Blues series I will be showing you how to play three single line classic jazz blues licks used by guitarists when they’re improvising over a jazz blues. Learning and applying licks is a guaranteed way to sound like a great guitarist when you’re improvising. There’s a variety of ways you can practice scales and rhythms to become a better jazz guitarist, but the quickest way to playing like great is by learning what they played. If you would like to learn more about transcribing jazz guitar licks yourself I wrote an article a while back on the best way to do this which you can view by clicking this link: http://www.jamieholroydguitar.com/5-easy-steps-to-effective-transcription-2
Jazz Blues Lick 1 The first lick is perhaps the classic jazz blues lick because it used by so many guitarists; everyone from Charlie Christian, Grant Green, Wes Montgomery, BB King and Pat Metheny has used this lick in some way or form. To view a video lesson about how to play this, follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKOiCQUrZ6w
http://www.jamieholroydguitar.com
1
The lick is based off a root position Bb triad. To learn more about how to practice and use triads, follow this link: http://jamieholroydguitar.com/how-to-play-triads-onguitar The syncopated start to this lick provides a nice bouncy feel and using the minor 3rd (C#) as a passing note to the major 3rd gives a good aesthetic bluesy feel.
Jazz Blues Lick 2 This next lick is a classic George Benson lick that has been adapted by many guitarists over the years. This lick starts in almost the same way as the first example, and bars 1 and 2 are both based off playing around triads and including the minor 3rd as a passing note like in the first example.
Jazz Blues Lick 3 Learning bebop heads is not only a great way to increase your repertoire of tunes, but it’s also a great way to learn new licks. This lick is from the head of ‘Cool Blues’ by Charlie Parker and has a little more bop flavour than the first two. Notice the use of the major 7th (A) on 3 and on in the first bar. The major 7th is the note that gives the bebop scale sound over a dominant 7th sound, and sounds great here.
http://www.jamieholroydguitar.com
2
Click the following link to learn more about Bebop guitar techniques: http://jamieholroydguitar.com/category/bebop-guitar
How to Practice Jazz Blues Licks Like anything you learn on guitar you must practice licks in the right way so that they can be internalized and you can use them without even thing about it. Here’s a few ways that I teach my students to practice new licks so that they get the most benefit from them • • • • •
Work each lick out so you can play over the 4 different chord types: http://jamieholroydguitar.com/how-to-play-one-lick-over-four-chords Apply the lick to all the tunes you are currently working on http://jamieholroydguitar.com/5-effective-ways-to-learn-a-jazz-standard Try displacing licks by eight notes and quarter notes across the bar to work on rhythmic variety Create motifs from each lick by using small fragments instead of the full lick Practice each lick in all 12 keys and in different positions across the guitar neck
I hope you have enjoyed this jazz/blues lesson series. If you are looking for some further more advanced material you might want to check out the rhythmic changes lesson series. http://www.jamieholroydguitar.com/rhythm-changes-soloing-guide-part-1-twoapproaches If you enjoyed this lesson, have a question/thought about this topic or just want to connect with other jazz musicians and educators across the globe, why not give the Jamie Holroyd Guitar FB Page a like and share your thoughts on the wall. http://www.facebook.com/jamieholroydguitar
