How to Integrate Licks into Your Playing: The Seinfeld Method
On my walk to the studio this morning, I was listening to Tim Ferriss’s podcast interview with Jerry Seinfeld.
Early on in the conversation, Jerry mentioned a random idea for a potential bit:
“When you’re on a cell phone call, and the call drops. And then you reconnect with the person, they’ll go, ‘I don’t know what happened there.’ As if anyone is expecting them to know anything about the incredibly complex technology of a cell phone.”
He then goes on to compare that kernel of an idea to “…an archery target fifty yards away. And then I take out my bow and my arrow and I go, ‘Let me see if I can hit that. Let me see if I can create something that I could say to a room full of humans in a nightclub that will make them see what I see…’”
That analogy reminded me of the process of incorporating “worked out” ideas or licks into my solos in a way that sounds natural and organic rather than forced and contrived.
After all, plopping a random lick in the middle of your solo is going to sound, well… random.
Put another way, so much of what makes something sound hip is the setup, just like a punchline in a joke requires a setup.
Okay, so how do you “fold” something you’ve worked out in the shed into your playing so that it actually sounds good?
Practice “entrances” and “exits.”
The entrance is kind of like a pickup or anacrusis. The exit is somewhat of a tag or coda. But the simplest way to think about each is by adding a few notes that lead into the lick and a few notes that lead out of the lick.
Here’s an example from Sick Licks Classic Level 1. First, the original line:
And here’s the same lick but with the addition of an entrance and an exit:
There’s no right or wrong way to do this. Even one extra note up front and/or at the end is a great place to start.
You just want to get in the habit of working in that which you’ve worked out.
So, go get your copy of Sick Licks here, grab your metaphorical bow and arrow, and start your target practice.
Happy Shedding,
Jeff