The Day I Was Told To “Fill Out My Solos” (and why you should, too)

I remember the day my first jazz teacher taught me an earth-shattering lesson about improvising.

It was one of those “everything-you-think-you-know-is-wrong” moments.

You see, up until that point, I had it in my head that playing licks during solos was for posers and that I was “better than that.”

But that fateful day, my teacher said, “You know, Jeff. I think we should learn some classic vocabulary to fill out your solos.”

I was shook.

He then taught me a cliché altered-dominant lick.

Much to my surprise, playing it was kinda fun.

And it was surreal to actually hear me sound like the solos on my favorite records.

But the real point of learning that lick was having something to play when I couldn’t come up with my own schtick, which I admit happened quite often.

(Ironically, all that “original” material I was coming up with wasn’t that hot anyway, so I ended up sounding a whole lot better with a time-tested lick under my fingers – even if it was a little cliché.)

So, what about you? Do your solos need filling out? Are the lines you’re coming up with on your own a little lackluster?

If so, check out my Sick Licks series. It’s packed with hundreds of pro-level, major and minor ii V I lines that you can put into action right away.

Choose from the Classic, Blues, and Modern packs, all of which are broken into Level 1 and Level 2 collections to fit perfectly with your skill level.

But the best part is, the licks aren’t cliché, so you don’t ever have to worry about sounding like a copycat.

Get Sick Licks while they’re hot!

Happy shedding,

Jeff