Use This System to Come Up with Your Very Own Sick Licks
If you’ve been reading this week’s posts, you know that my Sick Licks series is on sale for 20% off with code SICKSUMMER.
Once you start digging into the hundreds of lines included in each collection, don’t forget to take some time to analyze what makes your favorite licks “tick.”
In other words, take time to figure out why you like what you like.
For example, check out lick #4 from the Modern Jazz Level 2 collection:
This line is riddled with notes that don’t fit the traditional chord-scales.
So, why does it still work? Why does it sound so damn hip?
Well, there are a couple of reasons.
First off, this lick brings order to chaos. Here’s what I mean:
The chaos is all those non-diatonic notes.
The order is how those non-diatonic notes are grouped and repeated.
Take a closer look at the first two measures:
It’s a four-note phrase repeated three times where each repetition is transposed down a major third.
The first note in red is a G. The first note in blue is a D#, which is down a major third from G. And the first note in pink is a B, which is a major third down from D#.
Yes, the last repetition (in pink) leaves out the fourth note of the phrase, but the effect is still there.
The same technique is used in the last two measures of the lick – another four-note phrase transposed down a major third:
Here we have a descending major triad, first in C Major, then Ab Major, and finally E Major.
Order and chaos.
The other reason all these “out” notes and phrases work so well, is that they’re resolved smoothly back into key.
See how the last note in measure two (G#) leads smoothly to the fifth of CMaj7 (G) in measure three?
The same thing happens at the end of the phrase in measure four:
Okay, so now we’ve analyzed some of the innards of this lick. The next step is to take what we’ve learned and come up with a line that uses the same techniques:
See what I did there?
In case you missed it, here’s some color coding to help you out:
I’m repeating a major triad arpeggio and transposing up a minor third (red, blue, brown and purple).
And as I approach the I chord (CMaj7), I resolve smoothly down from Ab to G (in pink), just like in lick #4 from Sick Licks Modern Level 2.
Yes, this is a workout.
But it’s also a great way to learn, internalize, and repurpose all your favorite lines from the Sick Licks series, which, again, is on sale right now for 20% off.
Just remember to enter code SICKSUMMER to save on all of the individual packs AND the bundles (if you want to save real big).
Click here to check out all the options on the Sick Licks menu.
Happy shedding,
Jeff