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Posted by: PosterBoy Mar 14 2013, 09:06 AM

I've practiced licks and can play them along with a provided backing, etc , but they never seem to become ingrained in my playing and become part of my vocabulary.

Once you've learnt how to play a lick and understood where it's located within a scale/triad (so you can replicate it in other keys), what is your next step to making it part of your playing and your style.

Things that come to mind that I probably should do

1) Improvise using the lick as a jumping off point/end point or theme
2) Try it over different chord vamp (than the original) ie if the original backing is a V chord try it over others in the key to see if it works.
3) Take the 'interval formula' or shape of the lick and use it for other chords to create a 'theme

Anyone care to add?

If I get chance I might do a few quick videos to show what I mean

Posted by: dcz702 Mar 14 2013, 09:16 AM

[quote name='PosterBoy' date='Mar 14 2013, 08:06 AM' post='636785']
I've practiced licks and can play them along with a provided backing, etc , but they never seem to become ingrained in my playing and become part of my vocabulary.

Once you've learnt how to play a lick and understood where it's located within a scale/triad (so you can replicate it in other keys), what is your next step to making it part of your playing and your style.

Things that come to mind that I probably should do

1) Improvise using the lick as a jumping off point/end point or theme
2) Try it over different chord vamp (than the original) ie if the original backing is a V chord try it over others in the key to see if it works.
3) Take the 'interval formula' or shape of the lick and use it for other chords to create a 'theme

Anyone care to add?

If I get chance I might do a few quick videos to show what I mean
[/
What I do is practice scales in the same key along with a backing track and at the same tempo I learned whatever lick I'm playing and just throw it in doesn't even have to be the same key I just play that same lick in whatever key I'm in of the scale I'm practicing

Posted by: PosterBoy Mar 14 2013, 09:48 AM

I like that idea, it helps you find a path to that lick so it appears to flow and to be more in context rather than a stand alone lick.

Posted by: The Professor Mar 14 2013, 09:54 AM

Yeah, that's a good question. Here are some of the things I like to do with licks to get them integrated into my vocabulary, so that I can play them in pieces, or the whole thing, or just use the material to build my own licks in that style.

1. Sing the root note of the chord and play the lick over top, do in 12 keys
2. Play the chord(s) under the lick and sing the lick, repeat in 12 keys
3. Improvise with the lick but alter the rhythm to extend or contract the lick, keep the notes in order
4. Improvise with the lick but leave some notes out, keep the rhythm intact
5. Solo with the lick but add notes in from the corresponding scale/arpeggio
6. Write 10 licks that use the same ideas as this lick, but that sound different.
7. Learn the original lick in at least 6 different places on the neck

Check those ideas out, should help move you beyond just playing the lick in your solos.

Posted by: klasaine Mar 14 2013, 05:00 PM

These are the techniques I focus on when trying to incorporate a new lick/line (or even a concept).
Sometimes it take 6 months to a year or even a few years to incorporate a new lick so that it sounds natural in 'my' playing (on a gig or session).

Matt's #7 is the biggie for me. It's an absolute for me learning anything at all.
In fact I 'have' to put everything I do into multiple musical contexts for it to mean anything to me at all. A lick or line 'in space' means nothing to me (this is just my thing - YMMV).
I've done several of Ben Higgins' and Matt's challenge licks. I almost always do it way out of the obvious context and sometimes in a different key. The point being: taking it well away from the original context helps me 'own' it ... for anything I want to do with it. It's part of my playing - not a 'lick' anymore.
For example: http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=47719 Mine is post #8
Or several here ... http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=47466

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 15 2013, 06:16 PM

...and my thoughts

Posted by: jstcrsn Mar 15 2013, 07:54 PM

first off it is of my opinion that improv(99 %) of it is stuff we have learned played in a different order- thus the more you can have memorized at the same time( it does very little good to memorize one lick and forget another ) the more you will be able jam
in musical context- when you change backing the whole lick might not work
get a new backing in the same key and see how many parts of the lick you can use
for example , loop the new track for as long as you can stand it and use what you think works, also patience is a virtue, if you cant listen to the same 15 second looped track 100 times , you will have a hard time programing your mind to accept the new concept

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 16 2013, 09:07 AM

True words here - it's something like recycled notes In time you can build a skill for this, but first and foremost, it is important not to let the guitar tell you what to play - by that, I mean that we all have urges to play stuff we already know when we pick up the guitar and try to improvise - but instead, in time, tell it what YOU want it to play