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Quick Licks 5

5

Welcome to the Quick Licks series! These guitar lessons are meant to give you some really fun and exciting licks to play and jam on so you can expand your lick repertoire.

This lick is a fun blues lick that is great to learn fast or slow. Super useful in just about any jam. If you like it… Share It! Thanks!

Here’s Quick Lick #5

Backing Track

Blues In A Jam ▶ custom player

As the name implies…It’s a Blues In A! Jam out with the pentatonic scale at the 5th or 15th fret. Also try using the Major Pentatonic scale at the 8th fret.

Guitar Tab
(To download tab, right click on image and save to your desktop)

Lick 5

If you have any questions, comments or ideas of your own to add to what we’ve put together, we encourage you to use the comment section and get in touch. PLEASE SHARE this lesson if you like it!

Have Fun!

Quick Licks 4

1

Welcome to the Quick Licks series! These guitar lessons are meant to give you some really fun and exciting licks to play and jam on so you can expand your lick repertoire.

This fun rock guitar lick is one that you’ll hear Zakk Wylde using all the time. It’s an easy repetitive lick that’s fun to play fast!

Here’s Quick Lick #4

Backing Track

Rock Groove In A custom player

This is a faster rock rhythm in A minor. Use the minor pentatonic scale starting at the 5th fret or the 15th fret.

Guitar Tab
(To download tab, right click on image and save to your desktop)

Lick 4

If you have any questions, comments or ideas of your own to add to what we’ve put together, we encourage you to use the comment section and get in touch. PLEASE SHARE this lesson if you like it!

Have Fun!

Quick Licks 3

2

Welcome to the Quick Licks series! These guitar lessons are meant to give you some really fun and exciting licks to play and jam on so you can expand your lick repertoire.

This is a bluesy follow up to Quick Lick #2…

Here’s Quick Lick #3

Backing Track

Blues In A Jam ▶ custom player

This blues groove is in the key of A so be sure to use the blues or minor pentatonic scale starting at the 5th or 17th fret. Also experiment with using the major pentatonic scale at the 8th fret.

Guitar Tab
(To download tab, right click on image and save to your desktop)

Lick 3

If you have any questions, comments or ideas of your own to add to what we’ve put together, we encourage you to use the comment section and get in touch. PLEASE SHARE this lesson if you like it!

Have Fun!

Quick Licks 2

10

Welcome to the Quick Licks series! These guitar lessons are meant to give you some really fun and exciting licks to play and jam on so you can expand your lick repertoire.

We are going to get Bluesy with this awesome Blues Lick that you can use over tons of different grooves.

Here’s Quick Lick #2

Backing Track

Blues In A Jam ▶ custom player

This blues groove is in the key of A so be sure to use the blues or minor pentatonic scale starting at the 5th or 17th fret. Also experiment with using the major pentatonic scale at the 8th fret.

Guitar Tab
(To download tab, right click on image and save to your desktop)

Lick 2

If you have any questions, comments or ideas of your own to add to what we’ve put together, we encourage you to use the comment section and get in touch. PLEASE SHARE this lesson if you like it!

Have Fun!

 

Quick Licks 1

17

Welcome to the Quick Licks series! These lessons are meant to give you some really fun and exciting licks to play and jam on so you can expand your lick repertoire.

While we do these over one particular jam track in the video, the big idea is to try them over different jam track, different key signatures and make them your own!

If you have any questions, comments or ideas of your own to add to what we’ve put together, we encourage you to use the comment section and get in touch. Have Fun!

Here’s Quick Lick #1


Backing Track

B Minor Bluesy Rock Groove
B Minor Bluesy Rock Groove ▶ custom player
This fun uptempo groove is great for just about any kind of soloing. Use the minor pentatonic scale starting at the 7th fret.

Guitar Tab
(To download tab, right click on image and save to your desktop)

Guitar Lick 1

Practicing Effectively For Quicker Progress – Part 1

9

Its important to get the most out of your time and effort no matter what you are trying to accomplish,musically or otherwise.

You’ve probably stuff like heard this before but I’ll repeat it for you anyway…You’ve got to plan and then take action to on the plan to get results.  So lets think about how we can apply that to become better musicians

Start by planning our work.  Consider this:

A song,chord,scale, lick or whatever is only as hard as its hardest sequence of notes. Usually these come in the form of physically technical challenges.  Sometimes they can be musical too such as timing or pitch related.

So start by knowing what your biggest challenges are in learning a new piece, Those are going to be those hardest sequences of notes. Also know what parts require little effort to learn.  That’s making the plan.

Now lets apply effort to get results.  Practice those hardest parts alone, away from the rest of the piece.  That is the best use of your time.  No sense putting time into something you can already do.  Anything you can do already don’t spend a second on.

Once you have worked all of the parts to an equal level of performance put them all together.

That’s the big picture.  Hopefully this tip will save you some practice time.  Tune in for my next lesson, Practicing More Effectively Part 2, where we will refine this practice technique to take your practice to a whole new level.

-Bob

Practicing Effectively For Quicker Progress – Part 2

5

Last time we looked at the big picture for planning our practice and then taking a
action to get results by working on the most challenging parts apart from the rest of the piece and then later putting it all together.

Today I just want to say that it takes practicing perfectly to play perfectly.  Here’s what I mean:

Here’s a definitive method to discovering exactly where the parts that need the most work are, the ones that need some work, and the parts that you can just ignore.

You’ll need something to record your playing on for this one.  You’ll also need the sheet music, tabs or written notes of the piece in its entirety, that means from start to finish, every single note.

Here’s the process:

1) Play the entire piece 3 times through entirely into you recorder.  If you make a mistake don’t stop and correct it, just keep going.

2) Listen back to the tape.  Every time you hear a mistake circle it in the sheet music or tabs.

3) When you are done you will have some parts that are circled 3 times, others 2, others once, some not at all.

4) The ones that are circled 3 times are your most challenging.  Plan on practicing those first and more often.  Ones with 2 circles are second priority.  Those with one may have just been a fluke but practice them anyway.  If its not circled just ignore it.

5) Repeat the parts until you can play them SEVERAL TIMES with no mistakes.  Don’t just get one good one and move on!  Play then 4 or 5 times IN A ROW, NO MISTAKES.

6)  Now you are ready to play the whole piece.  Get out your recorder, record it 3 times again and repeat this process.

7) Keep repeating the process until you can play the whole thing 3 times with no mistakes.  Yes, I’m aware this mat take weeks or even months.

Hope this one helps you become more of a perfectionist when it comes to practice.

-Bob

Applying The Right Amount Of Pressure To The Strings

8

The way that notes are produced on the guitar is that pressure is applied to a string at a
point near the frets,causing a shortening of the string length that vibrates and finally a
change in pitch.

On the simplest level you need only apply enough pressure to push down the string to
produce the note. Any more will not effect the note. In fact it may make the note HARDER to
produce.

So only press enough to produce a clear note. Remember to keep your fingers near the frets and you won’tneed to press very hard.  If you press harder you will fatigue your hands and as a result you won’t be able to change notes as quickly. Plus you won’tbe able to play as long as if your hands aren’t tired.

Here’s an exercise to discover exactly how much pressure you need to produce a note:

Steps:

1)  Place your finger on the 1st string just behind the 3rd fret.  Don’t apply any pressure yet.

2)  Gently pick the string, it should sound muted.

3)  Keep picking the string as you slowly apply pressure to it.

4)  When you hear a clear note stop pressing but keep picking.  You shouldn’t be pressing very hard.

So now you have found the least amount of pressure it takes for you to produce a note.

Pressing any more than that is just wasting energy.

Hope this one helps you save a little effort.

-Bob

Playing Tip: Keep Your Fingers Near The Frets.

6

The fret is the point that the string vibrates against to produce a note.  If there is extra string between the fret and the point where your finger pushes down the string it is likely that the string between your finger and the fret can cause a “buzzy” or “muffled” sound. If you are having trouble getting your notes to ring “clearly” try this tip.

You will also find that you won’t need to press as hard to produce a note if your fingers are near the frets. This is because it takes quite a bit of energy to push down that extra string to the point where it won’t “buzz”.

There is only one exception to this.  You may find that sometimes it is nearly impossible to keep several of your fingers near the frets when you are playing chords, especially when two fingers are required on the same fret.  Just get them as close as you can and you should be OK.

Happy fretting!  -Bob

Preparing For Your First Jam Session

6

I still remember the feeling I had the first few times I ever jammed with my friend who was a drummer.  Both of us were still learning to play.  Neither of us was that good at our instrument.  In fact I had never even taken a lesson and he only had only learned a little bit in school.

We only knew a couple songs in common and neither of us actually knew the entire songs.  But that didn’t matter.  We were making noise and doing it together.  The vibrations from the rattle of the 2nd hand drum set and the cheap dirty feeding back guitar parted the hair on our heads and rattled our little brains.

It was exhilarating and inspirational.  It sounded so good (to us) that we had to tape it at the next jam.  We would play it time after time, and again and again until our parents could no longer stand it.  But we still didn’t get a good take.  So much for our demo.

“Wait!” we said “we needed somebody who owns a bass”. They didn’t have to know how to play it, just own it.  After all we had only been playing for a month or so anyway.  It would just take them a week or two to get as good as us if they practiced harder.  That would make our recording sound better.  Then we could get gigs and girls, then a record deal, then fame and fortune.  Yep, we had it all figured out.

I hope your first jamming experience gives you the feeling I experienced with my first “band”.  Nobody ever gave me any tips on how to go about playing with other people.  I just had to do it by trial and error.  So here’s a few tips on how to get started for your first jam session.

1)  Choose players with the same ability level as yourself.  This way you can grow together as musicians and improve along with each other.  Don’t let your jam session to turn into you teaching someone a lesson.   Don’t frustrate someone else by slowing them down and making them wait for you to figure out whats going on.  Don’t let your jam session become a licks trading session.  Finding an appropriate match of talent level is best for everyone.

2) Choose players that you have things in common with. Common musical interests are a must for beginning jammers.  Knowing the same songs or at least pieces of them will make things progress quicker.

3) Listen as much as you play.  You will learn to appreciate what your friends are doing musically plus it will keep everyone together, which is the point of jamming. “Musicians that play together stay together.”

4) Set goals for the next jam session the prepare for them.  This could mean adding new songs, the goal of writing a song together or just getting a better mix of your sounds.  This keeps things fresh and gives everyone something to look forward to.

5) Don’t be too critical or competitive with one another.  A jam is not about showing off or who can play better.  Its about supporting one another and helping each other improve as you go.

As you get better you will become comfortable and talented enough to play with musicians that are better than you.  Then you will be ready to take to the next level what your first jams have prepared you for.  In time you’ll learn enough licks to have a licks trading session with other players.  But in the beginning keep it basic by using the tips I just gave you.

By the way my drummer friend and I found a bass player and a singer and were playing parties and schools by our junior year.  We went on to gigging clubs by the time we were freshmen in college, got more popular and eventually made a decent amount of money.  We both are professional musicians now. But professional music isn’t for everybody.  Our bass player is now a cop and our singer a hairdresser.  Nobody ever got a record deal.

So whether you aspire to make music for a living or just as a hobby, jamming can be fun and rewarding.  Now its time to go call up your friends and organize your first jam so I’ll talk to you later in my next lesson.

-Bob

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