Guitar Licks Are USELESS - Do This Instead

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

More ideas on how to "remix your licks": kzbin.info/www/bejne/fIXUnZ2te6-sjrc kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3jGen-Lf9upg6s kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3OWp6J7rrqpn5Y kzbin.info/www/bejne/d4LOcqKQiNGHoqc kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJqzYWmXrJyMnc0 kzbin.info/www/bejne/boWnhqKld7xrpdk kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z5S5eqJnmb55ldU kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqDQlJxoocp6m6s And this playlist: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqDQlJxoocp6m6s&list=PLxg569q1AjpPqob9QgE3oFPc_f4dWAFRE&pp=gAQBiAQB Also, apologies for the sound problems in this video, but this lesson was too good not to share.

[@Mike-rw2nh]

Excellent lesson and a massive thank you to the gentleman who agreed to be filmed.

[@mauriceb9996]

I'm a novice and found this out br accident. I have a couple of licks...some I've taken and some I created. I penciled the actual notes out on paper then started playing them in different positions on the neck as well as changing them slightly each time I played them. It's been opening up more creative ideas I didn't know I had. Bravo for emphasizing the benefits🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@ianmartens5286]

As a guitar teacher here in Canada, I totally agree. That first lick with the bend is a great jumping off point. You vary it and use other scale tones around it with different rhythms. That's improvising.

[@bkmeahan]

Kind of like the Bruce Lee quote. I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times. I am guilty of practicing licks but not being able to put them together in any kind of jam.

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

When I learn a lick, I transpose them into at least the seven common diatonic modes. If you know even just one key across the fretboard, you just move each note of the lick up or down a note within that key. That way a single lick becomes seven different ones and that massively increases that licks adaptability to various situations.

[@jtdevrieze]

​@@aylbdrmadison1051 I like this tactic

[@kgsvvgla2i]

@@aylbdrmadison1051 Also, try playing it in the same key but different positions. Like if the "original" lick is played at the first position of minor scale (the one we're all familiar with), try playing it in other positions as well. Sometimes it works well, sometimes less so. In any case it's gonna expand your vocabulary simply by expanding the variety of note choices in your muscle memory.

[@kgsvvgla2i]

Think of someone like SRV. Most of the licks he played were based on just a handful of "foundational licks" that he played in countless different iterations. And it sounded awesome.

[@ralphditchburn1456]

Try putting two riffs techniques back to back

[@paulrhodesquinn]

Jason Rebello taught me how to transcribe solos and analyse them to build vocabulary. Finding phrases you like and seeing exactly how they’re put together and how they work, so you can deconstruct then reconstruct them in your own way. Great video and lesson!

[@paulrhodesquinn]

I love the way you start the lick on different beats, that’s a really excellent tip!

[@johnskerlec9663]

This is brilliant sir. I have been playing for near 50 years and long ago started adapting and modifying riffs I liked. Even jammed to my favorite records and totally changed up the solos just for fun. Yes there are some great riffs books around but learning them all can hinder rather than help. Well demonstrated.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

Apologies for the sound problems, but this lesson was too good not to share.

[@nacuda9]

Looks like Crystal Lake Holiday Inn

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

It is. You've been there?

[@Bubba-zu6yr]

Function over vanity.😉

[@nacuda9]

@@MusicTheoryForGuitar I have, you weren't though. Don't think you able to travel. You were doing online for those who couldn't make in person.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

@nacuda9 Oh, that must have been in 2020 or 2021, during the Great US-Canadian Border Lockdown.

[@kevindonnelly761]

You start with a key. Teach yourself the Major Scale of that key. Teach yourself the parallel minor scale (Aeolian to start with - maybe Dorian ? - it's up to you) of the Major scale. Teach yourself to play diads, triads and seventh arpeggios from theses scales. Scales are the alphabets in Music. Chords / Arpeggios are the words. Chord Progressions are sentences. This is meant to work towards your solo 'telling a story' instead of being oblique barely related finger patterns. Learn basic reading. You MUST at least do basic reading. ALL OTHER INSTRUMENTS READ THERE'S NO REASON GUITARISTS SHOULDN'T. Builders read building plans. Doctors read x rays. Pilots read flight plans. Notation hasn't been around for eight hundred years for no reason. You don't have to read a Beethoven Symphony. Don't be scared and make excuses. That's what everyone does and that is why everyone plays the same things the same ways and has the same problems. DEFINITELY NO TAB !! NO NO NO TAB !! NOTATION IS EASIER TO LEARN AND INFINITELY MORE USEFUL - BUT NO ONE SEEMS TO KNOW THIS !!?? WHY ? Get a Tutor (if you can find one) to practice all this with a metronome. Eventually, you will be able to make your own licks / phrases / lines from triad and seventh arpeggios. If you include diatonic and chromatic passing tones, you will have licks POSITIVELY COMING OUT OF YOUR EARS !! Learn Berklee Theory. Learn to accent and count 8th notes (as discussed in the video above). There's a lot more to do but this is an introductory framework. In my fifty two years of playing guitar and twenty five of teaching, everyone I knew who learnt some licks via tab, forgot most of them - and when it came to the gig / jam they forgot ALL of them. You can learn quotes from Shakespeare and reassemble them - but that won't produce great original literature. Everyone wants to solo but no one wants to learn how. Music is a language. It's not like learning to work a lawn mower ! It's crazy ! I have a BA(Mus) Degree and a DipEd but all the local drunks at the local Blues Club are convinced they know more than me. Best wishes and good luck. 😁

[@stockwellb]

Humans went about 40,000 years without music notation and did just fine. Learning notation is valuable in some contexts and much less valuable in others. Given the finite time we have, some folks will wisely choose not to learn notation and to spend that time enriching their skills in other ways. Skill roadmaps should be built with the individual in mind, not the aggregate. That said, there's good advice in your comment if it happens to apply to that individuals needs. Rock on!

[@Domn879]

Simple + powerful = quality lesson

[@StokesMusicStudiosOnline]

If your guitar leaks there is a problem. Great lesson as always.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

:-)

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

I am not a musician, and only started piano after 65 yoa. Now I'm playing the ukulele, both the tenor and baritone. I have three method books, and have finished two of them. One is an old French childrens method book that is actually quite difficult. Since I was in a rut, I went back to page one of those method books. And funny thing is they show "licks" to play simple songs. And they sound great on the ukulele. Your lesson sounds a lot like this. Learning music.

[@JP-lr8rr]

Very cool and insightful lesson. You don't see subjects like these talked about a lot in guitar KZbin videos

[@sethbell6254]

Imho any lick can become hundreds of different licks depending on the groove/rhythm/tempo that you play it over. Good lesson.

[@Isykul]

This resonated loudly with me. Thoroughly enjoyed the lesson which brought a new perspective. Many thanks.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

My pleasure

[@niguel4438]

This is a revelation. Thanks

[@bryonblank4365]

That is some strat you have sir, the red one.

[@shaynelson1580]

Just tried this for the first time…wow! Can’t believe more guitar teachers don’t mention this.

[@crashdaddy261]

That was a terrific lesson, and very inspiring!

[@MrClydie_Po_Po]

Very good indeed. This has been VERY useful.

[@augustusbetucius2931]

I never thought "licks" (always thought that was a dumb term) weren't just for use as something you repeat in certain musical contexts. "Licks" better purpose is to feed your head ideas. You learn licks, you memorize and practice them, then forget them. The idea is that they become something that get reworked, that show up in your playing in variations, and are a springboard for other ideas. They turn into new, unexpected ideas, and eventually your playing becomes an amalgamation of all the things you've learned, but with your own unique twist and reinterpretation of, with new things that are all your own, and that becomes your style.

[@dannyhancock9330]

I presume we could also start the lick on a different beat (off beat) as well to create even more variations. Yes?

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

Yes

[@tammanaq]

Learning licks are not useless. But the most learning happens if you learn licks by ear and not by reading them off a book. An even better exercise is to first learn how to sing the lick before even attempting to play it on the guitar. It should be your ear that decides what to play - not math, your eyes or your fingers. An other great lick exercise is to select a few licks and them use them over different songs/backing tracks in different genres. You will automatically get forced to work on your timing and feel that way.

[@burmy1552]

Context is everything!

[@jamesnicholson9392]

JAMES SCOTT NICHOLSON, ONTARIO, CANADA 🇨🇦 IT IS SO AWESOME 😎 TO SEE A TEACHER WORKING THROUGH A PROBLEM. I HAVE LEARNED ALL I NEED, BUT AM SICK OF THESE PEOPLE WHO ACT LIKE THEY HAVE THE GOLDEN KEY.♥️♥️✌️🎸🇨🇦

[@NutritionalHealthService]

Excellent. That is VERY useful.

[@BenD_Bass]

Learning licks without knowing music theory is like saying words in another language and not knowing what they mean lol

[@marquee-moon]

I wish this were an entire series, just breaking down and establishing vocabulary. Tomasso articulated something about learning licks that’s bothered me for 20 years as a guitar player.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

Well, it kinda is a series: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fIXUnZ2te6-sjrc kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3jGen-Lf9upg6s kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3OWp6J7rrqpn5Y kzbin.info/www/bejne/d4LOcqKQiNGHoqc kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJqzYWmXrJyMnc0 kzbin.info/www/bejne/boWnhqKld7xrpdk kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z5S5eqJnmb55ldU kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqDQlJxoocp6m6s And this playlist: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqDQlJxoocp6m6s&list=PLxg569q1AjpPqob9QgE3oFPc_f4dWAFRE&pp=gAQBiAQB

[@LostSpringBand]

Reducing the distortion is also useful with this kind of exercise.

[@lesliel1182]

That guys sound was great, how? Guitar amp petal all?

[@rustknale3818]

Really appreciate your insights. Respect.

[@PC85X]

Also put an online course of variations of one lick and I'll buy it

[@jensbomholt4529]

That was GREAT! Thank you so much!

[@antalantal2366]

This video talks about one of the most overlooked aspects of learning how to solo on guitar

[@markpereira7972]

OMG wow!! Subscribed!!!

[@crabbybastardguitars9955]

I need to do everything you said in the video - new subscriber. Who's a thought ....

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

This lesson is great, the title, not so much. Licks are not the sole solution, but calling them useless is silly. I use "licks," aka "musical phrases," aka "musical vocabulary," in my playing all of the time. And they most certainly did make me (and countless others) better players. You just need to learn how to adapt and use them in context. When I learn a lick I transpose it to the other modes and adapt them to different chords. You even show how to make them more useful here.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

"Learning guitar licks from collections of licks written by other people is comparatively much less efficient end effective than a reasoned and systematic practice aimed at building a versatile vocabulary" does not have the same ring, though ;-)

[@BrianVallotton]

@@MusicTheoryForGuitar GOOD ONE! HAHA

[@leeskull9228]

Tx for the good lesson

[@EchoesOfTheDeep]

Very interresting ! But i have a question concerning the rythm : if you star a lick on an other note. Did you play that note at the "same spot" in the bar or do you shift everything at the begining of the bar (assuming the original lick was starting on beat 1 for example) ?

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

Both :-)

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

The beauty of licks (aka; phrases) is that you can do whatever you like with them. Try new things. I always advocate for learning how to play the same lick in at least the seven common diatonic modes. This is not so hard if you know even just one key all seven positions. Just move each note in the lick up or down inside that key.

[@JazzgutsVGvanKampen]

Without philosophy a musician is lost in a forest of randomness. The thing is to know your theory but use it in many possibilities. Take your guitar, tune and play, all your questions will be answered in time. Read Zenguitar by Phillip Toshio Sudo, not a single lick is given but mentality and Phlosophy is👍

[@frankdion2174]

Ah, the truth, thank you.

[@pacoruizserrano]

Gold!

[@geraldthompson5034]

Tell the guy to turn the distortion off. It is masking his playing.

[@marlinhall8298]

The thing about learning licks is... the teachers of licks never say "listen." If you have a pattern that is going to fit, the phrasing of the lick is where the money is. Phrasing is what puts the rote licks into context. In order to create sensical, MUSICAL phrases, one must LISTEN.

[@TomClarkSouthLondon]

Your socket outlet looks crooked on the wall!😮

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

lol

[@stavies7525]

Is this modal? 🎸🎶

[@bruceheadrick9469]

The first minute of this is certainly my story. Because aI don't know how to use them.

[@PC85X]

This video explains everything wrong with my practice.

[@ulfsvensson9710]

A simple idea, as all good ideas.

[@HeWhoComes]

bruh ive been doing this for a while i thought it was wrong tho bec "noodling bad"

[@LazyD4V3]

I wish he did have so much distortion on the guitar so we could hear the differences.

[@Music-el7if]

The first thing you should have done with that student before anything is fix his atrocious tone. 😂

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

No guitar video is really successful until somebody comments negatively on the tone. And here we got it :-)

[@jeffsmith9384]

No, I did none of those things, and yet I am still here...

[@ladc8960]

😮 🤘🎖️

[@cleftturnip7774]

Learning licks is building some skills obviously

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

Sure. If you transcribe them from a record, you are building up some aural skills, for example.

[@cleftturnip7774]

@@MusicTheoryForGuitar what about just dexterity? muscle memory?

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

Targeted exercises are way more efficient for these things. Have a look at this channel for something that works: www.youtube.com/@HowToPracticeGuitar

[@cleftturnip7774]

@@MusicTheoryForGuitar I think its all useful. I've been playing over 20 years. Each to their own I guess.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

All of it is useful. Some things are more useful than others. Sometimes the difference is enough that we can say something is "useless", even if only comparatively so.

[@wfly81]

Memorization is not studying.

[@SergeiVlassov]

Good advice, but sorry, but this student should take few steps back and work just on trying to play couple of notes with confidence and without dirt. Too early to play licks like that, they just sound bad with such technique yet. Three slow notes played with good technique and feel will sound much better that more advanced lick played with poor technique. Please don't forget that music is not only about what notes you play, but also about how you play them. No offence, trying to help! Good luck with the progress!

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

Of course we worked on that too. Here I was answering to a specific question. A 10 minutes YT video can not contain ALL the truth about what happened, right? ;-)

[@SergeiVlassov]

@@MusicTheoryForGuitar right, good if he understands that. I wish him a fast progress!

[@flintdavis2]

So I guess that why you learn the lick! Just do more with it? So learn your licks. Smh

[@andercoyote4170]

I can’t listen to this. That mic .

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

The horror!

[@DanJanyja-vl9qz]

Music - not just a theory anymore.