We all study jazz licks to add new ideas and techniques to our improvisations and our vocabulary. But I often get told by students how they choose a very in effective way of studying licks and are in fact really just wasting their time. In this video I will outline what is not useful when studying licks and also what is a better approach if you want to add material to your repertoire.
I will also use a part of a Grant Green solo as an example of how he gets it right and uses it in his solo.
Practicing Jazz Licks – Contents
0:00 Intro – Learn licks and increase our vocabulary
0:53 The bad way to practice licks even though they are good examples
1:25 Playing some licks (from paper with a metronome?)
1:51 Play the licks over a song
2:22 What is wrong with this approach
2:27 Too Much Information
2:49 A more focused approach to learn from licks
3:10 A II V I lick is about the same as learning a Jazz Standard by heart.
3:35 Why Complete Licks don’t work well in solos
4:03 Converting licks to useful and flexible building blocks
4:33 A lick from the Grant Green Solo on I’ll Remember April and how he uses it
5:21 Finding a better Chunk size
5:39 Making lines with the Grant Green Phrase
6:01 Using the same idea on other chords
6:27 Other examples of how great players use licks.
7:18 How do you work with licks? Do you avoid them? Leave a comment!
7:35 Barry Harris story on learning from Charlie Parker
8:11 Like the video? Check out my Patreon Page!