47 Licks You Must Know from GuitarTeacher.com
YouhaventlearnedtoPlayLeadGuitaruntilyoulearn
47LicksYouMustKnow FromGuitarTeacher.com
Licks,PhrasesandIdeastoSuperChargeyour LeadGuitarPlaying v.1.0
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47 Licks You Must Know from GuitarTeacher.comForeword
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Licks110....................................................................................................................................................................................................................
4 Lick#1EarlyRockClich#1
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4 Lick#2EarlyRockClich#2
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4 Lick#3MajorPentatonicBluesOpeners
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4 Lick#4AlbertKingisms
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5 Lick#5QuarterStepBends
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Lick#6MinorPentatonicLickinA........................................................................................................................................................
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Lick#7DoublestopFun.............................................................................................................................................................................
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Lick#8SimpleTurnaroundLick.............................................................................................................................................................
6 Lick#9TurnaroundinE
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6 Lick#10SingleNoteTurnaround
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Licks1120.................................................................................................................................................................................................................
7 Lick#11LesterFlattCountryRun
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Lick#12PedalSteelLick............................................................................................................................................................................
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Lick#13JazzLickI#idimiiV................................................................................................................................................................
8 Lick#14ViminorLick
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8 Lick#15Pulloffflash
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8 Lick#16OpenStringPulloff
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Lick#17SlidingLegatoSingleString....................................................................................................................................................
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Lick#18SingleStringAscendingScaleLick......................................................................................................................................
9 Lick#19DroneStringLick
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Lick#20ObliqueBends
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Licks2130...............................................................................................................................................................................................................10
Lick#21UnisonBendingLick................................................................................................................................................................10
Lick#22OctaveLick...................................................................................................................................................................................11
Lick#23Sliding6ths..................................................................................................................................................................................11
Lick#24Ascending3rdsinC
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Lick#25Doublestop3rdsinA...............................................................................................................................................................12
Lick#26MajorPentatonicDoublestops............................................................................................................................................12
Lick#27CountryLick................................................................................................................................................................................12
Lick#28PentatonicSmearLick............................................................................................................................................................13
Lick#29PentatonicSlurs
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Lick#30FiveFretMinorPulloffs........................................................................................................................................................13
Licks3140...............................................................................................................................................................................................................14
Lick#31VHTap
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Lick#32CrazyTrainTap
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Lick#33SequencedPentatonicLick...................................................................................................................................................14
Lick#34TremoloPicking
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Lick#3516thnotetripletpentatonictrill........................................................................................................................................15
Lick#36Descending3rdsIntervalSequence
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Lick#37PentatonicSequenceof4s
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Lick#38PentatonicSextupletSequence
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Lick#39DescendingSingleString4s
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Lick#403Noteperstringin6s
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Licks4147...............................................................................................................................................................................................................17
Lick#41Satriani3NotePerStringLegato.....................................................................................................................................17
Lick#42Gilbert3NotePerStringSequence.................................................................................................................................17
Lick#43PedalPointLick.........................................................................................................................................................................18
Lick#44TriadSweepsinG
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Lick#45FiveStringTriadSweeps.......................................................................................................................................................18
Lick#46SixStringSweeps
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Lick#47TappingCapo
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MovingOnFromHere
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TableofContents
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47 Licks You Must Know from GuitarTeacher.com
ForewordThanksfordownloadingmyguitareBook,47LicksYouMustKnow!Inmy20yearsofteaching
guitarIhavehadtheprivilegeofstudyingthesolosofmanygreatguitaristsandworkingwith
manygreatstudents.Mygoalinwritingthisbookistointroducemyguitarstudentstophrases,
licksandideasthatIfindcommontomanyleadguitaristsandsolos.Theselicksarepresented
roughlyinorderofdifficulty.Eachhasashortdescriptiontohelpexplainwhyitisincludeditin
thiscollection.
First,letmesaythatlicks,prerehearsedsolophrases,arejustonecomponentofimprovising.
Trueimprovisationisplayingsomethingwehaveneverplayedbeforeonourinstrument.This
maybethegreatestachievementinaguitarsolo.However,manyguitarsoloswehearare
composedor,atbest,aspontaneousreorganizationofpreviouslylearnedphrasesandmaterial.If
notessential,itisatleastpracticaltoknowsomeprerehearsedlicksforthosetimeswhenwe
arenotcatchinglightninginabottle.
Second,aretheselickstrulymustknow?Theonlywaytodecideistotrythemyourself.Itall
dependsonyourmusicalstyleandgoals.Notwoguitaristsarealike.Keepthelicksyoulikehere,
throwoutthoseyoudont.Manyofmyfavoriteguitaristsmashupdifferentideasandmusical
stylessoIbelieveitanadvantagetolearnallthatlicksyoucan.Attheveryleast,knowingthe
licksinthisbookcanserveassignpostpointsofreference.Youwillheartheminaguitarsolo,
soonerorlater.
Lastly,inordertomakethebestuseofthisbook,herearesomequickthoughts:
Learnthelicksthentransposethemtootherscalesandkeys
Tryrepeatingthelicksorsectionsofthemtocreatenewvariations
Reorderthenotesinthephrases.Playthembothascendinganddescending
Experimentwithphrasingandtimingvariations
Usetheselicksforideasandcreatenewlicksofyourown Andmostofall
HaveFun!
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47 Licks You Must Know from GuitarTeacher.com Licks
1-10Lick#1Early Rock Clich #1
Thisearlyrocklickcanbeheardinguitarsolosranginginstylesfromrockabillytopunkrock.
Lick#2Early Rock Clich #2
Anotherclassicrockclich,againshowninthekeyofA.
Lick#3MajorPentatonicBluesOpeners
AlthoughbluesisknownprimarilyforusingtheMinorPentatonicscale,thislickdemonstrates
thesweetsoundingalternativethattheMajorPentatonicscalehastooffer.
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47 Licks You Must Know from GuitarTeacher.comLick #4 Albert
King-isms
AlbertKingisabluesgiant(figurativelyandliterally)whoinfluencedJimiHendrixandStevie
RayVaughan,amongothers.Huge,fingertorturingbendsfigureprominentlyinhislicks.
Lick#5QuarterStepBends
AnimportantphrasingelementinBluesisthequarterstepbendupoftheminor3rdtojustshy
ofthemajor3rd.Sometimestheresultingnoteiscalledtheblues3rd,hereshownthreeways.
Lick#6MinorPentatonicLickinA
Onceyouknowscaleformsyouwillwanttoavoidsimplywanderingupanddownthem.This
lickisagoodexampleofphrasing,ratherthanjustrunning,thenotesoftheMinorPentatonic
scale.
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47 Licks You Must Know from
GuitarTeacher.comLick#7DoublestopFun
Doublestops,twonotesplayedatthesametime,areoneofguitaristsgreatweaponsingettinga
big,beefysound.Thebendsinbar2areexecutedwiththe3rdfingerfrettingbothstrings.
Lick#8SimpleTurnaroundLick
Thelasttwobarsofabluesprogressionareknownastheturnaround.Thissimpleturnaround
lickinthekeyofGsetsyouupforthenext12barsofbluesfun.
Lick#9TurnaroundinE
AclassicbluesturnaroundinthekeyofE.Triplestops,ninthchords,andopenpositionpatterns
ofboththeMinorandMajorPentatonicscalesareused.
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47 Licks You Must Know from GuitarTeacher.comLick #10 Single
Note Turnaround
Anotherclassicbluesturnaround,thistimeinthekeyofA.Aturnaroundoutlinesaprogression
anditisveryeffectiveandimportanttobeabletodothiswithsinglenotelines.
Licks 11-20Lick#11LesterFlattCountryRun
ThisisthemostrecognizablelickinCountryleadguitar,shownhereintwopositions.Serious
studentswilllearnitinadozenmore.
Lick#12PedalSteelLick
Thisisanotherclassiccountrylick.Heretheideaistoemulatethesoundofapedalsteelguitar
bybendinganotewhileholdinganotheratpitch.
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47 Licks You Must Know from GuitarTeacher.comLick #13 Jazz Lick
- I #idim ii V
Acommonjazzchordprogressionisoutlinedneatlyinthissinglenotephrase.Chordtonesare
targetedthrougheachchangewithalteredtonesemphasizedovertheE7chord.
Lick#14ViminorLick
AquickandeasyjazzclichlickoveraminorkeyVi(fiveone)progression.
Lick#15Pulloffflash
Legatotechnique,theuseofhammeronsandpulloffs,isaneasywaytoaddspeedtoyourleads.
Thislickusesdoublepulloffsandarepeatedopenstringinanascendingladderriff.
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47 Licks You Must Know from GuitarTeacher.comLick #16 Open
String Pull-off
Againanopenstringisused,incorporatedintoapullofflick.Thistimeascalealongthe2nd
stringprovidesthenotechoices.
Lick#17SlidingLegatoSingleString
Herewecombineahammeron/pulloffcombinationwithslidingpositionchangestocreatea
slipperysoundinglick.Similarnotestothepreviousexample.
Lick#18SingleStringAscendingScaleLick
Coordinatingthepickandfrethandisessentialtomakingpositionchangessoundclean.After
theopenstring,thefirstfingerinitiateseach3notephraseinthislick.
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47 Licks You Must Know from GuitarTeacher.comLick #19 Drone
String Lick
Anopenstringcombinedwithamovingsinglenotelineisacoolandeasywaytoachieveabig,
ringingsoundinyoursolo.
Lick#20ObliqueBends
Obliquebendscombineabentnotewithanunbentnote.WesawthiswithourPedalSteellick.
Thislickusesacoupleofcommontwonoteobliquebendcombinations.
Licks 21-30Lick#21UnisonBendingLick
Bendingonenotetothepitchofaheldnoteiscalledaunisonbend.Thislickfeaturesthemost
typicalcombinationsacrossthe3rd/2ndand2nd/1ststringpairs.
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47 Licks You Must Know from GuitarTeacher.comLick #22 Octave
Lick
Octavelicksprovideafullbodiedsound.TheywereafavoriteofjazzgreatWesMontgomeryand
arestillusedinmanymodernguitarsolos.
Lick#23Sliding6ths
Sixthintervalsaregreat,opensoundingnotecombinationsthatstronglyimplychords.Thislick
usesnotesdiatonictotheGMajorscale.
Lick#24Ascending3rdsinC
Anotherdiatonicintervallick,thistimeusing3rdintervalsinthekeyofC.
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47 Licks You Must Know from GuitarTeacher.comLick #25 Doublestop
3rds in A
3rdintervalsplayedasdoublestopsareagreatwaytocombineharmonyandmelodyinyour
guitarsolos.
Lick#26MajorPentatonicDoublestops
ThislickharmonizesthenotesoftheGMajorPentatonicscaleforabigsound.Lickslikethis
havebeenusedinmanyR&BguitarsolosandbyguitaristssuchasJimiHendrix.
Lick#27CountryLick
Thiscountrystylelickfeaturesalotofbending;atypicalobliquebendinthefirstbarandsome
melodicbendsinthesecond.Besuretobendaccuratelytopitch.
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47 Licks You Must Know from GuitarTeacher.comLick #28 Pentatonic
Smear Lick
Asmearlickusesfastnotecombinationsforstunguitareffect,typicallyoutoftheMinor
Pentatonicscaleasinthisexample.
Lick#29PentatonicSlurs
Aslurisanothernameforahammeronorpulloff.Thislicksusesarepeatingpatternslurred
throughtheDMinorPentatonicscale.
Lick#30FiveFretMinorPulloffs
Abigfivefretstretchisthesignaturemoveofthislick.Besuretorollthefirstfingerpressure
fromstring2tostring1forpropermuting.
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47 Licks You Must Know from GuitarTeacher.com Licks
31-40Lick#31VHTap
Thisisthelickthatlaunchedathousandimitators,verysimilartothestyleoftappinglickusedin
EddieVanHalensEruptionsolo.
Lick#32CrazyTrainTap
Twohandtaps,pulloffsandhammeronscanbeexecutedinmanycombinations.Thisexample
demonstratesthis,verysimilartoapatternusedbyRandyRhoadsinthesoloforCrazyTrain.
Lick#33SequencedPentatonicLick
Asequencedlickdoesnotplaystraightupordownbutratherrepeatsinalogicalorderor
pattern.ThisMinorPentatonicsequenceisaclassicexampleofthispowerfulidea.
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47 Licks You Must Know from GuitarTeacher.comLick #34 Tremolo
Picking
Tremolopickingmeanstorapidlyrepeatthesamenotewithcontinuouspicking.EddieVan
HalenandCarlosSantanautilizethisoften.
Lick#3516thnotetripletpentatonictrill
Atrillisarapidflutterbetweentwonotes.Onguitarwemostoftendothiswithhammeronsand
pulloffs.ThislickputsthisideawithintheMinorPentatonicscale,keyofA.
Lick#36Descending3rdsIntervalSequence
Anintervalisthedistancebetweentwonotes.Thislickuses3rdintervalsasthebasisofa
sequencedlickintheGmajorscale.
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47 Licks You Must Know from GuitarTeacher.comLick #37 Pentatonic
Sequence of 4s
ThissequenceisinthekeyofAminorandusestheMinorPentatonicscale.
Lick#38PentatonicSextupletSequence
HereisasimplebutheavydutyshredsequenceinthekeyofEminor.Tryitwithpulloffsin
placeofalternatepicking.Trythislickascending,aswell.
Lick#39DescendingSingleString4s
Thissinglestringlickinvolvesprecisecoordinationbetweenbothhandstokeepallfournote
combinationsclean.KirkHammettofMetallicaisamasterofthistypeofmove.
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47 Licks You Must Know from GuitarTeacher.comLick #40 3 Note per
string in 6s
Threenoteperstringpatternsaregreatforsimplifyingthecoordinationoftherightandleft
hands.Thislickusestypical3noteperstringstringpairsinanascendingpositionchanginglick.
Licks 41-47Lick#41Satriani3NotePerStringLegato
ModernguitaristssuchasJoeSatrianiuse3noteperstringpatternsextensively.ThislickinG
majoruseshammeronsandpulloffsformaximumspeed.
Lick#42Gilbert3NotePerStringSequence
Aftereverysixnotes,thislickjumpsupaposition.Thentheprocessrepeats,creatingacoollick
thatcoversalotoffretboardrealestate.StormStenvoldAllRightsReserved
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47 Licks You Must Know from
GuitarTeacher.comLick#43PedalPointLick
Apedalpointlickconsistentlyreturnstoagivenote,herethehighEnoteonthefirststring.This
ideaiscommoninmanyclassicalcompositions.
Lick#44TriadSweepsinG
Thislickusesareverserakeofthestringsforspeedandkeepsallthenotesconfinedtothree
noteshapesfromtheGMajorscale.
Lick#45FiveStringTriadSweeps
Sweeppickingisusingthesamepickstrokedirectionwhenswitchingstrings.Itisvery
importanttorollthepressureofthelefthandfromnotetonoteinordertosoundeachnote
individually.
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47 Licks You Must Know from GuitarTeacher.comLick #46 Six String
Sweeps
Followthepickingdirectioninthislick.Somebigstretchesandpositionchangesareneededto
executethisone.
Lick#47TappingCapo
Hereisacooltwohandedidea.Tapthenotesofachordwhilefrettinganinversionofthatchord
lowerontheneck.
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47 Licks You Must Know from GuitarTeacher.com Moving On From
HereCongratulationsoncompletingthe47LicksYouMustKnoweBook!Itrustyoufoundsomevalue
inthetimeyouhavespentwithit.
Thereisalwayssomethingnewtolearnontheguitar.Herearesomeofmysuggestionsonwhere
youcouldgofromhere: 1.
Ifyouhavenotalreadydoneso,Isuggestthatyougetmyfreeguitartipssenttoyouby
email.JustclickthebluelinkandsubscribetotheGuitarTeacher.comPlayGuitarBetter
Newsletter 2.
IfIusedtermsyoudontunderstandinthisbook,orifyouhavequestions,contactme
directlyatstorm{at}guitarteacher.comorontheGuitarTeacher.comForum.Iwouldbe
morethanhappytohelp. 3.
YoumightbeinterestedintakingthisfartherbysigningupwithmepersonallyforOnline
GuitarLessons. 4.
IftheselicksseemoveryourheadandthetimeisntrightforPrivateGuitarLessons,you
mightwanttoreviewmyrecommendedGuitarCourseandmyrecommendedGuitar
MembershipSite.
Ihopethisbookandthosetoolswillhelpyougrowasamusician.Remember,playingtheguitar
isajourneyandnotadestination.Therearemanyopportunitiesandresourcesyoucanuseto
increaseyourknowledgeandunderstandingoftheguitarfriends,books,teachers,videos,CDs,
DVDs,magazines,andofcourse,theinternet.
Onyourjourneytobecomingabetterguitarplayer,Ihopetoseeyouagainalongtheway!
StormStenvold Founder/Instructor,GuitarTeacher.com
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