Dumb Question From An Old Player
Hello David,
I hope you and your family are keeping well during these crazy times.
I believe that you have answered this question in the past, but I hope you don't mind reflecting on it again.
I believe that you are a proponent of building a lick vocabulary and I believe that I have heard you say that improvising efficiently and well, is the ability to recall these licks more or less at will, when playing to a jam track, for instance.
I personally do not seem to have a lot of luck trying to recall licks. In fact, I find myself quite often just drawing a blank. Should I just be picking out my favourite licks, from my favourite songs and players and just rehearsing them incessently, until I can recall them at will? Does it just require more hard work on my part?
When does one reach the stage when you are becoming proficient at this?
I have been playing for many years and still struggle with this.
Thanks in advance for answering my question.
Homer.
Hello David,
Great reply. That's what I was looking for. Thank you for being so succinct with your answer.
I think I will frame your reply, so that I can refer to it on a daily basis, until I can get a firm handle on some kind of a lick vocabulary for myself.
Your lessons are great, David. Thank you for all you do, and keep safe and well.
Homer.
I'm happy to help Homer
Hello Homer. We are good, thank you for asking... I hope the same for you and your family.
"I believe that you are a proponent of building a lick vocabulary and I believe that I have heard you say that improvising efficiently and well, is the ability to recall these licks more or less at will, when playing to a jam track, for instance."
Exactly. Licks = words... without licks you can't speak.
"I personally do not seem to have a lot of luck trying to recall licks. In fact, I find myself quite often just drawing a blank. Should I just be picking out my favourite licks, from my favourite songs and players and just rehearsing them incessently, until I can recall them at will? Does it just require more hard work on my part?"
You got it. Review Chorus Form Study 1 and 2. After this, grab the PDF of each of your study songs and circle the licks you like the sound of (usually this will be the first lick of each chorus... they're also the easiest to work with). Also grab cool V-IV-I licks (bar 9-10-11) and Turnaround Licks (Bars 11 and 12). Then take a lick each day and apply the Chorus Form process... play the lick as A A A, A A A with fills, A A B, A A B with fills, the three versions of A B/A C. Then move the lick up an octave (if you can), add different textures, use fragments of the lick... chew on that lick every possible way you can. Now that you've played the lick at least 50 times, you'll remember the lick, and because you've practiced all the phrasing permutations, the rest of the chorus will go great.
"When does one reach the stage when you are becoming proficient at this?"
I don't know, but I garuntee that it will be longer than you think it should take... it's a process over time. And... be kind to yourself... your solos will always sound worse than they are to you.