Help Me Find Licks / Lines to Play ...

[jamiehenderson1993]

So,I'm new to Jazz (as this query likely suggests...).

Having done some research, I've found that the most common Jazz Chord Progressions are:

• Major ii-V-I (including altering the V chord)
• Minor ii-V-I
• Turnaround I-VI-ii-V (and the variations on this i.e. I-vi-ii-V; I-#Idim-ii-V; iii-VI-ii-V; III-VI-II-V etc etc.)
• I7-IV7
• Take the A Train I-II7-ii-V-I
• Passing Dim I-#Idim-ii-#iidim-iii-VI7
• 4 minor IVMaj7-IVm7

I'm sure there's plenty more (and please share if there are ones that I've missed).

My question is that, in order to begin being able to improvise over these changes, I'll need to have some solid vocabulary / licks to play over these changes.
Can someone please advise me on whether there are 'standard' lines & where I might find these?

I know the advice might be "listen to recordings are transcribe lines that grab you", but I'm not at the stage of recognising some of these progressions by ear yet, so getting some lines under my fingers now is something that I'd like to do in the meantime.

Thanks

[paul s.]

Jazz Conception for Guitar by Jim Snidero, and the associated Study Guide

[wolflen]

Before you "play licks" over progressions that are new to you..

Play each chord arpeggio
Play the 1235 scale tones of the chord
Find the key of the progression-play the major scale of that key
use some melodic patterns from that scale: example--

In the key of C major

scale tones 2315 --DECG--over Cmaj7
use this pattern for all the chords in the C scale--Example

Dmin7 EFDA

Emin7 FGEB

FMaj7 GAFC--and so on

from there you can be creative with this kind of thinking..

use rhythmic variations..and octave displacement..

play the pattern in different orders

Play the 1 3 5 tones of all the chords in the progression in all positions.

try to create a basic solo over the progression using some of these ideas..

If you can record the progression.

"licks" will make alot more sense when you know what scale tones sound good over which chords.

[Bobby Timmons]

^ 2nd the great advice by wolfen. Try working out the raw materials so you can start to understand how lines work. Scales, arps, intervals, chromatics.

If you're not comfortable transcribing things yet, simply pick a tune you like and see if there's already a transcription of it on youtube. Learn one bit at a time, get it solid, then place in different circumstances.

[pamosmusic]

Hmm this is interesting.

I think learning licks right off is a great thing. But Bobby’s also right that it can be hard to understand them without the raw materials. Working on them in tandem.

I think the tried and true advice of transcribing Miles Davis and Charlie Christian or Grant Green is a great place to start if the transcribing is new.

Miles on the Charlie Parker recordings in particular because his stuff is so simple, and it’s so easy to find some of those characteristic progressions under what he’s doing.

[AllanAllen]

Another thing Bobby said. Learn one bit at a time. Try learning a single bar by ear.

One of the tunes you listed was A Train. Just learn part of a solo someone played on A Train. Just one bar at first, if you need that.

Learning scales and arpeggios makes learning by ear easier. Most of the stuff I like is diatonic with a little sidestepping. That was huge to figure out.

[princeplanet]

...
I know the advice might be "listen to recordings are transcribe lines that grab you", but I'm not at the stage of recognising some of these progressions by ear yet...

But that's what everyone has to do! Sure there are patterns and scales and arps to learn which help with technique etc, but that doesn't make you sound like the Jazz that has inspired you to want to learn about. It's not just about being aware of the chord tones, that's the start of the process, almost like learning the alphabet. It's more about learning how to decorate, or embellish those chord tones. How do you do that? There's thousands of ways, and you'll only be confused and disheartened if you bought some book trying to show you hundreds of ways to do it.

Save yourself years and just dive in the deep end and transcribe the ways that your favourite players do it, or even just start with one solo you like from any instrument. Slow it down and loop sections of it until it's part of you. Of course you can figure out the underlying chords, you can download chord charts for most tunes. If you really like a Miles line in a blues or something, work out what bar it is by counting it through the chord sheet. Lines (licks, vocabulary, devices etc) can usually be categorized under 2 main types - Dominant or Tonic. The Dominant family is very broad and will often contain lines derived from common substitutions (tritone etc). You have to decode your fave lines once you work them out to see how it's author conceived it - where are the chord tones? How are they being embellished? How is any chromaticism utilised? Are there parts that sound good but seem to defy rational explanation? (That happens a lot and is the true mystery of Jazz!).

In other words, just study the shit out of even a 2 bar phrase you like, you can invent a style out of it! Bird said once that he could play everything he knows in 8 bars, think about that. He's talking about his methodology for decorating chord tones. He just took what he liked from his favourite players and twisted it around a little. You develop some concepts, and get to work on how to implement them in all kinds of situations (negotiating chord changes etc). It's what every good player does, so please don't come to this realisation (like a lot of people on this forum including myself have done) after years of trying to find an easier way. There just isn't one. If you wanna get serious, it takes years and years of hard work.

Or if you just wanna have a few tasty lines to impress your friends, go find any number of "Jazz LIcks You Must Know" kinda books and spend a coupla days memorizing the ones you like .

[jazzshrink]

"Studying jazz guitar licks and getting a jazz vocabulary is an important part of learning how to play jazz guitar. Players such as Charlie Parker, Charlie Christian, and Dizzy Gillespie brought fresh levels of excitement to their solos, ushering in a new era of jazz improvisation. In this lesson, you will learn 50 jazz guitar licks, as well as the important concepts behind each lick. This way, you will build your vocabulary and expand your theory knowledge at the same time." - Dirk Laukens

50 BEBOP JAZZ GUITAR LICKS

[frabarmus]

@OP, You might also find some insight here:

Modular lick compendium

[dharma2020]

I was looking for the same. Found the 'Essential Jazz Lines' Series by Corey Christiansen and can recommend them. I'm working through the Grant Green one at the moment.

[alltunes]

So,I'm new to Jazz (as this query likely suggests...).

Having done some research, I've found that the most common Jazz Chord Progressions are:

• Major ii-V-I (including altering the V chord)
• Minor ii-V-I
• Turnaround I-VI-ii-V (and the variations on this i.e. I-vi-ii-V; I-#Idim-ii-V; iii-VI-ii-V; III-VI-II-V etc etc.)
• I7-IV7
• Take the A Train I-II7-ii-V-I
• Passing Dim I-#Idim-ii-#iidim-iii-VI7
• 4 minor IVMaj7-IVm7

I'm sure there's plenty more (and please share if there are ones that I've missed).

My question is that, in order to begin being able to improvise over these changes, I'll need to have some solid vocabulary / licks to play over these changes.
Can someone please advise me on whether there are 'standard' lines & where I might find these?

I know the advice might be "listen to recordings are transcribe lines that grab you", but I'm not at the stage of recognising some of these progressions by ear yet, so getting some lines under my fingers now is something that I'd like to do in the meantime.

Thanks

Chris Whiteman’s excellent Patreon channel ($3/month) has many mini lessons on these types of lines. How to build them etc. Each mini lesson has a nice clean PDF and a a video of him playing lines using the concepts. Highly recommended.

I would also recommend Jimmy Bruno’s video “ No Nonsense Jazz Guitar”. It is very difficult to learn these by book alone. Hearing and watching is indispensable.

All you need is a couple of good licks to get going then apply them to songs.

Here is one such lesson: