I must confess I dont learn many 'licks', I do learn tunes, is there a difference?

It's easier to learn a lick like a parrot, but that's not to understand it. One way to improve understanding of a lick is to take it through other keys - BAIB is perfect for this. If you can do this then you know the function of the lick and it's more likely to turn up when you play freely.

It's said above that the music school chords scale approach tend to bring 'mechanicalness' (words to that effect anyway IMO) This can be true, but when you really know a scale or chord - can play it in many ways, then it begins to 'melt' and become more liquid.
I sometimes think of scales and chords as beginning life as a rusty bicycle chain - immovable - but with a bit of effort the beauty of the thing tends to begin to reveal itself - the chain is oiled and is then "articulated" you can bend and twist it. I am always finding new ways of doing this, and my basic method is to play any pattern forward then backwards over a chord structure, then take a note from the sequence - such as a third or fifth and start the pattern from there. Like this the pattern soon starts to wriggle around.

Last edited by ZeroZero; 04/14/13 01:36 AM.
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