If you read my earlier post, The Almighty Lick Book, you know that for 30 days I will be posting a brand new lick from my own personal lick book each and every day. This is the second of these licks. If you are unsure of what a lick book is than be sure to read that post first.
This lick comes from the first 5 bars of the tune Star Eyes. It contains a very typical progression in which the I chord in bar 3 turns into a minor 7th chord in a ii-V-I. You will see this in tons of tunes, so it is good to have a bunch of tricks for this progression.
This lick is base on a three note motive, or short musical phrase. The motive for this lick is made up of a minor 2nd and then a perfect 5th. If you look almost the entire lick is based on this motive except for a few passing phrases in the 3rd and 4th bars.
Motives are a great way to build a solo and help you to not sound like you are just running through arpeggios all of the time. Try writing your own three or four note motive and basing an entire lick on it. Then try basing an entire solo on this motive. You can either improvise the solo, or write it out.
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