Welcome to the GuitarVivo
20 Lick Sampler
Explore our curated selection of 20 standout licks from the GuitarVivo collection. Bookmark this page and visit often, as we regularly update the licks to inspire your playing and showcase more from our books.
Lick #1 by Martin Miller
Ascending/descending pentatonic slides & arpeggio pattern. Uses string changes, slides, pull-offs, & ghost strokes for smooth, unpredictable melodic movement.
Lick #2 by Tim Lerch
Starts with a pickup into the ii chord, then a double-time line with B minor arpeggios and chromatic connections. E7 features altered color. Shifts to a bluesy 8th note/triplet feel with chromaticism. Ends with a chromatic descent to the I chord's low third, then a jump to the root.
Lick #3 by Brett Garsed
Starts with a hammer-on lick. Adds a quirky sound with a half-step bend. Later, it cycles the lick, adding a note for a nine-note sequence, displacing the rhythm and creating interest. Adding an extra note to repetitive licks can add rhythmic variation.
Lick #4 by Ross Campbell
Uses blues tools like dominant 7th arpeggios & blues scale. The final bar uses an E augmented triad for outside sound before resolving to A7. The symmetrical augmented triad can be moved in major thirds.
Lick #5 by Juan Antonio
Starts with Cmaj7 arpeggio in threes, then C Lydian with #11. Uses Em9 arpeggio for position shift, followed by Em & D triads, resolving to Cmaj7 root.
Lick #6 by Bence Becsy
Bb major I-vi-ii-V progression. Uses dyads, 3-note chords, & single notes. Features quartal harmony (fourths) on beat 2, bar 1, a modern jazz/neo-soul sound.
Lick #7 by Simon Pratt
High-register lick blends F Major arpeggios & triad voicings (Mark Lettieri style). Uses "slap tap" technique (12 frets above) on chords like Bb6/9, common in Neo-Soul.
Lick #8 by Don Mock
Here's a classic use of the "up a half-step" melodic minor. It's a Jazz-style II-V-I line in Bb that uses both minor7â™5 arpeggios (VI and VII) and the III, Amaj7♯5 from Gb melodic minor
Lick #9 by Tim Lerch
Varied I-V progression approach. Bar 2 uses a single-note line over A bass, implying A7b9. Bar 3 uses thirds to navigate chords, ending with a basic A7 voicing.
Lick #10 by Don Mock
This lick over a I-Vi-ii-V-I progression begins with a Cmaj7 arpeggio. In the second bar, I play a melodic idea based on the A melodic minor scale. For the ii-V, I use an intervallic concept built around fifths. Over the G7, I incorporate the G7 altered scale.
Lick #11 by JTC BLUES
Blues shuffle lick with F major/F6 triads. Uses blue note approach, timbral contrast with string changes & vibrato. Variations include F6, string changes, & added triplet for interest. Avoids exact repetition.
Lick #12 by Bruce Forman
Block chords (Fmaj7-Am7), D Phrygian dominant line into Gm7, C7â™9 voicing. Turnaround has counterpoint with held notes on string 1 against lower strings (3-5).
Lick #13 by Sam Bell
In this example, we’re taking a 3-1-3 pattern in A minor spanning Positions 4 and 5. This line has more twists and turns in it than the more straightforward legato approach in the previous examples. For the first two beats, we’re ascending a nice 3-1-3 fragment. Then, on beat 3, we’re using the second finger to launch into a 2-1-3 pattern, which repeats again starting on the second 16th note of beat 4. The line then finishes with a full descent of a two-octave A minor pentatonic scale in the fourth and fifth positions.
Lick #14 by Johnny Hiland
A7 lick with open strings & banjo rolls. Adds hammer-ons on top strings, ending with pedal steel bend on B string.
Lick #15 by Manuel Gardner Fernandes
Piano-like legato run with hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, & left-hand tapping (hammer-ons from nowhere). Emphasizes rhythmic accuracy in legato & slides, avoiding a blurry time feel.
Lick #16 by Scott Henderson
D Lydian dominant to A7. Anticipates A7alt in bar 3. Tension with maj7 over dominant, resolves to D7. Ab triad from diminished scale over Ebdim7, resolving to A7's b7.
Lick #17 by Tim Daley
Uses chromatics & melodic minor for an outside feel in pentatonic position 5. Offbeat pick strokes, Bebop Jazz style. Surprising & ear-catching.
Lick #18 by JTC Blues
C minor fusion lick. Starts with C blues scale, shifts to Bb minor pentatonic over G7(b9). Returns to C blues scale with a motif, then jazz arpeggios, and ends with a bluesy bend to Cm9's 11th.
Lick #19 by Chris Corcoran
Chromatic cell moved around A7 and D7 chord tones. Focuses on applying a melodic cell in various positions.
Lick #20 by Yuji Kamihigashi
I-VI-i-V study with inner-voice melodies. Inner voices can be clear melodies or subtle rhythmic/chordal countermelodies.
