Memorizing a lick

[Larry H.]

I've been trying to dedicate myself to the full counting and memorization of licks from Beginning Blues Soloing and the 2 50 licks by the box courses. I generally have no problem counting the licks while looking at the manual and can reproduce an acceptable sound and time. But here's the question... How long does it take the group to commit the lick to memory. I keep forgetting them and if I don't have the crutch, I fail to recall it. How do you guys go about drilling into the gray (grey ;-)) matter so they are usable in improvising. Thanks in advance. My ADD is winning right now.

 

[Paleo]

Use them or lose them.

But pick out the ones you like.

Nobody expects you to remember all 100+ licks from the 3 courses you mention.

Concentrate on one lick at a time.

Play it over tracks in all keys and feels.

Try it over I, IV and V chords.

Try it starting on different counts.

Rinse and repeat with another lick.

But continue using the first one whenever you can.

Again, if you're not going to use a lick there's no reason to spend time "learning" it.

Unless, like in Griff's "How To Improvise Blues Solos” course, you're practicing analyzing the 4 qualities of a blues lick.

 

[Larry H.]

Use them or lose them.

But pick out the ones you like.

Nobody expects you to remember all 100+ licks from the 3 courses you mention.

Concentrate on one lick at a time.

Play it over tracks in all keys and feels.

Try it over I, IV and V chords.

Try it starting on different counts.

Rinse and repeat with another lick.

But continue using the first one whenever you can.

Again, if you're not going to use a lick there's no reason to spend time "learning" it.

Unless, like in Griff's "How To Improvise Blues Solos” course, you're practicing analyzing the 4 qualities of a blues lick.

Thanks Paleo. It’s been a struggle. But yes, I am doing everyone of them. Time to cull the herd.

 

[MarkDyson]

I’m going through the Beginning Blues Soloing course myself, and I’ve been “stuck” on lesson two for weeks. Five four-bar licks, and to progress past the “trading” section of the lesson I need to own them. It’s been a slog, but one I feel is critical to my advancement. I wish I had a magic bullet for owning these licks, but for me it’s been spending my practice time just playing them over and over, switching up the order, ad nauseum until I own them. Then, I know, eventually I’ll have to go through the same process with new licks. If I knew of an easier path, I’d take it.

 

[CraigHollander]

I have over last week discovered and watched many videos by Guitar Mastery because they are different from griff in that they are teaching you where you are going wrong in the process of getting from point A to B which is the great challenge to becoming professional quality player . We can all understand on paper and video what is in BGU and other courses but can you jump in with a band and play can you create music that is tight with band and sounds "right" to listener, on spot. With where I am now these free videos (no need to buy full courses at the moment) they will help you understand bad habits that slow your learning down quickly correct them and yes this below is on why you cant remember licks for long, a problem I have had and am working on this now and so much more . When you can recall all types of licks at will you can more freely improvise if you cant how can you play a set with a a band. I assure you Griff can play at least 100 licks right now if he was asked. 10 songs with solos have maybe 10 licks per solo so 1 set some bands do 4 a night can have 200 operate licks right ? a great compliment to work of BGU as totally different topics are being handled by this guy See below and let me know if what he says makes sense I would also say that although you dont need to know technically 100 licks that Griff can play at will way more than a hundred licks. Why he can do that is not just how long he has been playing The guy below gets deep into these kind of questions in addition to the regular topics that are covered so well by griff he goes more into "how to learn " "How to practice" "How to eliminate bad habits that hold you back" He nails so many things I know I have done wrong that held me back things no one pointed out. I am now working to correct it and develop a far better practice system as I only just stumbled on this guy. Check out the memorization video below and the comments from so many thanking him. it has link to guitar mastery you tube page and a thousand videos for free you can watch what you think will help you to practice more efficiently wasting not time in improving Tell me what you think. Cheers!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zxxSrsPkdo&list=PLXAdrr-hututXgFflcPstqQfLIvfp8_dl&index=8

 

[PapaRaptor]

Tell me what you think. Cheers!

Griff has mentioned over and over the same idea, but he does it in a different way. He mentions that doing the same thing over and over ad nauseum causes you to go on autopilot and zone out. Practice several short (under 30 minute) sessions several times a day. Also, at no point will you find Griff suggesting that you sit on one lick in a session. This is part of why his solos are broken down into relatively short licks.

 

[PapaRaptor]

I've been trying to dedicate myself to the full counting and memorization of licks from Beginning Blues Soloing and the 2 50 licks by the box courses. I generally have no problem counting the licks while looking at the manual and can reproduce an acceptable sound and time. But here's the question... How long does it take the group to commit the lick to memory. I keep forgetting them and if I don't have the crutch, I fail to recall it. How do you guys go about drilling into the gray (grey ;-)) matter so they are usable in improvising. Thanks in advance. My ADD is winning right now.

In addition to what @Paleo said, you surely realize that some licks are going to come more easily than others. Some you will really like and others, not so much. The ones you like, you're going to remember more quickly. The ones you don't probably not as quickly (or not at all). It's not important that you memorize them all. It's also not important that you learn them all quickly. You can move on before you own a set of licks. Just while you're immersed in the material, every couple of days (or every day) make a point of going back through the ones you've already learned with the tab in front of you.
Another thing that I find useful is to take a lick I'm pretty familiar with and play it in another key, so rather than remembering the numbering pattern from the tab, you're transposing it to a movable pattern. Even if you're not playing with a backing track and you're just playing the lick and the original lick is in G, play it in A, B, C or anywhere you can repeat the pattern on the fretboard.

 

[MikeS]

Griff has mentioned over and over the same idea, but he does it in a different way. He mentions that doing the same thing over and over ad nauseum causes you to go on autopilot and zone out. Practicing in several short (under 30 minute) sessions several times a day. Also, at no point will you find Griff suggesting that you sit on one lick in a session. This is part of why his solos are broken down into relatively short licks.

Nailed it. Thanks.

 

[MikeS]

I've watched several of the Guitarmastery videos over the years and I can't remember hearing anything new there. he says the same things that Griff says, just maybe in a different way, which has some value in itself. In this case, the diatribe on short term and long term memory is a waste of time so I tend to tune him out. Does ANYONE not understand short term/long term memory?
Griff's solution is to simply tell you to practice in short 10-15 minute blocks. Also move to something else between going back to the lick. This solves the Short term/long term problem without having to spend 5 minutes describing it.
Day 1
Learn lick 1 10 minutes at a time a few times a day
Day 2
Play lick 1 for 10 min, then lick 2 for the rest of the day (maybe play lick 1 again at the end of the day)
Day 3
Play lick 2 for 10 min, then lick 1 for 10 min then work on lick 3 for the rest of the day
Day 4 .....
Day 5 .....

 

[CraigHollander]

Mike

I am not sure if you were a natural intuitive with practice and could play Madison Square Garden by 17th but I was not and nor were most of my friends especially pre internet when not a hell of a ton was out there to learn from . I did however know kids that in 5 years went from zero to being able to play Madison Square Garden. I always wondered how I even asked them and they always said they didnt know just do it. That didnt help me. No one has praised Griff more than me but I also noticed that someone like Ben Higgins who is a rock metal version of griff and an insane talent teaches very similar to griffs regardless of playing different type of music . Guitar Mastery also happens to yes be trying to explain thesome of the same thing in a different way but .......stressing the importance of how you practice a whole lot more than even griff and Ben do. How you practice will determine how far you take it so putting a system in place (you are making it seem way easier then most beginners or intermediate players find it to be) is critical. It's like saying I can lose weight. Correct if you eat right but... are you actually following a plan that can help you lose the weight or are you stopping and going like most do or talking about it and not doing it at all? That is where Claus fits in the learning pipeline he makes it very clear very clear do the same thing that didnt work when you practice no results learn how to practice correctly end habits that are holding you back is likely the most important thing you can do if you want to play. So 3 guys that I think we all can respect are saying the same thing but Claus is really stressing it to the point of saying you will fail if you dont zone in on the things he is highlighting.he is telling you. why you are failing to progress . I know he is right because when he describes these things I did them all and know realize its common for people trying to learn it led me to this point see below history . I am writing this to help beginners and intermediate like myself that are stuck I only had this aha moment a week ago when I watched Mastery videos free on YouTube it all made sense.

I stopped playing in high school got frustrated no roadmap just like Claus describes. When internet and tab learning came yes I learned some stuff but there was still so much gaps on the how to get to where I want to go. I got frustrated and did not try again until 3 years ago when I stumbled on Griff Course and found Ben Higgins.

Now I realized recently that I can play along while watching tab even fairly difficult solos and maybe get through it where people say it sounds okay. I Have played with Griff jam tracks and got a long way to sounding decent and I also understand all the theory behind it but the goal should be to be able to just play with or without backing tracks feel in control to know what to do at all times. This is also spoken about in Griff Course. Any professional level muscian of which I am not on that level yet can walk into a room and they say we are going to do this song and boom play.

I assure you Griff has in long term memory tons of licks well into the hundreds and tons of chord progressions and styles he can play at drop of a hat.

Claus doesnt say wow you cant do it he explains what is holding you back from doing it. So as I say again its not one course is better than another its what motivates you to get to point a to b In one video he asks what is your goal what are you looking to accomplish today

1 . So on this memory thing I have set my personal plan Which is yes kinda what you said in your post
A- slow blues licks by box has 50 licks. I start day 1 with 2 licks .
B-When I play them both back to back by memory which should not take long with 2 licks I play each lick 1st separate over the backing track trying it out as Griff says on different spots but understanding a bit about targeting chords and changes likely settling on where I like that lick the best.
C Stop playing it until next day attempt.
D- very important as Griff and all good teachers point out how to solo without box I want to as I learn the licks create a list by the 1st note it starts on so ex all that start in A minor box 1 5th fret 1st string so each time I learn more of the 50 I have a reference list where each starts. Why ? so when your jamming and your in the vicinity you have a few things "to say" when starting on that note.
E-The next day If I can play both licks from memory I add 2 more same process. If I forgot the 1st one but remember the 2nd I add 1 more and if I I forgot both I do not proceed. This takes very little practice time.
F-The answer of what am I looking to get out of this practice is yes to own those 50 licks and to improve my process to faster memorize what I want and most important to have enough licks to memory to then play without tab without errors when jamming with other musicians .
g-Each day I will take the licks I have to memory only no tab and jam with the backing tracks. When I hit 10 for say box 1 I should have no trouble with the call and response. I think part of problem of ingraining is that when people see all 10 licks in call and response as part 2 they are trying to get down all 10 licks faster then possible into memory which likely will not work for most.

So we are on the same page I am saying that Claus also has value in fixing things that you are likely not even realizing are holding you back. He has motivational value it's not me saying Griff is not the best.

Let's see in 1 month from today how many licks I have retained and I will try to put a video of me playing them up.

One final thing just memorizing them and sort of playing them are not enough playing with the tracks not looking at tab is critical but 1 more thing is the quality. Are you articulating the notes clearly . Are you playing in a relaxed manner (if not how will you play faster solos and chords you would freeze up) are you bending to pitch correctly how is you vibrato sounding your pullouts and very important how is your muting of unwanted noise your timing is that lick singing or just sounding wimpy. Griff yes talks about this at times as well.

This is what I realized this week when I watched Guitar mastery . There are no excuses I have never thought of putting a video up I have never given the kind of focus he speaks about to take the playing to where I want to be. Sometimes you have to Get real with yourself and you have to get a kick in the ass to realize what you are going to have to do to get where you want to be. If you just want to read tab and play along with songs nothing wrong with it. I can do that fairly well now but I want to play for real and so I need to get another level up and I will.

If I improve my practice and waste zero time I will improve if I practice the way I used to I can have some fun playing along with songs reading it off tab and that type of thing but not really getting much better. Guys who could always play who got it at young age did this without knowing they were practicing right it was intuitive and it was why they got better fast . Claus mentions he was not a natural and quit many times but there was no roadmap as he is pre internet guy so the breakthrough was when he upped his intensity set clear goals and developed a practice routine that could get him to where he needed to be.


I hope you all understand Not saying Griff course along is not enough was trying to stress how you practice will determine how far you go Cheers!

 

[Elwood]

Does ANYONE not understand short term/long term memory?

I forget.

 

[artyman]

Can't remember the last time I forgot something

 

[CraigHollander]

1-reorganized box 1 licks in slow licks by the box course by note lick begins on

2-Guitar mastery suggests that the memory method we all discussed today does even better when you do it with slightly varying versions of the lick which is what the 2 licks that start with a bend to the root from 8th fret second string are.

3-You can also be step ahead organizing your lick library by the note it starts on as in Griff Course soling without scales . When you hit a root you immediate have 5-1- licks in your head to fit the situation since form 1st to 12 fret there are only 6 places the root appears this is why 30 to 60 licks ingrained and you are running the neck right?

4- Now step look at each lick and analyze them a bit to understand the role and how they fit in solo over chords

In the lick labeled lick 1 in the course he bends up to A from G because its the tonic simple enough 2nd measure boom lands on D chord hits D note as the D chord tonic ends on A the 5th of D Triad. So conclusion is in any key if you are moving from 1 the chord to the 4 chord this is perfect and I would not even move the starting point of the lick because it hits on the downbeat of the chord highlighting the change. So other than this spot where else would you use it?

In the 2nd lick labeled lick 3 in course chords go A D A E. bends G to Tonic over A carries over to D the 5th and then does a pickup on 5th beat which hits A the 5th again on 1st sting another bend from g to A on the A chord and on the E chord the 1st triple he ends on E and then moves away from it regardless of the 2 notes being outside of the E triad because its a turnaround to lead back to A. So this lick looks like its used on the turnaround in any key am I correct?

he then uses lick 3 again only over the D chord again which works as well because it hits A the 5th of D At beginning and end before returning to A in this case he leaves room in next measure to let space between the licks because he ended the last lick on A strong carryover tonality. Is this correct So this lick can also go over the 4 chord well or the A chord as well if playing either for 2 bars

I am not sending this again but I am going to do this for each lick in course to see how it effects by memorization and ability to use them and make them sing properly. What do you all think. I have never really dont his before. Tomorrow I start the memorizing. Phew...... I hope this all works I think its going to

 

[PapaRaptor]

1-reorganized box 1 licks in slow licks by the box course by note lick begins on

2-Guitar mastery suggests that the memory method we all discussed today does even better when you do it with slightly varying versions of the lick which is what the 2 licks that start with a bend to the root from 8th fret second string are.

3-You can also be step ahead organizing your lick library by the note it starts on as in Griff Course soling without scales . When you hit a root you immediate have 5-1- licks in your head to fit the situation since form 1st to 12 fret there are only 6 places the root appears this is why 30 to 60 licks ingrained and you are running the neck right?

4- Now step look at each lick and analyze them a bit to understand the role and how they fit in solo over chords

In the lick labeled lick 1 in the course he bends up to A from G because its the tonic simple enough 2nd measure boom lands on D chord hits D note as the D chord tonic ends on A the 5th of D Triad. So conclusion is in any key if you are moving from 1 the chord to the 4 chord this is perfect and I would not even move the starting point of the lick because it hits on the downbeat of the chord highlighting the change. So other than this spot where else would you use it?

In the 2nd lick labeled lick 3 in course chords go A D A E. bends G to Tonic over A carries over to D the 5th and then does a pickup on 5th beat which hits A the 5th again on 1st sting another bend from g to A on the A chord and on the E chord the 1st triple he ends on E and then moves away from it regardless of the 2 notes being outside of the E triad because its a turnaround to lead back to A. So this lick looks like its used on the turnaround in any key am I correct?

he then uses lick 3 again only over the D chord again which works as well because it hits A the 5th of D At beginning and end before returning to A in this case he leaves room in next measure to let space between the licks because he ended the last lick on A strong carryover tonality. Is this correct So this lick can also go over the 4 chord well or the A chord as well if playing either for 2 bars

I am not sending this again but I am going to do this for each lick in course to see how it effects by memorization and ability to use them and make them sing properly. What do you all think. I have never really dont his before. Tomorrow I start the memorizing. Phew...... I hope this all works I think its going to

The best method to learn is the one that you can follow. If it works for you, that's really all that matters. Best of luck to you!

 

[JPsuff]

Well after reading this thread, I've decided that I'm either going to try to learn licks from Guitar Mastery...


...or Differential Calculus.


Decisions...decisions...

 

[Larry H.]

Whew... I really didn't mean to start that... But thanks to all for the suggestions. I've been practicing / memorizing and eating popcorn. Oops, sorry, I can't be trusted with a keyboard (Smacking my fingers with a ruler).

 

[John-G]

I’m going through the Beginning Blues Soloing course myself, and I’ve been “stuck” on lesson two for weeks. Five four-bar licks, and to progress past the “trading” section of the lesson I need to own them. It’s been a slog, but one I feel is critical to my advancement. I wish I had a magic bullet for owning these licks, but for me it’s been spending my practice time just playing them over and over, switching up the order, ad nauseum until I own them. Then, I know, eventually I’ll have to go through the same process with new licks. If I knew of an easier path, I’d take it.

Same here, very frustrating ...

 

[John-G]

Well after reading this thread, I've decided that I'm either going to try to learn licks from Guitar Mastery...


...or Differential Calculus.


Decisions...decisions...

I'm aiming at Rocket science ...

 

[CraigHollander]

So it looks like this week 3 people have asked for help on memorization. I took a break from the joking around and started Monday with a system that some of you stated is in Griff course but with a slight twist. Also I think you forget that all 3 of these guys state they are new beginners and may not have seen all the things that are in course.

The result of my "science" I just got down meaning memorized own it etc all 10 licks box 1 of slow blues by the box in 3 days. Today I will learn 1st 3 of box 2 end of week 1 20 licks at this rate. I am not doing this to show off . I am doing it to teach myself a system to hold on and memorize what I need to play a set with a band. You cant read tab when jamming right? A band play how many songs and in those songs how many licks so if you cant memorize ....you cant do it. The slow blues by box opened up the rest of the neck for me it just hit me right time so just knowing those 50 licks you can jam endlessly in all keys right? It's a way to not only train memorization but to have licks that are useful to practice jamming with backing tracks.

I came back on the thread after seeing John G having same frustration this morning. So for the 3 guys who want to be able to memorize here it is

1- Take the beginning soloing section 2 licks and divide them into 2 sections by the note they start on. you can cut and paste into a word doc. I looked at them they have only 2 different starting notes 1 is 2 licks 1 is 4 licks.

2- Griff course soloing without scales is a 2nd reason to organize your memory like this but leave that alone for now just know that for whatever reason when I went at it like this it worked.

3- Take the 2 licks 1st with the same 1st note. Try to start in evening Work on memorizing for no longer then 10 minutes if you can do it dont worry leave it and come back the next morning .

4- If you cant do it in morning work on same licks only 10 minutes then check in evening it will come its only 2 licks for now .

5- When you can do that take 1 lick from the other group of 4 that start on same note and work it to memory for no more then 10 minutes.

6- right before you put down guitar try to play previous 2 licks you thought you had down you may or may not be able to play because you just scrambed it by adding the new lick 3 dont worry if you cant . if you can the 1st 2 are likely already embedded you own it. Now wait until next session if you cant do the lick 1 and 2 glance at tab not for long just to remind you (oh yeah) play them and then try lick 3 then back to lick 1 and 2 if and only if you do all 3 by memory repeat process adding 1 lick at a time until you have all 6 done.

I do 2 or 3 licks at a time because I got this system down now but you need to start with 2 to make it work then add 1 at a time so you should have it down in 6 days but next time you can try 2 at a time but always group the learning by the 1st note of licks together . That is what pushed me through the barrier and made me able to memorize when before I failed. 2 sessions a day 10 minutes each morning and night or lunch and night has to be short and spaced out.

When you go to play these with Griff or backing track you will see because you can instantly recall not even thinking how much better it will sound and how much easier to keep time.

Let me know if it works . It did for. me.

The Scientist

 

[ChrisGSP]

How do you guys go about drilling into the gray (grey ;-)) matter so they are usable in improvising. Thanks in advance. My ADD is winning right now.

One thing that I've found useful sometimes is to actually analyse a lick or a phrase or part of a melody - just about any sequence of notes. I have many pages of printed music that have my pencil markings on them.

When I say analyse, I just forget about the mechanics and the notes, and look closely at the degrees of the scale that comprises the sequence of notes. I'm just gonna grab one at random and work through it. This is a short lick, and it's all ascending.

Flat 3, 3, 5, 6, 1 (octave up), 1, 1, Flat 3 (octave up). That's just 8 notes, but without the distraction of counting or timing they look pretty simple. That's one idea - just forget the duration of the notes, concentrate on the sequence.

Another aspect of analysis is the intervals - same sequence as above, starting from the first note; half-step, minor third, whole step, minor third, unison (same note again), unison, minor third.

Another thing to analyse is which notes you are bending - Flat 3 to 3 (half-step), 4 to 5 (whole step), Flat 7 to Root (whole step); are the common ones.

If you do this sort of thing with the licks that you are actually trying to learn or memorise, you may start to see similarities, or little bits that occur in different places of different licks. And then you might be able to start building your own licks out of those fragments.

And while you are exercising your brain with the analysis, it may help you with memorising.

Plus what Craig and Mike and all the others said above.