copying licks (Page 2 of 2)

hmm that's interesting....thanks for the links! Maybe my problem is my hand is rested too far down the bridge so im having to reach higher to the next string or something? Or maybe im just looking into it too much and it's not an exact science and like you said earlier...just playing around until it just feels right and comfortable - i do agree with you about preferring to have the same wrist motion everytime while moving the arm upwards instead of pinching fingers together to move to lower strings

and is it one of those things where if you learn the technique properly...you will be able to master the speedy licks much quicker without having to spend months on them?

When writing songs, I try to hum or "la la la ohhh" a solo, and then match it on my guitar. It keeps my guitar knowledge limitations at bay while I sound out the solo I want in my head. Then I'm not stuck with some "routine" guitar scale or "go to" licks that I've developed over the years. haha

- Nic from Detroit... posting on JB's Forum since 6-2-2006
Ask me about my handwound Great Lakes Guitar Pickups
Since 2010, Bonamassa fans have taken advantage of my JB friend discount = my cost + shipping.

haha

Every guitarist steals, borrows, etc, but the good playaz know how to make it their own by changing it, sometimes just ever so slightly.  So learn many guitar solo's note for note, then chop them up into small pieces (by measure or two) and use your ears and creativeness to change it up to make it better = more you. 

What's most important while learnig solo, is to understand the chord progression, what riff was played over chord and digest it, etc, etc.  Don't learn while being brainless, look at the whole piece of work prior to solo and after solo to understand why it worked adn why you were attracted to that solo/song.

I got some great advice of the justin guitar tution site.

Learn a lick, then play it a variety of ways, mix up the phrasing, mix up the order of the notes, play it backwards, that one lick can keep you going for hours just finding new interesting variations of it. Try a different end target note, always peaks my ear when Joe plays a solo live and he hits a different target note at the end of a lick. If you want to analyse it, work out what note he has hit(not only the note, but what interval, maybe note how it sounded to your ears), spend time working on playing stuff and hitting that interval at the end, work it in slow.

I wish I had the time to dedicate myself more to doing these things, slow and steady for me though

tewker

Hey guys, I think everyone has added something of value to this topic, however I think almost everyone has missed the point of the original question. As far as I am concerned there is no "stealing" of licks. Now before you all filet me here me out. As a child is learning to speak, they mimic the sounds they are exposed to. As their vocabulary expands they combine this new knowledge to form their own speech patterns, cadence, and accent. No one would consider this "stealing" a language. in much the same way guitarists mimic the influences they are exposed to. As time goes by all musical knowledge ( scales,modes,theory,etc..) hero worship, jamming, copying licks, are blended to form an individual's own style. So mimic, borrow, study, learn and grow.....

That is the ideal model - but I guess some folk never get to the stage where they create their own licks though, just like some people never reach the point where they write their own novel or poetry

True in any musical discipline. My schooling was in classical music but emulating the masters of the past and present greats is the way to learn. Many of the great classic pieces have cadenza sections for letting it rip in your own manner.
Rick