Jazz Licks: Expanding on Fragments

Free Jazz banjo video lesson:

Jazz Lick expansion

In this video, I demonstrate another Jazz Lick.  This time I cover how to expand on licks and the importance of playing material in all 12 keys. When you can play the material in multiple keys, then you’ll be able to use in a multitude of songs and situations.  Another aspect is to make sure you have two fingerings for each lick, that way you don’t have to jump up and down the fingerboard to get to the licks over different chords (as explained in the video).

Lastly, I cover the importance of varying up how you enter and end licks.  This becomes important as it allows you to expand one lick into dozens of other licks.  Also, licks don’t always fit as memorized, sometimes you have to leave notes out, change phrasing, or more.

If you haven’t already done so, be sure to view part one on how to learn licks:

Jazz licks part 1 | How to learn licks