Over the years I’ve learnt hundreds of licks. Most of them were useful for a while and then quietly disappeared from my playing. A small number, though, actually changed the way I approach the guitar. These are the ones that stuck. They influenced my phrasing, my note choice, and the way I think when I’m improvising.
In this video I break down five of those licks. They’re all taken from real solos rather than made-up exercises, which is one of the reasons they had such a strong effect on me. When you learn something from a record that already moves you, it tends to go deeper than a pattern from a book.
1. Layla (Unplugged) – Eric Clapton (0:23)
The first lick comes from the acoustic version of Layla. It’s simple, melodic, and sits perfectly under the fingers. What I always liked about it is how singable it is. It taught me that a strong melodic idea played with good timing and feel is often more powerful than trying to fit in as many notes as possible.
Here’s the tab for this lick. It occurs at 0.23 in the song:
Here is the lick in two additional keys for your practice. First up is the key of A minor:
Next up is the key of F#m, in two different positions on the fretboard:
2. Comfortably Numb – David Gilmour (5:32)
Gilmour’s playing on the second solo of Comfortably Numb had a big impact on me. The lick I’ve included here is a great example of his bending and phrasing. It showed me how much expression you can get from a few well-chosen notes, and how important it is to control the release of a bend as much as the bend itself.
This lick happens at 5.32 in the song. Here is the tab:
Here is the link in two additional keys, starting with the key of E minor:
And now the key of G minor:
3. Jump – Eddie Van Halen (2:17)
Even though Jump is a rock song, the lick I’ve taken from it has a clear blues influence. Van Halen’s attack and attitude on this phrase stuck with me. It’s a good reminder that blues vocabulary can work in a lot of different contexts if you play it with the right energy.
Here is the lick in the original key:
Let’s look at the same idea in two additional keys, starting with E minor:
Here’s the same lick in G minor:
4. Power of Love – Chris Hayes (2:47)
This one comes from the solo in Huey Lewis and the News’ Power of Love. Chris Hayes played a very strong blues-rock solo on that track. The lick I’ve chosen is full of classic blues language and has a great feel. It reinforced for me how effective simple, well-timed blues phrases can be even in a more mainstream rock setting.
Here’s the original lick:
Let’s learn it in two other keys. E minor is up first:
We also have the key of A minor:
5. Slow Dancing in a Burning Room – John Mayer (2:31)
The final lick is from John Mayer’s Slow Dancing in a Burning Room. Mayer’s modern blues phrasing had a noticeable influence on a lot of players, including me. This particular idea is a good example of how he combines blues language with a more contemporary sense of melody and space.
Here is the original lick from the song:
Here is the same lick in the popular guitar key of E minor:
And finally in the key of A minor:
Final Thoughts
These five licks all did something slightly different for my playing. Some improved my bending and vibrato, others helped my phrasing or timing, and a couple simply gave me new melodic ideas I still use today.
If you want to get the most out of them, learn each one properly in its original key first, then move it into a couple of other keys. Once you can play them cleanly, start using small pieces of them in your own solos rather than just running the whole lick note-for-note.
You can watch the full video breakdown here:
Let me know in the comments which of these licks you’ve played before, or if there are any other licks that had a big effect on your own playing.