Plug-in Jazz Lick

The following video shows how to learn and plug-in a jazz lick that outlines V7 resolving to I. With no trumpet lessons taking place due to the coronavirus outbreak, my son and I have been doing these kinds of jazz exercises during our daily practice time together.

Here’s the lick, written out in twelve keys. A plug-in jazz lick outlining five going to one.

There are two columns on this page. Work your way down the left column first, descending by tone; then, move on to the right column to cover the remaining six keys.

When memorizing the lick, I find it’s helpful to think in numbers, relating each note to its corresponding dominant chord. Therefore, I think of the line as: 3  5  b7  8  b9  #9  8  b7 going to 3 of the next chord. Understandably, my son hates thinking this way. He knows each line starts on the 3rd of the chord, and then plays it by ear.  This is a good start.

The altered 9s (flat nine and sharp nine) create increased pull towards the resolution. For this reason, only plug this lick into spots where a dominant chord resolves to its one (V going to I).

Jamey Aebersold play-a-long book and CD setFor this video, the recorded accompaniment track was from Volume 54, Maiden Voyage, of Jamey Aebersold’s jazz play-a-long series.

 

If you play a bass clef instrument, here is a linked PDF document which has the above “plug-in jazz lick” written out in 12 keys, in both treble and bass clefs:

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