Why You Know HUNDREDS Of Guitar Licks But You CAN'T USE Them

Why You Know HUNDREDS Of Guitar Licks But You CAN'T USE Them

Tommaso Zillio

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creative guitar licks

Just got an my email in my Inbox this morning from one of my subscriber, asking:

“Tommaso, I want to get better at my guitar improvisation. When will you publish a book of licks?”

I get where you are coming from, but the answer is: Never.

I mean, if I wanted to make a lot of money in a short amount of time, I would totally do it.

(And since I’m there, I could also write a book on the CAGED system and make even more money… But that’s a grenade discussion for another time)

The reason why I don’t do is because I don’t think that learning licks or the CAGED system is all that effective.

And I like to go to bed every evening thinking I’ve helped people, not made life more difficult for them.

Why learning licks should make your life harder? Well, because they give you the illusion of learning something…

… but when you try to improvise your guitar solos, all these licks go out of the window.

That lick will not work in this solo.

It’s like taking a phrase from Shakespeare and dropping it in a guitar article on the internet. It will sound like a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. (*)

(*) Macbeth Act V, Scene V. With apologies to good old Will.

Context is everything - so you are better off if you learn how to adapt licks to your solos

How can you do that?

Well, you could learn the beginning of the lick and then…

… tell you what, rather than giving a long explanation, why don’t I show you?

Here’s what you could do:

Now you see why books or courses based on licks are useless?

“What kind of course is useful instead?” you’ll ask. Well, here’s one: Master of the Modes guitar course


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