How to Play Licks in Between Chords
Fingerstyle Guitar Lesson
Is it simple to play licks in-between chords? How do I get started?
I get this question all the time, so I spent the last few days thinking about a way to explain that in simple steps.
Improvising over a chord progression is an easy task if you have a backing track playing along, but how can we combine playing chords and soloing at the same time?
One of the things that I find interesting about this topic is that the majority of teachers out there talk a lot about chords and scales.
They give you the chord progression and the relative scales; then they ask you to come up with your phrases and licks … as it was easy.
The one missing piece is rhythm and repetition.
You can become better at playing licks between chords if you understand the importance of rhythmic pattern, structure, and repetitions.
Playing a ton of notes isn’t the answer, and knowing the scale and chords isn’t enough to truly understand how to combine chords and guitar licks.
We will be focusing a lot of getting your rhythm right so that you can slowly learn how to improvise over a chord progression using fingerstyle acoustic guitar.
Let’s get started.
The Video
Step 1
The Chord Progression
The first step to get started is memorizing the chord progression perfectly.
We will be playing the exercise in the key of D major, and the chord progression is pretty simple and “famous.”
D major, B minor, A major and G major.
Simplify the Chords
Let’s simplify the chords to the bone so that you can truly focus on your goal, which is getting the licks between the chords.
I like to get rid of the entire chord so that I only end up playing the root note of each chord.
The Bass note should always be played at the beginning of each bar and only on the first beat so that you can leave the remaining three beats for the solo.
Step 2
The Scale
Start familiarizing yourself with the relative scale we will be using over this chord progression.
We are in D major key, so the scale we will be using is the D major scale. We will only be playing the scale on three strings and in just one position.
I like to organize the scale that way, so it is easy to play the chord and solo within the same position.
The number one mistake you can make is to try to play the solo up and down the neck without any reference, and that would make the whole exercise difficult.
Check the D major scale here.
Play the Scale over the Chord Progression
One thing you should to really familiarize yourself with the scale and chord progression is to play the scale on each chord.
This exercise is essential because it helps you to understand the space between the chords and how to fit in the scale and eventually, the licks.
Go ahead and practice the scale with the chord progression.
Make sure the chord is always on the first beat and the scale on the third beat.
Step 4
Musical Ideas
This step is exciting and musical. You will probably find yourself spending a lot of time practicing this musical concept.
As we said at the beginning of the lesson, rhythm is the key and so let’s transform this scale into licks by using different rhythmic patterns and melodic ideas.
Keep the Same Rhythm
The first thing I usually recommend doing is to play the same lick over the chord progression. By doing that, you start training your fingers to switch between playing the chord and the phrase.
Same phrase over different chords
Diversify the Phrase
The next move should be playing the same rhythmic idea but over a different set of notes.
In this example, the rhythm is the same for each note, but the notes are different and played around the chord.
Step 5
Play the Full Chord and Use different Techniques
Step 4 provides you with enough material that you can use to start developing your improvising skills. I highly recommend you stick to step 4 for a while.
The last step is more about putting it together and improvise using the chords and guitar techniques that are more difficult and advanced.
I will play a few examples on the video to show you how to do that.
Enjoy this lesson, and as always, guys, take things step-by-step.