Jazz Guitar Lick Video Lesson – George Benson Blues Lick

His ability to take any jazz guitar lick and insert a good dose of the blues into it has come to define his sound over his long and prosperous career.

When learning how to play jazz guitar, one of the most important concepts to get under our fingers and into our solos is mixing blues and bebop based sounds in our lines.

By doing so, we can keep the bebop sophistication in our phrase, but also that down-home, gritty blues sound that makes Benson’s, and many other jazzers, playing so appealing.

In today’s jazz guitar lick video lesson we’ll be looking at a classic lick from Benson’s solo on Billie’s Bounce.

This classic jazz guitar lick mixes bebop-style arpeggios with minor and major blues scales to produce a must-know lick for any up and coming jazz guitarist. Check it out and enjoy!

Have a question or comment about this lick? Visit the George Benson Lick thread at the MWG Forum.

What to Notice in This Jazz Guitar Lick

• Bbmaj9 arpeggio that is played over C7, implying Gm11

• Minor blues lick, Ab-C double stop over C7

• “Ghost notes” in the second half of the first bar

• Use of the F major blues scale to end the lick

With some background on the lick and a good idea of what to look for when practicing it in the woodshed, here is how the lick looks like in tab and notation.

To hear this lick in action and get a detailed explanation of how it is built, check out the video lesson bellow.

George Benson Blues Jazz Guitar Lick Video Lesson

What do you think of this lick? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.