I've been trying to make up my own licks for songwriting andam having a bit of trouble. Aside from experimenting until I find something that sounds good, is there a way apply theory to my writing. For example, take this blues lick in A:
e--------------5------------------5------
b-----------5-------8b9-----5----------
g-----7b8-----------------------------
I know what makes this really bluesy is the initial half step up to the b5 "blue" note, in this case the Eb). So, after the bend, the first triplet is Eb-E-A. The lead off of the second triplet with the b7, followed by the same A5 also echoes a blues approach, also serving as a cadence back to the A (I think). So the phrase as a whole is essentially an A5 arpeggio with other notes added at strategic points in the melody. This leads me to believe that a good starting point to creating licks would be to take apreggios and add, subtract, or alter notes. So, I could think in terms of a chord progression, such as playing the blues A5 arpeggio above, followed by a E or a D, for example.....
Does this seem to make sense? Are arpeggios a good reference point in creating licks? Am I understanding this correctly?
Thanks for the input :)
Matt
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The first such lick that comes to mind is the opening to "Friday I'm in Love" by The Cure, which is an arpeggio of an open D chord with some movement around the F#. There are many more.
It seems to be a pretty useful approach.
i dont think licks have structures.. its like Caprice's its whatever... catchy repeated not very long tune.. say
E---12-14-15-14-17-15-14-12-14-12-15-17-18-17-15-17b(FULL)-18-12(vib)
hi. I don't think it's important for licks...lol to have structure -
that is to be considered "licks"...all the little improvs and licks I do,
I still try to have some sort of order to them - but that's just me
somebody else might have a different approachI guy I was in a band with once had a conflicting style.
He'd throw in something that can be compared to throwing in a loud car crash on an otherwise peaceful night....Loud unsettling, disturbing, yet i fit in the same twisted way spontaneous car crashes on a peaceful night
fits. But sometimes it was fingernails on a chaulk board.
I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but when
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Arpeggios are a great starting point for melodies. Licks don't need to have a specific structure - if they did, they'd all sound a lot more similar than they do - but building them from the arpeggio of the underlying chord means you won't have notes that clash with the harmony (since they're all in the harmony to begin with).
Using arpeggios to build your melodies is essentially Kirk's (planetalk) method of using chord tones for solos.
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clashing works most of the time though. its only if it clashed so bad that it sounds horrible that people wouldnt use that lick.
arpeggios are a good start though.
