Week 8: stealing licks by ear
Week eight of a 32-week guitar practice path and the second checkpoint: lifting phrases off records by ear, plus the turnaround or the unison bend.
- Week
- 8 of 32
- Days
- 7
- Played as
- blues or rock
Second checkpoint, and both tracks move from theory to vocabulary. Scales tell you which notes are available; licks are the phrases players actually reach for, and the way to own one is to take it off a record by ear rather than off a page.
The method matters more than the lick. Sing it first — if you cannot sing it you do not know it yet — then hunt it out. It is slow and slightly humiliating for a fortnight and then it is the fastest way you learn anything. Each track adds one signature move: the turnaround that hands the blues form back to the top, or the unison bend that gives rock its scream.
Blues treatment
Learn classic blues licks by ear, and play a 12-bar turnaround. Checkpoint.
Second checkpoint, and the emphasis moves from theory to vocabulary. Scales tell you which notes are available; licks are the phrases players actually reach for, and the only way to own them properly is to take them off a record by ear rather than off a page.
The method matters more than the lick. Sing the phrase first — if you cannot sing it you do not yet know it — then hunt it out on the neck. It will be slow and slightly humiliating for a week and then it will become the fastest way you learn anything. The turnaround is the week's second piece: the last two bars that pull the form back round to the top, and the one phrase a listener recognises even without being able to name it.
The daily session · ~26 min
- Warm upHands + learn by ear4 min
- Steal a lick by earSing it, then find it5 min
- The turnaroundCap the form6 min
- Work a lick into the formPlace it in time6 min
- Jam, checkpoint chorusPut it together5 min
Check yourself
- Lift one lick by ear, no tab. Can you play it back at tempo and sing it away from the guitar?
- Play a turnaround in the last two bars that lands you cleanly on the I.
- Drop your lifted lick into a chorus so it arrives in time rather than whenever your fingers get there.
This week ends with a composed piece rather than another improvisation: Eight-bar chorus: call, answer, turnaround.
Reference
Rock treatment
Learn signature rock licks by ear, and nail the unison bend. Checkpoint.
Second checkpoint, and the emphasis shifts from theory to vocabulary. Every rock player you admire is a collection of stolen phrases arranged in a personal order, and the only way to own one properly is to take it off the record by ear.
Sing it first — if you cannot sing it you do not know it yet — then find it. The unison bend is the week's second piece and one of the most recognisable sounds in the idiom: two strings, one bent up to meet the other, producing a single screaming pitch with a beating edge to it. It is pure pitch accuracy, and it is unforgiving when it is off.
The daily session · ~26 min
- Warm upHands + learn by ear4 min
- Steal a lick by earSing it, then find it5 min
- The unison bendTwo strings, one pitch6 min
- Work a lick into the vampPlace it in time6 min
- Jam, checkpoint chorusPut it together5 min
Check yourself
- Lift one lick by ear, no tab, and play it back at tempo.
- Play a unison bend where both notes genuinely land on the same pitch.
- Drop your lifted lick into the vamp so it arrives in time.
This week ends with a composed piece rather than another improvisation: Eight bars over the Am vamp.
Reference
How the week runs
Whichever accent you pick, the material stays the same for all 7 days and the tempo and intent move. Day one takes it slowly, day two chases clean notes, day three brings it to target tempo and into the jam, day four pushes past comfortable, and day five drops back to tempo to record and listen. Days six and seven are yours.
You can switch accent any day without losing your place — it is the same week either way, so week 8 means the same thing in both.