Skip to main content
MusicRadar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Drums Week 25
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Guitar Amps
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Artist news
  • Drums
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • Santana on Beck
  • Friday, I'm in Love
  • Knopfler's 4-note secret
  • 95k+ free music samples
Don't miss these
Debbie Gough of Heriot demoes the new Jackson Pro Plus Metal Phase II Warrior on a darkened studio set.
Guitars Jackson adds Warrior, King V and Concert Bass to its limited edition Pro Plus Pure Metal range
Fender Custom Shop Ariel Posen Stratocaster: Posen's new signature model was inspired by the Jazzmaster and has custom-wound AP-90 pickups. Check out those cupcake-style control knobs.
Artists Ariel Posen’s new Custom Shop signature Strat is A) stunning and B) inspired by a… Jazzmaster?
Adrian Smith on stage in 2025
Artists “He said, ‘Your upstrokes are weak!’ I’m like, ‘You effin’ what?’”: Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith never stops learning
Side profile of a person playing a drum kit
Drum Lessons & Tutorials 13 easy drum songs every beginner should learn
MIDI
Digital Audio Workstation How to humanise your virtual acoustic instruments in your DAW projects
Brent Mason performs at Guitar Town at Copper Mountain, Colorado on 29 July, 2007
Artists “I said, ‘Damn, I wish I'd cut that song faster!’”: How a master guitarist made a cult classic instrumental album
Fender American Ultra Luxe 60s Stratocaster
Electric Guitars Fender Ultra Luxe Vintage '60s Stratocaster review
Charvel Angel Vivaldi Signature Pro-Mod Nova-7 NAT: The new S-style is eight years in the making and in some of the promo pictures it looks like Angel Vivaldi has been on horseback for much of that time.
Artists Angel Vivaldi and Charvel unveil state-of-the-art 7-string for levelling up your shred game
Fender American Ultra Luxe Vintage Series
Guitars Fender mixes old-school mojo with 21st-century playability for the American Ultra Luxe Vintage range
Miles Davis
Artists “Miles said, ‘Play it like you don’t know how to play the guitar!’”: John McLaughlin's baptism of fire with Miles Davis
John McLaughlin
Artists “I don’t have many guitar players’ albums on my iPhone, but Jeff is there”: John McLaughlin on the magic of Jeff Beck
Zach Myers of Shinedown plays a hunter green PRS NF53 live onstage at Download Festival 2025.
Artists Zach Myers on Shinedown’s secret weapon, the limits of shred guitar, and getting schooled by BB King
Overhead shot of electronic drum set plugged into a laptop running a VST
Drum Lessons & Tutorials “At certain points in music history it became fashionable to place accents on certain beats”: How to score a drum part
Jason Isbell plays a Martin dreadnought onstage in Norway
Artists Jason Isbell has some advice for any young player who has just bought their first acoustic guitar
native instruments
Music Production Tutorials "As nuanced as the real thing, but only if you know what you're doing": The ultimate guide to plugin guitars
  1. Tutorials
  2. Guitar Lessons & Tutorials

Quick licks: advanced #4

News
By Guitar Techniques ( Guitar Techniques ) published 22 August 2011

Jazz bebop and acoustic shred

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Advanced lick one: Jazz bebop IIm V run

Advanced lick one: Jazz bebop IIm V run

Here's a ripping IIm V jazz line (Gm9/C13) that's great for harmonic, melodic, and technical development. Loosely based on the Gm7th Dorian scale, there are also plenty of chromatic passing tones for a sophisticated, authentic bebop sound reminiscent of George Benson.

Use all alternate picking except for the occasional legato and sweep picked passages. Start slowly and work your way up to the 140bpm mark using a warm, clean neck pickup tone.

Page 1 of 2
Page 1 of 2
Advance lick two: DI Meola acoustic shred

Advance lick two: DI Meola acoustic shred

Strict alternate picking and palm muting make the right combination here. The line is all sextuplets and each phrase is played on one string at a time and follows the chord movement closely. Perfect playing it slow and accelerate until you're up to full shred and beyond!

Page 2 of 2
Page 2 of 2
Guitar Techniques
The worlds best high-quality guitar tuition from the UKs foremost teachers and players image
The worlds best high-quality guitar tuition from the UKs foremost teachers and players
Subscribe and save today!
More Info
Read more
Debbie Gough of Heriot demoes the new Jackson Pro Plus Metal Phase II Warrior on a darkened studio set.
Jackson adds Warrior, King V and Concert Bass to its limited edition Pro Plus Pure Metal range
Fender Custom Shop Ariel Posen Stratocaster: Posen's new signature model was inspired by the Jazzmaster and has custom-wound AP-90 pickups. Check out those cupcake-style control knobs.
Ariel Posen’s new Custom Shop signature Strat is A) stunning and B) inspired by a… Jazzmaster?
Adrian Smith on stage in 2025
“He said, ‘Your upstrokes are weak!’ I’m like, ‘You effin’ what?’”: Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith never stops learning
Side profile of a person playing a drum kit
13 easy drum songs every beginner should learn
MIDI
How to humanise your virtual acoustic instruments in your DAW projects
Brent Mason performs at Guitar Town at Copper Mountain, Colorado on 29 July, 2007
“I said, ‘Damn, I wish I'd cut that song faster!’”: How a master guitarist made a cult classic instrumental album
Latest in Guitar Lessons & Tutorials
Close up of a person holding an acoustic guitar bathed sunlight
Ignite your inner guitar god for just 27 cents a day with TrueFire’s July 4th sale - save 60% on online lessons
MusicNomad fret tuition
Can you fix your guitar's frets yourself? We try three innovative approaches from MusicNomad to investigate how they might conquer a major cause of fret buzz
George Harrison
How to play like George Harrison on The Beatles' Abbey Road
MusicNomad guitar fret cleaning
"You owe your guitar the chance to be its best": How to clean and polish your guitar frets a better way
Jimmy Page
Play like Jimmy Page! Exclusive video lesson
Music Theory
How learning and understanding chord symbols can prove a major benefit for sharing your musical ideas
Latest in News
Josh Freese performs onstage with The Vandals during day 1 of Warped Tour at Shoreline Waterfront on July 26, 2025
“It wasn’t music that I really resonated with”: Josh Freese lifts the lid on his exit from the Foo Fighters
Boss PX-1 Plugout FX: the white compact series pedal has blue knobs, digital display, and is a platform for 16 digitally modelled Boss effects, one of which is available at a time.
A compact series stompbox you can turn into any one of 16 classic Boss effects? Meet the Plugout FX
Zak Starkey and Axl Rose composite
“C’mon bro... It could generate $2M for teen cancer”: Zak Starkey pleads with Axl Rose to give the go-ahead for charity cover of Bolan classic
Don Felder plays his iconic white Gibson doubleneck electric guitar onstage. Note the double jack: that mod is crucial when playing Hotel California, which he surely is in this picture.
Don Felder on why he had to mod his white Gibson doubleneck to play the Eagles’ biggest hit – and how he got the idea from Chet Atkins
Marek "Ashok" Šmerda wears corpsepaint that makes him look a little like Hellraiser's Pinhead as he performs live with Cradle of Filth.
Cradle of Filth guitarist Ashok fired mid-tour, days after keyboardist wife quits citing low pay and “toxic” atmosphere
Burning man in 2023
“Crazy winds” wreak havoc at Nevada’s Burning Man festival

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...