Here is a sound sample played on trumpet:

How to memorize this pattern in 12 keys:

The easiest way to memorize this Jazz pattern in 12 keys is by simply knowing that whatever dominant chord you’re on, in the above example it is C7, just go up a tritone (#4 or b5). Once you have that established, you can do a diminished scale or diminished pattern for about one measure as long as you land on a chord tone in the following measure.

I wouldn’t try to learn this lick in 12 keys, instead I would make sure to know what my tritones are and have all my diminished scales and patterns down. Just so you know, there are only 3 diminished scales you’ll ever have to learn.

Here is a sound sample of the diminished exercise on trumpet:

How to work this diminished exercise in 12 keys:

I find it best to think in stacked minor 3rds. It really doesn’t matter what note you start on. It’s best to get in the full comfortable range of your horn. All you are doing is going down 4, half step down, up 4, half step down, down 4, etc…

To get every key both up and down you’ll just want to go up or down a half step from where you started in the first exercise and do the same thing over. Now you are alternating the diminished arpeggio both up and down.

Make sure to use a metronome on this exercise, I apologize for not doing so myself. Once you got the pattern down, try to start incorporating it into your Jazz playing. A good start is on the V7 to I chord. Start on the 3rd of the V7 chord and land on the 5th of the I chord. You’ll get the b9 involved and it sounds really hip.

Here is a sound sample played on trumpet:

How to memorize this ii V7 I lick in 12 keys:

Just know that it starts on the tonic of the bebop scale you will be playing, or you can just think tonic of the key you are in on the ii V7 I Jazz lick. The lick goes up to the 3rd of the bebop scale you are currently on, then goes down the bebop scale until you land on the 5th. Next, you’ll switch to a diminished stacked 3rd approach. In the above example it starts on C#.

What is a minor 3rd above C#? That’s right, E. What is a minor 3rd below C#? That’s right, Bb or A#, however you want to memorize it. Do you see the pattern here? The lick simply finishes off going down stacked minor thirds until you land on the tonic (1st position) of the I chord.

In my experience, some keys are easier than others. But this is a nice Jazz lick to have in your back pocket whenever you see the need for it.

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Here is a sound sample of the Jazz lick on trumpet:

How to memorize the diminished lick in 12 keys:

Since this is a diminished pattern, you’ll only need to memorize it in 3 keys depending on which note you start on.  The first part of this Jazz lick is really easy to remember because it simply goes up the diminished scale. Then the Jazz lick ends with a half step below each minor 3rd going down the diminished triad. The lick ends on a minor 3rd above C in the provided example.

Here is a sound sample played on trumpet:

How to memorize this diminished lick in 12 keys:

Since this pattern is diminished, you’ll technically only have to memorize the lick in 3 keys depending on which note you start on. As you can see in the above example, this diminished lick repeats the same pattern over and over again going up one scale degree at a time on the diminished scale.

The best way I’ve found to memorize this diminished pattern in 12 keys is to think I’m doing a variation of the diminished scale which is: (1 2 b3 4 2 b3 1 2 b3 4). Basically every other minor 3rd of the diminished triad is played in this diminished pattern. Of course, I don’t think in scale degrees to memorize this pattern. Instead I think of the diminished scale in general knowing that I’m repeating the same thing over and over again.

Find the best way for yourself to get this lick down in all the keys, feel free to comment what works best for you.

Here is a sound sample played on trumpet:

How to memorize this diminished lick in 12 keys:

Since this is a diminished lick you’ll only need to learn the lick in 3 keys depending on which note you start on. As you can see, this diminished lick is just going down in half steps a minor 3rd apart, but it skips around a little bit. The stacked minor 3rds in the above example are C, Eb, F#, and A. The easiest way to memorize this diminished lick then is to think in stacked minor 3rds throughout the whole lick knowing that you are just going down a couple half steps between each minor third.

Here is a sound sample played on trumpet:

How to learn the Cry Me a River lick in 12 keys:

I put this lick in the diminished category even though it is not completely a diminished lick. Every note in the lick is part of the diminished scale except for Ab (this is if we were thinking in Db, E, G, or Bb diminished). I could be wrong though, I’m not a big Jazz theory specialist.

In my experience, memorizing the Cry Me a River lick in 12 keys came easiest through feel or muscle memory rather than actual theory. There are many forms and variations you can do with the Cry Me a River lick. One simple example I use a lot is on the V7 to I chord I’ll start on the minor 3rd of the V7 chord, do the Cry Me a River lick and land on the 5th of the I chord (the above example shows this).

Here is a sound sample played on trumpet:

How to memorize this diminished pattern in 12 keys:

Since this is another diminished pattern, you’ll only need to worry about memorizing the lick in 3 keys depending on which note you start on. You can see that this is simply a diminished scale going down with a half step up between each note of the diminished scale.

If you look closely, every first and fourth note of each group of 4 notes is just part of the diminished scale. This diminished lick is easy to learn on trumpet because the fingerings lay really well in all the keys.

Here is a sound sample played on trumpet:

How to memorize this diminished pattern in 12 keys:

Since this lick is a diminished pattern, you only need to learn it in three keys depending on which note you start on. The way I remember the pattern above is you’ll start a half step below the first note that will start the minor stacked thirds (this will be C, thinking in C diminished). After that you go up a 4th. Then you repeat the process going up in minor thirds as far as you would like to.

The second part of the pattern changes to a different diminished key. You don’t have to change keys if you don’t want to, but the example above goes up a whole step to D diminished. The pattern just goes down in minor thirds with a half step up between each of them. You can continue the pattern as far down as you would like to.

A sound sample played on trumpet:

Learn the pattern in 12 keys:

Since this lick is diminished, you’ll only need to worry about learning it in three different keys depending on what note you start on. Notice how this diminished pattern just leaps around minor 3rds with a whole step after each minor 3rd. As long as you get yourself familiar with the stacked minor 3rds of the three diminished keys, you’ll have no problems memorizing this pattern.

All you have to think is minor 3rd, whole step, minor 3rd, whole step. etc… and you got it.