Jazz Trumpet Licks

I would like to show you an easy way to use the cry me a river Jazz lick over a ii V7 I chord progression. There are many ways to incorporate the cry me a river lick into your Jazz solos, but this is one of the first ways I learned how to do so and I’ve been using this technique ever since.

Here is a sound sample on F blues progression with trumpet:

How to memorize the cry me a river lick in 12 keys:

For this ii V7 I Jazz lick, the only important chords are the V7 going to the I chord. All you have to know is you are starting on the flat third of whatever chord the V7 chord is. In the above example, F natural is the b3 of the D7 chord. You can play whatever your heart desires on the ii chord. After you play the cry me a river Jazz lick, your goal is to land on either the 3rd or 5th chord tone of the tonic chord. You’ll notice in the above example, I used an enclosure going to the 5th of the I chord, this is optional, but enclosures always sound great.

As far as memorizing the cry me a river lick, for me this Jazz lick was memorized easiest by feel. This is because it usually goes by pretty fast and it’s a little bit easier to memorize in some keys better than others.

Here is an easy ii V7 I Jazz lick to learn in 12 keys. I was messing around with some Aebersolds a few days ago and started playing it. I knew I heard the lick before somewhere, it sounded really old school to me, yet still hip enough to play. It really sounds cool if you land on the raised fourth instead of the third on the I chord. The reason I call the lick old school is because it sounds like something an old school cat would play.

Here is a sound sample and example over a blues progression played on trumpet:

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

Well, you’ll notice that the Jazz lick simply starts off on the tonic of the ii chord. I like to think in minor for pretty much the entire lick. In the above example, you just go down the D minor scale doing a little turn on the sixth and doing a chromatic to the b5. Then you’ll hit the third scale degree of the V7 chord. I think to the b7th, then down the minor arpeggio doing pretty much whatever you like finally ending on the 3rd of the I chord.

I since this lick isn’t very fast and if you think about the minor scale, this Jazz lick is probably easy enough to learn by ear and feel in 12 keys.

I got this ii V7 I Jazz lick from David Baker’s How to Play Bebop – Volume 1 book. Lots of great bebop licks in that book, highly recommended, you won’t be disappointed in all the nice Jazz licks you’ll learn from it. Anyway, this ii V7 I lick starts off with the bebop scale and finishes with a diminished pattern landing on the tonic of the I chord.

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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This ii V7 I Jazz lick I heard Clifford Brown play is pretty easy to learn and implement into your Jazz solos. If you look towards the end of the Clifford Brown Jazz lick you’ll see an enclosure. If you don’t know what a Jazz enclosure is, it’s where you go up a half step then below a half step towards a chord tone. You’ll see that Clifford Brown did an enclosure on the 5th of the I chord.

Here is a sound sample on trumpet:

How to memorize this Jazz lick in 12 keys:

Notice that the lick starts on the I of the ii chord, does a pentatonic down to the 4th, then I continue to think in C minor going to the 2nd down to the harmonic raised 7th. Then the cool part of the lick hops from C to G to C to A, then down the scale with an enclosure at the end landing on the 5th of the I chord.

This is how I memorized the lick, it doesn’t mean this method is going to work for you. This lick sounds nice over a break before you begin your solo, an example would be the break in the tune Four.

I heard Tom Harrell play this ii V7 I Jazz lick. I can’t remember what album it was off of though. This ii V7 I Jazz lick starts off using a minor arpeggio starting on the 7th then finishes off with a b9 ending on the 3rd of the I chord.

Here is a sound sample played on trumpet:

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

First you need to note that this ii V7 I Jazz lick starts on the b7th of the ii chord and goes up and down the minor arpeggio. Once it hits the b7th again the lick goes up a Major 3rd, then you start thinking in Major for the rest of the Jazz lick except for the nice sounding b9th towards the end of the lick. Finally you’ll end on the 3rd of the I chord. That’s the easiest way I’ve found to memorizing this Jazz lick in 12 keys.

You can end this Jazz lick in different variations. I give some examples in the above video. Be creative and come up with some of your own interpretations of this Jazz lick.