Jazz Trumpet Licks

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.

**Disclaimer – An Amazon affiliate link is used in this post.

I heard Tom Harrell play this Jazz lick in the beginning of his trumpet solo on Scrapple From the Apple off his Moon Alley album. This lick doesn’t necessarily have to be played over a ii V7 I, it can be played over a regular major chord as well. It’s a very scale like Jazz lick so it’s easy to play on trumpet.

Here is a sound sample played on trumpet:

How to memorize this Jazz lick in 12 keys:

Like I said before, since this Jazz lick is very scale like, it lays very nicely on the trumpet. You can either think of the lick as a G bebop scale lick with a raised 4th, or a C major lick with a b9 (or raised tonic). I prefer to think of it as a C major lick with a b9 in it.

If you prefer memorizing the lick in major think of starting on the 5th of whatever key you’re in, then play the major scale up to the 4th, then go down to the b9, up to the 3rd, and finally finish the scale out landing on the 3rd of the I chord.

If you prefer memorizing the lick thinking in dominant then just know that you’ll start on the tonic of whatever dominant scale you’re starting on, go up the scale to the b7, down to the #4, up a minor 3rd from that, then just finish out the dominant scale down landing on a chord tone of the I chord.

Feel free to embellish on the lick and make it your own.

**Disclaimer – An Amazon affiliate link is used in this post.

Here is another cool outside dominant pattern that a good Jazz trombonist was kind enough to show me. This Jazz lick is easy to learn and implement into your improvised solos.

Here is a sound sample played on trumpet:

How to memorize this dominant pattern in 12 keys:

You can see that this dominant pattern just repeats itself over and over again going up chromatically in half steps. Just start on the tonic of whatever dominant chord you are on. The pattern is (1 b7 1  b7 5 4) memorize that pattern in one key and you will basically have the pattern memorized in all the other keys.

You can use this pattern like it is written above, or you can keep going up chromatically as far as you would like. Experiment with this lick and find how it best fits into your improvising. You really could play this Jazz lick over any chord and it would sound good.

A tenor sax player friend of mine back in Japan showed me this bebop scale exercise. This is not a lick, it is simply an exercise or calisthenic that will help develop your overall bebop playing. It’s very important to learn this exercise in 12 keys to really develop your technique.

Here is a sample of the bebop exercise played on trumpet:

How to memorize the bebop exercise in 12 keys:

Notice that the exercise just starts on the tonic of whatever bebop scale you are working on. It then just goes up the the chord tones to the 11th and then down the bebop scale landing on the 3rd, 5th, b7th and tonic chord tones. After you reach the octave, the exercise just repeats itself and goes backwards landing on the , b7th, 5th, 3rd and ending on the tonic.

This is the easiest way to memorize the exercise in 12 keys. Just know that you will never go outside the bebop scale you are currently working on.