Jazz Trumpet Licks

One of the things Miles Davis is known for is coming up with the bouncy pattern. Miles Davis used different variations of this pattern in a lot of the trumpet solos he played. The bouncy pattern is a very easy lick to memorize because it is based off of chromatics. No matter what note you […] Read the rest of this entry…

I wish you could take listen to a very energetic trumpet solo by Roy Eldridge (also known as “Little Jazz”) that was recorded live on stage at Carnegie Hall. Roy Eldridge took the last solo on a tune called The Opener which Charlie Parker started with taking the first improvised solo. I love this Jazz […] Read the rest of this entry…

Here is the all famous Cry Me a River Jazz lick. It is heard all over the Jazz world by every famous Jazz musician in some variation or another. If you don’t have this Jazz lick in your bag of tricks yet, I highly encourage you to get it down in 12 keys as soon […] Read the rest of this entry…

This Jazz trumpet solo of Nicholas Payton starts off nicely on the head with just guitar and trumpet. I really like how it sounded. Nicholas Payton uses a lot of skips with fourth patterns that sound like he is taking his trumpet solo outside. That is probably why I like this Nicholas Payton trumpet solo. […] Read the rest of this entry…

This bebop exercise or calisthenic, will help you in developing your use of arpeggios into your improvisation skills. The bebop exercise goes up the dominant scale with a half step before each arpeggio. Once you get the pattern down, you’ll be able to incorporate the pattern into a Jazz lick you can use to start […] Read the rest of this entry…

Roy Eldridge and Dizzy Gillespie both sound great on the tune Limehouse Blues. There are really a lot of good Jazz trumpet licks to take advantage of on this recording. I highly recommend getting the album Roy and Diz if you don’t own it already. It is packed full of great trumpet solos by Roy […] Read the rest of this entry…

This whole tone pattern repeats the same pattern going down in whole steps. I hear a lot of Jazz musicians use this whole tone lick in different variations, usually to start off a Jazz line and then branch off into something else. Here is a sound sample played on trumpet: How to memorize this whole […] Read the rest of this entry…

Freddie Hubbard takes a great Jazz trumpet solo on Cantelope Island. If you are interested in getting the DVD it’s One Night With Blue Note. This is actually one of Freddie Hubbard’s most famous trumpet solos. One of the things I love about Freddie Hubbard is how much he really gets into his solos and […] Read the rest of this entry…