Jazz Trumpet Licks

I heard Freddie Hubbard play this bebop lick over a ii V7 I on his Hub-Tones album.

Sound sample played on trumpet:

Video removed

How to memorize in 12 keys:

The entire beginning part of the lick is just a bebop scale. The lick starts on the tonic down to the b7th and up the scale until you go the entire octave. Then you do a  chromatic down to the 6th and one whole step down. The next part of the lick is what makes it sound cool (by going outside the key). You go up a half step and do an Ab triad starting on the 5th (this is actually a tritone substitution). The last measure just finishes out the G bebop scale.

Here is an easy whole tone lick I got from a saxophone player I used to work with back in Japan.

Here is a sound sample on trumpet:

How to memorize the lick in 12 keys:

Because it is a whole tone pattern based off using an augmented triad you’ll only need to memorize the pattern in 3 keys depending on what note you start on. This is your triad for the above example: C E G#. As you can see everything is a whole step apart going down the C augmented triad. So memorizing the lick with the augmented triad in mind makes it a whole lot easier to learn in 12 keys.

Here are two really great videos of Wynton Marsalis performing Cherokee on trumpet. It can be a really tough tune depending on how fast you take it. Notice that in both Jazz videos Wynton Marsalis uses circular breathing to extend his lines to unusual lengths.

Wynton Marsalis on Cherokee – really fast:

Super Impressive with just a rhythm section:

I hope you enjoy the Jazz videos.