Jazz Trumpet Licks

I got this simple bebop lick from David Baker’s How to Play Bebop – Volume 1.

Listen to a sample played on trumpet:

How to learn the bebop lick in 12 keys:

The easiest way to memorize this lick in 12 keys is to know that you are starting on the 3rd of whatever bebop scale you are playing. You then go down chromatically until you land on the b7th and finish the bebop scale out with whatever ending you desire to use.

Here is a simple diminished pattern. I remember learning this lick from another trumpet player I used to work with. All I did was ask him for any diminished patterns he could teach me on the fly. This is what he taught me.

Sound sample on trumpet:

How to learn the lick in 12 keys:

Since the pattern is diminished, you’ll only have to learn it in 3 different keys depending on which note you start on. This is because there are only 3 half steps between each minor third. The easiest way to memorize this pattern is to think in stacked minor thirds. All you are doing is going down a whole step from each minor third. When you skip around, you are essentially doing pretty much the same thing in minor thirds.

Here is a cool sounding whole tone pattern to take advantage of. Really easy to learn.

Here is a sound sample:

How to memorize in 12 keys:

Since this pattern is a whole tone pattern, you’ll only need to learn it in two different keys. This is due to the fact that there are only two whole tone scales out there. No matter what note you start on, there are really only two keys you need to learn this lick in (a half step apart). I memorized it by knowing I’m going down in whole steps. First you do a chromatic down a whole step, then you jump up a whole step from where you started and repeat the process until it’s out of your range.