The old phrase ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ is one I think of often when practicing my guitar soloing and improvisation. By putting some kind of limit on our soloing practice, such as ‘you can’t use the D string’ or ‘you can only use double-stops’ (2 notes at the same time), we force ourselves to think differently. We have to be creative and find new ways to travel through familiar licks and scales. When we then return to normal soloing, the new pathways and ideas that we’ve acquired add variety and depth to our playing.

That is what gave me the idea for this ‘One Lick Challenge’. Below is a single Rock/Blues lick that is reworked 6 times using a different approach each time. There’s plenty more ways you could vary this lick, so please consider this blog a ‘part 1’ and an encouragement to take on the ‘challenge’ – how many ways can you rework this lick?

Listen to the audio below carefully, as some changes are subtle (eg. the change to swing rhythm in example 3). Notes for each example are also listed right at the bottom. Please do experiment and see what ideas you can come up with. Also, play with a backing track if possible – any A minor backing track will work. Technically, example 5 leaves the key of A minor slightly (to A Dorian), but an A minor backing track will still work well. Playing along to a track can help inspire ideas and add to the enjoyment.

Have fun and look out for part 2!

Example 1: A fairly standard/basic Rock lick (with a hint of Mark Knopfler’s influence!)

Example 2: ‘Rhythmic displacement’ – when I repeat the lick I start it a 1/2 beat later (I also speed up the middle section of the lick to compensate). Delaying parts of licks like this is a great way to play with listener’s expectations. It keeps your rhythms from feeling too predictable and adds a funky, syncopated feel.

Example 3: Here, the lick is played with swing rhythm. A pretty simple approach but it still can have a significant effect on the feel of a lick. Swing rhythm is often a good fit for Blues and Jazz, although it can fit very well in all genres.

Example 4: The notes here are almost the same, but we are playing the 4th note of the lick in a new way. Instead of playing the note ‘E’ on the 5th fret of the B string, we are using a grace note slide from the 7th to the 9th fret of the G string. This 9th fret note is also ‘E’ so the lick is basically the same. Playing the same lick with a subtle change like this though, through adding techniques, varying dynamics etc., is an example of how you don’t need to ‘reinvent the wheel’ with every new thing you improvise. Subtle changes like this still add interest and can make your playing sound more detailed and professional.

Example 5: Another subtle change – the starting note here has shifted down a fret.

Changing the first note of a lick like this can be a great way of hinting at underlying chord changes. In this instance, we’re using the 4th fret of the D string which is the note F sharp. Therefore, it would work well over chords containing this note – for example – D Major).

It often works well without matching notes in the chords though too. Also, I recommend changing the starting note several times whilst keeping the rest of it the same to explore how the different intervals affect the feel of the lick.

Example 6: This is an example of sequencing, which means the idea is shifted somewhere else. In this instance, the pattern and intervals (distances between the notes) are all the same and are just moved down a string. Sequencing is one of my favourite tricks and you can get so much mileage out of it! I recommend exploring all the other ways you can shift the lick. Also, don’t be afraid to tweak notes a little when moving the lick if you think it works better.

Example 7: Changing the notes – this is basically a combination of previous approaches and a reworking of the notes within the lick. Arguably, this is a new lick now, but hopefully it’s obvious that I’m building on the original lick here and developing it, rather than creating something brand new. This lick is an example of how you can balance familiarity and originality – you can play around with a basic lick for a long time just by tweaking it, rearranging it, changing rhythms, changing notes etc. and still keep a common thread running through your ideas.

If you’d like to dive deeper into improvisation methods please check out my ‘Jam Along With Tom’ course here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Jam-Along-With-Tom-Step-by-step-beginners-guitar-improvisation-course-12349405

Tom Hunt is an Ipswich based music tutor providing guitar, music production and bass lessons. He also offers specialised music tuition for Deaf students using audio visualisers, BSL, sign song and adapted notation. Contact: tom@tomhunt.co.uk

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I also write more about my new free course ‘Six String Signs‘ – a first of its kind beginner’s guitar course tailored to Deaf students using visual approaches, adapted music notation and BSL throughout. All links are in the article.

I hope you enjoy reading!

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How to play varied and unique accompaniment

Although lead guitarists seem to have most of the fun (not many people strum a chord progression behind their head!), rhythm guitar playing actually offers a huge amount of opportunities for creativity.

It’s rare that a song’s chord progression and strumming pattern need to be followed strictly. They often benefit from some tasteful variations and ‘added touches’ which allow you to put your own unique take on a song. Below are some step-by-step exercises to help you explore your options with a chord progression. The chords are simple (G, D and C) so that you can focus on the strumming, picking and rhythm approaches. Enjoy and please add your own ideas too!

Exercise no.1 introduces the chords and a basic strumming pattern. Familiarise yourself with this before moving on to the variations.

Exercise no.2

Exercise no.2 doesn’t change any of the rhythms but does introduce a Country-style approach of starting each chord with it’s root note (eg. the first note picked in bar 1 is is ‘G’). This is a good first step for moving beyond strumming a full chord all the time. It also adds variety, and by starting with root notes we put emphasis on the movement of chords – G to D to C.

Exercise no.3

Exercise no.3 continues the Country-style approach (which by the way, is a great approach in virtually all genres, not just country!) but makes one further change. This time, rather than strumming the full G and C chords after their root notes, we strum just part of the chord instead.

This more selective approach creates the sound of two distinct parts – a bassline (root notes) and chords (but only in the higher pitches). By creating a clear separation in these parts you start to sound more like a ‘one-man-band’. This is an effective way to create a more nuanced and varied rhythm accompaniment. Let the bass notes keep ringing if you want to keep the progression flowing and sounding smooth.

Exercise no.4

Now we’re building on the previous example by adding something that might seem strange at first…

A kind of unwritten rule with rhythm guitar is that you can strum open strings just before a chord change (usually with an up-strum). This is very helpful for ‘buying you some time’ when making quick chord changes and it also sounds natural once you’re used to it.

You can use this trick as a stylistic effect or to help you play fast strumming patterns between chords.

Exercise no.5

Here, we’ve added a 2nd note after each root to develop our bassline further. This increase the ‘one-man-band’ feel by further separating bass from chords. You can experiment with which notes you choose and notice how that adds emphasis to the harmony in different ways.

For example, in the final bar we play the root and then the Maj 3rd of the C chord. Because the 3rd is the defining interval in a basic chord (the one that makes it either Major or minor), emphasising it like this creates a strongly Major sounding bassline.

These 5 exercises should hopefully help you to see chord progressions and rhythm guitar playing in a less rigid and more creative way.

Look out for part 2. of Creative Rhythm Guitar coming soon! 

For more ideas on developing creative guitar parts, check out my improvisation and composing E-courses here: TomHuntMusicTuition | Teachers Pay Teachers

(c) 2025 www.tomhunt.co.uk – Friendly and experienced music tutor based near Ipswich, Suffolk UK

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‘The Old Ways’

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Christmas Gift Vouchers

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This one is called ‘Where The Storm Ends’ and is about the importance of staying present and remembering good advice in tough times. I hope you enjoy listening and look out for more songs soon (I have 2 others nearing completion), Tom

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I’m pleased to say that my Music Production Crash Course is returning this summer! Sessions are available throughout July and August 2023.

This was a lot of fun last summer and students worked to complete recordings of their own compositions or cover songs (for example one student created a fantastic short version of Don Henley’s ‘Boys Of Summer – complete with drums, bass and guitar!).

My home studio is equipped with a variety of live and virtual instruments so I’m happy to help students work in any genres of music that interest them.

If you’d like to book a place please contact me on tom@tomhunt.co.uk

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The first e-book explores a very effective and versatile approach for composing melodies: ‘Question and Answer’ phrasing. Melodic phrases that sound unresolved are followed by melodic phrases that sound resolved giving a conversational and balanced feel to the music.

This book explains in-detail the theory behind this approach alongside 10 high-quality audio tracks, various notated examples (plus guitar TAB) and student exercises.

You can download the book and accompanying files from the Teachers Pay Teachers website for $6 via this link: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Recipes-For-Songwriting-Series-1-Question-And-Answer-Phrasing-8728859

See below for a few sample pages from the book:

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