Contemporary R&B Licks

Hi GMC!!

Welcome to my new lesson!! This one was requested by GMCer Phil66 and it’s based on a jam done by Mary N over a Charlie Puth song.

These licks are very groovy and as they are based on a pop song, the melodies are very tasty and catchy, full of expressing details. I always recommend learning some pop song melodies on guitar because it makes us sound more melodic and help us to incorporate techniques in a more vocal way. Some guitarists that sound like these are Andy Timmons, Joe Satriani, Mateus Asato and off course Jeff Beck. If you want to explore more about this topic, I recommend you to check my “Justin Bieber Licks” lesson and also some others like Andy Timmons and Mateus Asato Lessons.

This tune is in B minor so most of the licks are based on B pentatonic minor and B aeolian. The phrases include many techniques like legato, double stops, octave melodies, bending and palm muting, but the most important elements to pay attention here are articulation, timing and dynamics. That's why I recommend you to first learn the licks, and then dedicate some time to imitate notes durations, dynamics and pay special attention to timing.

Tempo: 93 bpm

Chord progression:

Ebm7 Db/F Gb | Gb Ab Bbm7 |
Ebm7 Db Asus4 | Bbm7 Db/F Gb |

Guitar Tone:

I recorded my guitar using Fractal Ax8 with these settings:



Scales used:





I hope that you enjoy this lesson!