Teach Yourself Rock Licks for Guitar by Jared Walker is a collection of 54 quintessential rock guitar riffs transcribed in the style of the original recording. Each is a “classic”, chosen to create a “mini-encyclopedia” of licks including many different styles and textures.
Teach Yourself Rock Licks, exclusively available from Santorella Publications, is intended for practicing technique and increasing your knowledge of guitar. It is a “library of sources”, to inspire your own creativity and expand your musicianship.
All selections have been chosen for specific reasons and need to meet very high standards! The criteria for inclusion are: The Lick unmistakably identifies the song it comes from, The Lick is exclusively a guitar riff and exploits the guitar’s technical resources, The Lick is a “Killer Lick” and you’ll enjoy playing it.
We’ve organized the “World’s Greatest ‘Killer’ Licks” in six interlocking sections according to their texture: Single Voice, Chordal, Arpeggio, Pedal & Drone, Combination and Virtuoso licks. Within these categories, the scales and modes most used in Rock music are; Pentatonic Major, Pentatonic Minor, Mixolydian, lonian and Dorian. More importantly, we discuss the style of the lick by comparing the contrast in Hard Rock and Rhythm & Blues.
Section One, “Getting Started” introduces technical exercises with definitions and explanations making certain you get the most out of the material presented later. It is unnecessary to study in any specific order, so feel free skip around, -- it’s entirely up to you.
GETTING STARTED • SINGLE VOICE LICKS • CHORDAL LICKS • ARPEGGIO LICKS • PEDAL & DRONE LICKS • COMBINATIONS • VIRTUOSO LICKS
About The Author
A native New Yorker, Jared Walker began playing guitar as a 12 year old and was in and out of blues bands throughout his teens. His professional experience is unmatched by many.
Switching emphasis, he studied classical guitar, music theory and composition at the University of California, and after earning a degree in 1976 he returned to New York.
Since then, Jared has been active in both the classical and pop worlds as a performer, composer, arranger and teacher. He has authored and edited many books on a variety of musical styles, maintaining a special passion for flamenco guitar.