“1 Lick Becomes 10,000 Licks”

This tab illustrates how to alter a lick to create new licks!

Here is a lick I stole from Scott Devine of Scott’s Bass Lessons,
This lick is played over (or under) an A minor chord:

G|——————————5———4—————————————————|

D|——————5h7———7———5—————5—————————|

A|————7—————————————7p5———7p5/3———|

E|5h8———————————————————————————5—|

 |1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a |

Let’s take this line and move it back 1 sixteenth note:
 
G|————————|————————5———4———————————————————|

D|————————|————5h7———7———5—————5———————————|

A|————————|——7—————————————7p5———7p5/3—————|

E|——————5h|8———————————————————————————5———|

 |4 e + a |1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a |

Now let’s take the original line and move it ahead 1 sixteenth note:

G|————————————5———4———————————————|————————|

D|————————5h7———7———5—————5———————|————————|

A|——————7—————————————7p5———7p5/3—|————————|

E|——5h8———————————————————————————|5———————|

 |1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a |1 e + a | 

Now let’s take the original line and move it back 2 sixteenth notes:

G|————————|——————5———4—————————————————————|

D|————————|——5h7———7———5—————5—————————————|

A|————————|7—————————————7p5———7p5/3———————|

E|————5h8—|——————————————————————————5—————|

 |4 e + a |1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a |

Now let’s take the original line and move it ahead 2 sixteenth notes:

G|——————————————5———4—————————————|————————|

D|——————————5h7———7———5—————5—————|————————|

A|————————7—————————————7p5———7p5/|3———————|

E|————5h8—————————————————————————|——5—————|

 |1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a |1 e + a |

Now let’s take the original line and move it back 3 sixteenth notes:

G|————————|————5———4———————————————————————|

D|————————|5h7———7———5—————5———————————————|

A|——————7—|————————————7p5———7p5/3—————————|

E|——5h8———|————————————————————————5———————|

 |4 e + a |1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a |

Etc…

Hopefully by now you’re starting to realize
that you can take the notes from this lick
and start it anywhere in the bar!
but the fun doesn’t stop there,
you can take the line and put space in between the notes!

Here’s a pattern of 4 sixteenth notes followed by 1 beat of rest:

G|——————————————————5———4—————————|————————————————————————————————|

D|——————5—————————7———7———————————|5—————5—————————————————————————|

A|————7———————————————————————————|——7p5———————————7p5/3———————————|

E|5h8—————————————————————————————|——————————————————————5—————————|

 |1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a |1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a |

Let’s take that line and move it ahead 1 sixteenth note:

G|————————————————————5———4———————|————————————————————————————————|

D|————————5—————————7———7—————————|——5—————5———————————————————————|

A|——————7—————————————————————————|————7p5———————————7p5/3—————————|

E|——5h8———————————————————————————|————————————————————————5———————|
 |1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a |1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a |

Etc…

Once Again,
you can take that idea
and put it anywhere in the bar!

Let’s take the note’s in this line and turn them into triplets:

G|——————————5———4—————————|————————————————————————|

D|——————5h7———7———5—————5—|————————————————————————|

A|————7—————————————7p5———|7p5/3———————————————————|

E|5h8—————————————————————|——————5—————————————————|

 |1 + a 2 + a 3 + a 4 + a |1 + a 2 + a 3 + a 4 + a |

Let’s take the note’s in this line and move it ahead 1 triplet:

G|————————————5———4———————|————————————————————————|

D|————————5h7———7———5—————|5———————————————————————|

A|——————7—————————————7p5—|——7p5/3—————————————————|

E|——5h8———————————————————|————————5———————————————|

 |1 + a 2 + a 3 + a 4 + a |1 + a 2 + a 3 + a 4 + a |

Etc…

You can turn any of these notes into any rhythm you want!
Here’s a pattern of 2 eighth notes and 4 sixteenth notes:

G|——————————————5—————4———————————|————————————————————————————————|

D|——————————5h7———7———————5—————5—|————————————————————————————————|

A|————————7—————————————————7p5———|7———5———3———————————————————————|

E|5——h8———————————————————————————|——————————5—————————————————————|

 |1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a |1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a |

So in a nutshell,
you can take these notes
and make each note any kind of rhythm you want! 
(whole, half, quarter, eighth, triplet, sixteenth etc.)
and start the phrase anywhere in the bar!

Here’s the video I took this lick from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DadcETzf1Z4


Even though I took this Lick from another bass player
(Scott Devine is the man btw! check him out if you don’t know him)
I created ten of my own licks
just by simply moving things around
these are just ten possibilities of thousands!
try and find your own!

It’a also important to realize that this is a Minor lick
not just an A minor lick!

Here’s how you would play it over a B Minor Chord:

G|——————————7———6—————————————————|

D|——————7h9———9———7—————7—————————|

A|————9—————————————9p7———9p7/5———|

E|7h10——————————————————————————7—|
 |1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a |

It’s also important to realize that you can alter the line 
to make it work over different types of chords!

Here’s how you would play it over an A7 chord:

G|——————————6———4—————————————————|

D|——————5h7———7———5—————5—————————|
A|——4h7—————————————7p5———7p5—4———|

E|5—————————————————————————————5—|
 |1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a |

finding out how to make this work over different types of chords
and finding out how to start these ideas on any note
creates thousands and thousands of more possibilities!

please give me constructive criticism!
thanks!
—Just3boyz