Extend That Lick!

This segment is going to focus on transposing short melodic motifs through different registers in order to combine them into forming longer phrases.
Before you get into this one, I would recommend you get well acquainted with knowing your octaves in Octave Fingerings and Fretboard Awareness  if you haven't already. For now, I am going to keep things simple by starting the melodic motifs from the tonal center ( G ). Later on, we will practice this concept in different keys or tonal centers, string sets, and with the motifs starting on notes other than the tonal center (or "root" if you prefer to call it that).



Ex.1 is the note G (tonal center) located on the 6th string/3rd fret and it's octave (G8) on the 4th string/5th fret. Ex.2 is a simple blues-based lick in the key of G starting on G. Play this lick and get it under your fingers and in your ears. Ex. 3 is the exact same lick only it is transposed an octave higher, starting on G8. Play Ex.2 and Ex.3 back and forth and get a good feel for them in both registers.

Okay, so now that you have these down, check out Ex.4. Here, I took Ex.2 and Ex.3 and created an extended phrase by putting the two together. Notice how the two intersect to form a longer melody. Notice
where the tonal centers( G ) are.

Here's the same concept only now it is 3 octaves in range. Ex.5 shows our tonal center and octave range. Ex.6 is another blues-based lick in the key of G starting from the highest G. Ex.7 is the same lick and octave lower and Ex.8 is a longer melody as a result of combining Ex.6 and Ex.7. Notice where they intersect.

Ex.9 shows our (tonal center) and range. Ex.10 is a short melodic motif and Ex.11 is the same motif transposed up an octave. Ex.12 shows an example of an ascending line by combining Ex.10 and Ex.11.

This concept of extending melodic motifs through octaves can work for other tonalities too. Practice this concept by coming up with a short melodic idea and transposing it into higher or lower registers. Once you have a feel for it, try combining the motifs from different registers to form longer lines. Try forming both ascending and descending lines with the same melodic motif and creating different variations.

There will be more on this subject in the future so stay tuned!