4. Oscar Peterson Lick
What Will You Learn in This Lesson?
In this lesson, you’ll learn Oscar Peterson’s famous lick from C Jam Blues (Night Train, 1963).
This lick is special.
It uses notes outside the typical blues scale, just enough to sound jazzy and unexpected.
I learned it 20 years ago, and it’s still part of my improvisation today, showing up in different shapes and forms.
If I could only teach you one lick, this would be the one.
The lick is long.
And no, I’ve never played it start-to-finish in a solo, and you shouldn’t either.
A lick works best when no one notices it. That means:
– Practice it in sections.
– Lift out the pieces you like.
– Connect them to your own ideas.
So in this lesson, you will practice bite-sized chunks of the lick.
Each exercise will target a piece, getting it under your fingers and into muscle memory.
This is still isolated practice – maybe with a hint of integration – but don’t expect to improvise fluently with it yet.
That comes later.
For now, the goal is simple: build the foundation so when the moment comes, you can pull it out without thinking.
When Are You Done With This Lesson?
If you can play along with the full practice video from start to finish, clean and mistake-free, you’re done.
Time to move forward.
FAQ: What is a lick?
Q: What exactly is a “lick”?
A: A lick is a short musical phrase you can drop into your playing. It might be just a few notes or a couple of bars long.
Q: Where do licks come from?
A: Licks have always been passed from one musician to another, by ear, through recordings, or by playing together.
Today, you can find them in books or online, but the idea is the same: hear a phrase, learn it, and use it.
Q: Why are licks important for improvisation?
A: When you talk, you don’t invent every word from scratch, you use words you already know to tell your story.
Music works the same way.
Q: Isn’t learning licks just copying instead of real improvising?
A: Every musician copies before they create. Licks help you absorb the language of blues and jazz.
Over time, they blend into your own ideas. That’s how your improvisation grows.
Q: How many licks should I learn?
A: You don’t need hundreds. One good lick can teach you a lot if you explore it deeply.
In this module, you’ll learn the best ways to do that.