Joe Pass is undoubtedly one of the greatest jazz guitarists to ever play the instrument. He could play single-line solo, chord soloing phrases, perform in a trio, duo or solo setting with the best of them, and always be instantly recognizable by his tone and approach to the melodic and harmonic sides of jazz guitar playing.<\/p>\n
Joe Pass started playing guitar when he was 9 and he was already playing at weddings when he was 14. In his 20’s he moved to New York, where Joe Pass got captured by the sound of bebop<\/a>, but unfortunately, he also picked up a habit well known to jazz musicians of that time: heroin.<\/p>\n The next decade was wasted for Joe Pass, spending time in jails, until he entered Synanon, a drug rehabilitation center. In the center, he formed a band with other patients and recorded the album Sounds of Synanon, which was very well received by the jazz critics.<\/p>\n After 3 years in the center, he was cured of his addiction and he could move on with his musical career. He started playing in Los Angeles and got involved in the studio scene. In 1973 he recorded Virtuoso, an album that made him famous for solo jazz guitar playing<\/a>.<\/p>\n Joe Pass recorded a duo album with Ella Fitzgerald and played with a lot of famous jazz musicians like Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington,\u00a0and Oscar Peterson.<\/p>\n<\/span><\/span>\n In this lesson, we\u2019ll be digging into 12 classic Joe Pass sounding licks.<\/p>\n After learning these lick in the given key, at a number of different tempos, check out the practice tips below to take this idea further and properly integrate it into your jazz guitar phrases and solos.<\/p>\n \n To help you take this lick further in your jazz guitar practice routine, here are some of my favorite ways to practice licks:<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The first Joe Pass lick that we will explore is a short ii V I phrase in the key of G major.<\/p>\n Although the second half of the lick is pretty straight forward, there is an interesting melodic technique over the Am7 chord at the start of the line that Joe Pass often used.<\/p>\n Here, there is a 3 to 9 arpeggio (Cmaj7) being used to outline the Am7 chord in the ii V I. Playing a maj7 arpeggio from the 3rd of any minor 7 chord<\/a> is a common technique found in Joe\u2019s solo lines.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Backing Track<\/i>Joe Pass Licks List<\/h3>\n
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\n<\/a><\/p>\nHow to Practice These Licks?<\/h2>\n
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Joe Pass – Single Note Licks<\/h2>\n
Joe Pass Lick 1<\/h3>\n
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\n Cmaj7 arpeggio<\/th>\n C<\/td>\n E<\/td>\n G<\/td>\n B<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Played over Am7<\/th>\n b3<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n b7<\/td>\n 9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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