Learn from one of the best: Torsten Goods has brought you eight fantastic and motivating licks that are well worth studying. The basis for these licks is the piece "Sunny" by Bobby Hebb, which Torsten suggested. It offers a great playground for the A minor pentatonic scale, which is used ingeniously in the licks. Torsten also examines the II-V-I-progression found in the piece. Here you can study Torsten Goods' jazzy approach, as he plays the licks very slowly (and very quickly), so you know exactly how they work at different tempos.
Level
Medium
Lessons
12 Lessons | min
Lesson 1Introduction
Duration: min
Let me introduce you to the topics covered in the course "Torsten Goods – Lesson & Interview".
Lesson 2Lick 1
Duration: min
Here you see the first Am lick, where the Am pentatonic scale is enriched by the "blue note" eb.
Lesson 3Lick 2
Duration: min
This lick is something special: it starts with an Am9 arpeggio (Am9 = Cmaj7 with a as the root, because Cmaj7 is Am9 without the root note a). After a beautiful hammer-on pull-off figure, the line briefly returns to Am via E7. Here it becomes particularly clear that Torsten Goods' licks, despite starting on a downbeat, begin with an upstroke. This is a trademark of Torsten's and makes his lines significantly easier to play!
Lesson 4Lick 3
Duration: min
The next lick is pure pentatonic, but it still sounds jazzy. Playing this at Torsten's tempo is a big challenge. Note: Torsten also starts with an upstroke here. Since it's an offbeat, however, this isn't as unusual as with his other figures.
Lesson 5Lick 4
Duration: min
The initial skip introduces influences from country-style guitar. Otherwise, the fourth lick is very similar to the first.
Lesson 6Lick 5
Duration: min
The first II-V-I lick starts with a Bbmaj7 arpeggio, but here it's played over Gm7. Bbmaj7 has the same notes as Gm9, just without the root note g. After a chromatically descending line, the lick shifts to the timbre of the altered scale with the root note c. The target note at the end is a, the third of the target chord Fmaj7.
Lesson 7Lick 6
Duration: min
Torsten learned this lick from George Benson. And because he likes it so much, he demonstrates it both in low and high register.
Lesson 8Lick 7
Duration: min
Here you'll learn a short lick using two arpeggios over a shortened II-V-I chord progression.
Lesson 9Lick 8
Duration: min
The eighth lick utilizes the tension of the halftone-wholetone scale. Torsten explains in the video that it's altered, but it's HTWT. Interestingly, the lick transitions from G minor to C HTWT on beat 4. This anticipation of the tension makes the lick particularly interesting.
Lesson 10Bonus Lick
Duration: min
This short video was filmed whilst preparing for the course with Torsten and is a brief excerpt from it. Officially, it wasn't even on the list of licks, but we think it's well worth learning. Here, Torsten shows you how the pentatonic scale is played in Blues Rock.
Lesson 11Sunny Solo (Performance)
Duration: min
We recorded three tracks with Torsten at the Daylight Studios, including footage. We've included Torsten's solo on the track "Sunny" in the course because Torsten deliberately uses all the licks explained above in a single solo. Have a look at the solo and try to pick out the licks. At which points does he use which lick?
Lesson 12Interview
Duration: min
Learn almost everything about Torsten Goods – enjoy this in-depth interview!
