Lick 1: I start off the licks with a very simple sounding II V lick which begins by playing with D Dorian over Dm7; applying the use of chromatic approach notes. For the G7 chord I apply a very common and simple Altered scale line and finish off with the Major scale or Ionian over the Cmaj7 chord.
Lick 2: On this next lick I decided to play with the notes of the C Harmonic Major scale all over the II V I progression. It’s a simple melodic line that works with the chord tones of each of the chords while adding the signature extensions of the Harmonic Major scale. In scalar terms it goes Dorian b5 for the Dm7, Mixolydian b5 for the G7 and Harmonic Major for the CMaj7.
Lick 3: The lick starts off with a 3 1 3 note per string pattern that silhouettes the notes of the Dm7 chord while using a few chromatic approach notes. For the G7 chord I continue to use approach notes while playing with the notes of the G7 arpeggio. I finish off with a Cmaj7 arpeggio which resolves to the 9th of the chord (D).
Lick 4: This lick is my version of a move that Tim Miller does in his solo in “Shift” which I worked out a couple of years ago. I really loved the idea so I incorporated it into my playing. The same idea is used over the II and V chord by adjusting the notes to the harmony. In scale terms it could be thought of as playing D Dorian b5 over Dm7, G Mixolydian b5 over the G7 and C Harmonic Major over the Cmaj7 chord.
Lick 5: While going through sound check with my band Misa ‘E Gallo; I heard my fellow guitarist Will Suarez practicing fourths in all kinds of amazing ways and this inspired me to create this lick. I start off by playing a pattern of 4ths using D Melodic Minor over the Dm7 chord. Once I get to the G7 chord I switch to G Dominant Diminished and continue a similar 4ths pattern which resolves to the 3rd of Maj7 (E) with a chromatic slur starting from G.
Lick 6: This licks starts off with the famous Coltrane permutations (1235) over the Dm7 chord. I add a 6th and repeat the pattern. After doing so I head to the G7 chord and play a straight forward altered line which I resolve on the 3rd of the Maj7 chord.
Lick 7: Inspired by the great guitarist Alex Machacek and his wide interval/hybrid picking style in the song “Along came a spider”. This lick works with the notes from D Dorian while on the Dm7 chord. Applying some wide intervals played with hybrid picking. It’s followed up with the Altered scale for the G7 chord on which some slides are added along with hybrid picking. The lick is finished by arpeggiating two different Drop 2 C Maj7 chord voicings.
Lick 8: On this lick I go full Melodic Minor and play the D Melodic Minor scale through the whole thing. I start off with D melodic minor over the Dm7 chord which gives it a a very peculiar sound. Once I get to the G7 chord, D Melodic Minor acts as the G Lydian Dominant scale. And finally I resolve to the Cmaj7 chord on which I use a couple of chromatic approach notes and resolve to the 9th of the chord (D).
Lick 9: Again I experiment with the Coltrane permutations but in this occasion I experiment a little bit more with them. Over the Dm7 chord I begin by playing it straight from the root of the chord and then I move to the 5th (A) from where I apply the same permutation. The Dm permutation acts as (1, 2, b3, 5) while the Am acts as (5, 13, b7, 9). I do a similar move from the G7 chord on which I play the permutation from the root and the I head to the minor 3rd (Bbm) again applying the permutation. The G permutation acts as (1, 2, 3, 5) while the Bbm permutation acts as (#9, 11, b5, b7). I finish the lick on the Cmaj7 chord by applying the permutation from Em which acts as (3, #11, 5, 7) giving it a Lydian feel.
10. Lick 10: I finish the list of licks with a lick that starts off by outlining some of the tones in Dm7 while also using some chromatic approaches. Once I reach the G7 chord I switch to the G Whole Tone scale while working on some different permutations of the scale for each string. I get to the Cmaj7 chord and play a chromatic phrase that goes down and back up from to eventually resolve the lick on the 7th of the chord.
