How To Learn Licks

One of the most common mistakes I see guitar students making is not spending enough time with guitar licks. Within a single, top quality guitar lick, you can find an incredible amount of knowledge, skill, theory and phrasing; we just need to learn how to get the most out of it. I relate it to my adventure of learning to speak Polish... (go with me on this one)

As I'm learning the language, I learn a simple sentence, and within that sentence there is a combination of words and phrases. It also contains a vibe, accents and a feel for how to make the words sound. I would take the time to learn the words really well, then how they might apply in other sentences. Finally, I would road test the sentence as a whole, as well as try to use those words and phrases in other sentences. I'd do this so many times, at café's, restaurants, with friends and family, until it finally became part of my day to day language.