A classic upward sweep across four strings, ending on a high, vibrato-heavy root note.
You can compile your own 20-lick PDF by transcribing from these free video lessons:
These aren't just patterns—they are "building blocks" used over common changes like Minor Swing and Dark Eyes .
Robin Nolan’s life story reads like a movie script. Born in 1968 in a Vietnamese evacuation hospital during the war, he is the son of musicians who worked in US Army troop entertainment. He grew up in Hong Kong, where his father—originally from Liverpool—taught him guitar at the age of six.
The hardest part of learning a new genre is often building a vocabulary. You wouldn't try to write a novel without learning words and sentences; similarly, you shouldn't try to improvise without learning "licks" (musical sentences).
One of the biggest hurdles for rock and blues guitarists transitioning to Jazz is the "pentatonic box" mentality. We tend to stay in one position on the neck.