Licks

Licks, in music, are brief, idiomatic melodic ideas often used as building blocks for improvisation. They typically consist of a small sequence of notes that can be played over a chord progression and may be derived from common scales such as the pentatonic or blues scales. In many genres, especially blues, rock, and jazz, musicians learn licks from transcriptions and recordings and then modify them within solos. Licks can function as motifs, quotes, or signature elements that give a solo a recognisable character.

In performance contexts, players might insert and vary licks to respond to the harmony and to the course of a solo. Lick libraries or "lick books" collect commonly used patterns; guitarists, keyboardists, and other improvisers often practice them to develop vocabulary and fluency. The concept of a lick is distinct from a theme or motif in that it is usually shorter and more immediately transferable between keys or progressions.

Outside music, the term "lick" has several unrelated meanings. As a verb, it means to pass the tongue over something or to taste. As a noun, it can refer to a small amount of something, as in a "lick of paint," or to a beating or defeat in informal usage ("to give someone a licking").

Etymology: The word lick derives from Old English and Germanic roots associated with touching with the tongue; in English it evolved to various senses including taste, touch, and, later, the metaphorical "short musical figure" sense that became common in the 20th century.