A repeating lick is a short group of notes played over and over. Played as triplets, three notes to a beat, even a simple loop sounds busy and exciting. Everything here is in A minor, in box 1 of the A minor pentatonic at the 5th fret.
Fingering and picking
- Exercise 1: index on the 5th fret of the high e and B strings, ring finger on the 8th fret of the B string. Pick down-up-down for the first group, then up-down-up, or use all downstrokes, whichever feels steadier. Let each note be short and even.
- Exercise 2: bend the 7th fret on the G string a whole step with your ring finger (backed by the middle), up to the pitch of the 9th fret, then play the 8th fret on the B string with your pinky and the 5th with your index.
Each group of three fills exactly one beat, so the loop never shifts against the click and the accent lands on every beat. It should sound like a rolling wheel: no gaps, no notes louder than the others except a slight accent on the beat.
Most common mistake: speeding up. Repeating licks are hypnotic and players rush them. Keep the click on and accent the first note of each group (marked >) so you can hear where the beat is.
Exercise 3 shows how to end a loop: play it for a bar and a half, then walk down the G string (7th fret, then 5th) to the A at the 7th fret on the D string, with vibrato.