jeffrey54
Verified buyer
01/07/26
Review
Haven't used it yet.
50 All-Purpose Pentatonic Licks
Cherry-picked collection of pentatonic licks within five scale shapes.
Get this course and 1,000+ more with All Access
Try 14 days free. Cancel any time.
About this course
James Hogan’s credits range across almost every style of music. From Broadway shows and world-class symphonies to sideman gigs and recording session dates with the likes of David Sanborn, Dave Brubeck, Patti LaBelle, The Drifters, Buddy Miles, Marty Friedman, Frank Gambale and The Drifters.
Despite the many distinguishing musical characteristics of these various genres, James can always rely on the universal harmonic wonder of the pentatonic scale. And so can you with his cherry-picked collection of 50 All-Purpose Pentatonic Licks You MUST Know.
Firstly, James shares a remarkably clear and easy approach for mapping out all five positions of the Major Pentatonic scale, and all five positions of the Minor Pentatonic scale, across the entire neck of the guitar, in all 12 keys. Yet, you’ll only have to learn five scale shapes.
You’ll learn to play the All-Purpose licks within these five positions to get you comfortable playing anywhere on the neck. The licks themselves span a wide variety of musical styles, and in a variety of artist stylings.
“The collection is comprised of my favorite pentatonic rock licks and phrases in the style of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Angus Young, Billy Gibbons, Pat Travers, Michael Schenker, Steve Lukather and Neal Schon. I’ve also included some absolute “must know” blues licks inspired by Albert King, B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan, along with some burnin’ southern rock and country licks in the style of Dickie Betts, Gary Rossington, Albert Lee, Jerry Reed, and Buddy Miller.
The collection wouldn’t be ’all-purpose’ without pentatonic inspiration from from jazz masters Wes Montgomery and George Benson, and some tasty R&B based pentatonic licks in the style of Earth Wind, Fire and Chaka Khan. To round out the collection, I’ve also included some killer licks in the style of shred luminaries Paul Gilbert, Greg Howe and Richie Kotzen.”
James demonstrates each lick over an appropriate rhythm track for optimal musical context, and then he’ll break it down for you with special emphasis on the techniques required to perform it. All 50 licks are tabbed and notated, plus you’ll get Guitar Pro files as well (Windows & Mac compatible). All of the rhythm tracks are also included for you to work with on your own.
Your own Pentatonic wonder is a click away…
Despite the many distinguishing musical characteristics of these various genres, James can always rely on the universal harmonic wonder of the pentatonic scale. And so can you with his cherry-picked collection of 50 All-Purpose Pentatonic Licks You MUST Know.
"These are the Swiss Army Knives of pentatonic licks that can be used in a multitude of genres and for guitar players they should be on the "must know" list." - Ron Holcomb, TrueFire StudentJames is not only one of today’s top ‘go to’ guitarists, he’s also a passionate educator with an insatiable appetite for researching musical styles, studying the fretboard masters within those styles, and then generously sharing that knowledge with other students of guitar. You’ll find 50 All-Purpose Pentatonic Licks to be generous indeed.
Firstly, James shares a remarkably clear and easy approach for mapping out all five positions of the Major Pentatonic scale, and all five positions of the Minor Pentatonic scale, across the entire neck of the guitar, in all 12 keys. Yet, you’ll only have to learn five scale shapes.
You’ll learn to play the All-Purpose licks within these five positions to get you comfortable playing anywhere on the neck. The licks themselves span a wide variety of musical styles, and in a variety of artist stylings.
“The collection is comprised of my favorite pentatonic rock licks and phrases in the style of Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Angus Young, Billy Gibbons, Pat Travers, Michael Schenker, Steve Lukather and Neal Schon. I’ve also included some absolute “must know” blues licks inspired by Albert King, B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan, along with some burnin’ southern rock and country licks in the style of Dickie Betts, Gary Rossington, Albert Lee, Jerry Reed, and Buddy Miller.
The collection wouldn’t be ’all-purpose’ without pentatonic inspiration from from jazz masters Wes Montgomery and George Benson, and some tasty R&B based pentatonic licks in the style of Earth Wind, Fire and Chaka Khan. To round out the collection, I’ve also included some killer licks in the style of shred luminaries Paul Gilbert, Greg Howe and Richie Kotzen.”
James demonstrates each lick over an appropriate rhythm track for optimal musical context, and then he’ll break it down for you with special emphasis on the techniques required to perform it. All 50 licks are tabbed and notated, plus you’ll get Guitar Pro files as well (Windows & Mac compatible). All of the rhythm tracks are also included for you to work with on your own.
Your own Pentatonic wonder is a click away…
What you'll learn
- Navigate position 4 of the major pentatonic scale
- Execute BB King's distinctive vibrato technique using index finger as pivot point
- Understand and navigate BB King's Blues Box position
- Develop versatility with picking options (alternate picking vs. legato)
- Learn authentic southern rock phrasing and vocabulary
Release date: 09/03/2014 • 2h 35m runtime
Sample lessons
King Albert
Lick 4
L.A. 85’
Lick 19
Wes
Lick 20
Dear John
Lick 23
What's included
53 lessons • 51 charts • 50 Jam Tracks
50 All-Purpose Pentatonic Licks
Hi, I’m James Hogan and welcome to “50 All-Purpose Pentatonic Licks You Must Know.”
This course is designed around fifty of my favorite pentatonic licks and phrases from legendary rock guitarists Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Angus Young, Billy Gibbons, Pat Travers, Michael Schenker, Steve Lukather and Neal Schon.
I’ve included some absolute “must know” licks from blues masters Albert King, B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan too, along with some burnin’ southern rock and country licks from Dickie Betts, Gary Rossington, Albert Lee, Jerry Reed, and Buddy Miller! If that’s not enough, there are some great licks from jazz masters Wes Montgomery and George Benson on the menu as well, along with some tasty R&B based pentatonic licks in the style of Earth Wind, Fire and Chaka Khan. Plus, I dug up some killer licks from shred luminaries Paul Gilbert, Greg Howe and Richie Kotzen!
Whether you’re an intermediate player in need of some new ideas or a seasoned pro just looking for a refresher, I think you’ll get a lot out of the material I’ll be presenting here in this “50 All Purpose Pentatonic Licks” course.
Some of the techniques I’ll cover in this course include legato playing, alternate picking, hybrid picking, string skipping, bending, vibrato, among others. For continuity purposes I've based all of the licks in the 5 positions A Major and A minor pentatonic respectively, though they can easily be moved to any key! Also, you'll only have to learn 5 shapes!
All of the licks are laid out for you in both tablature and standard notation, and I’ve included some really nice backing tracks for you to jam along with at home!
The course is structured as follows:
Section I:
Licks (1-15) will showcase 3 licks in each of the five positions of the “A minor pentatonic scale.”
Section II:
Licks (16-20) will showcase 5 “A minor pentatonic” licks that cross through various positions on the neck!
Section III:
Licks (21-35) will showcase 3 licks in each of the five positions of the “A Major pentatonic scale.”
Section IV:
Licks (36-40) will showcase 5 “A Major pentatonic” licks that cross through various positions on the neck!
Section V:
Licks (40-50) will showcase licks and phrases that combine A Major and A minor pentatonic in various positions on the neck!
Keep in mind these licks will be in a variety of styles and they’ll showcase multiple techniques, with varying levels of difficulty! Also, while we'll be covering a lot of positions of these scales you'll really only need to learn 5 scale shapes!
Let’s get to it!
This course is designed around fifty of my favorite pentatonic licks and phrases from legendary rock guitarists Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Angus Young, Billy Gibbons, Pat Travers, Michael Schenker, Steve Lukather and Neal Schon.
I’ve included some absolute “must know” licks from blues masters Albert King, B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan too, along with some burnin’ southern rock and country licks from Dickie Betts, Gary Rossington, Albert Lee, Jerry Reed, and Buddy Miller! If that’s not enough, there are some great licks from jazz masters Wes Montgomery and George Benson on the menu as well, along with some tasty R&B based pentatonic licks in the style of Earth Wind, Fire and Chaka Khan. Plus, I dug up some killer licks from shred luminaries Paul Gilbert, Greg Howe and Richie Kotzen!
Whether you’re an intermediate player in need of some new ideas or a seasoned pro just looking for a refresher, I think you’ll get a lot out of the material I’ll be presenting here in this “50 All Purpose Pentatonic Licks” course.
Some of the techniques I’ll cover in this course include legato playing, alternate picking, hybrid picking, string skipping, bending, vibrato, among others. For continuity purposes I've based all of the licks in the 5 positions A Major and A minor pentatonic respectively, though they can easily be moved to any key! Also, you'll only have to learn 5 shapes!
All of the licks are laid out for you in both tablature and standard notation, and I’ve included some really nice backing tracks for you to jam along with at home!
The course is structured as follows:
Section I:
Licks (1-15) will showcase 3 licks in each of the five positions of the “A minor pentatonic scale.”
Section II:
Licks (16-20) will showcase 5 “A minor pentatonic” licks that cross through various positions on the neck!
Section III:
Licks (21-35) will showcase 3 licks in each of the five positions of the “A Major pentatonic scale.”
Section IV:
Licks (36-40) will showcase 5 “A Major pentatonic” licks that cross through various positions on the neck!
Section V:
Licks (40-50) will showcase licks and phrases that combine A Major and A minor pentatonic in various positions on the neck!
Keep in mind these licks will be in a variety of styles and they’ll showcase multiple techniques, with varying levels of difficulty! Also, while we'll be covering a lot of positions of these scales you'll really only need to learn 5 scale shapes!
Let’s get to it!
50 All-Purpose Pentatonic
Before we get started I want to be sure that you have charts for the 5 positions of the Major and Minor pentatonic scales on guitar. If you notice, these scale shapes are exactly the same! This is due to Relative Major and Relative minor harmony. For instance, C major pentatonic (C,D,E,G,A) shares the same notes as A minor pentatonic. (A,C,D,E,G) In regard to the scale shapes & positions on guitar, position I of A minor pentatonic is the same as Position V of C Major pentatonic. Position II of A minor pentatonic is the same as Position I of C Major pentatonic. Position III of A minor pentatonic is the same as Position II of C Major Pentatonic, etc. You only have to learn 5 shapes! In this course we will be basing all of the licks off of the root note "A" to keep things simple theory wise. I've set up the course so that we work up through each position of these scales in order. Makes sense right? Have fun!
Jimi’s Thang
Jimi Hendrix is one of the most important musicians in history. He is arguably the greatest guitarist in rock history and the impact Hendrix had and still has on popular music cannot be overstated. Lick #1 “Jimi’s Thang” is one that you’ll hear often in Hendrix’ “Band Of Gypsys” era playing. It's based in Position I of the A minor pentatonic scale and is a variation of a great classic blues lick. This lick would sound great played on a Strat styled guitar through a Fuzz Face, cranked through a Marshall stack! Or, whatever you’ve got!
Texas Froth
Stevie Ray Vaughan had an enormous impact on the guitar world when he came onto the scene in the early 1980’s. His work on David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” along with his solo albums and collaboration with Albert King are essential listening for all aspiring guitarists and music lovers. Lick #2 “Texas Froth” is a great Stevie lick based in Position I of A minor pentatonic. This lick sounds really great on the turnaround of an “A” blues progression. Keep in mind, all of the licks in this course can be transposed to any key. Once you learn the lick, move it around on the neck. Dig it!
Degüello
“The Reverend” aka “The Rev” Billy Gibbons is one of the coolest guys on the planet. He’s also a killer guitar player and an amazing musician who’s influenced countless guitarists over the past 40+ years. Lick #3 “Degüello” is a great “Rev” lick based in Position I of A minor pentatonic. You can hear this on the intro to “I Thank You” on the the Degüello album. This lick uses a double stop bend and sounds great using an overdriven guitar sound.
King Albert
Albert King is one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. His influence on blues rock legends Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Michael Bloomfield, Peter Green and Stevie Ray Vaughan along with countless others is well documented. Albert is one of the famed “3 Kings” of the blues along with Freddie King and BB. King. Although, in my mind Albert was and is the undisputed King of the blues. Lick #4 “King Albert” is a common yet killer Albert King lick based in Position II of A minor pentatonic. Albert played a right handed guitar strung standard but left handed. (High E string on top) This enabled him to play some wicked bends and have a killer vibrato. You’ll dig this one! Also, have fun jamming to the rhumba blues backing track ala Albert’s “Cross Cut Saw.”
SRV
Lick #5 SRV is an Albert King insprired lick that you’ll hear often in Stevie Ray Vaughan’s playing. This lick is based in Position II of A minor pentatonic and it sounds awesome! Also, this lick is deceptively tricky if you aren’t used to bending. Be careful to ensure that you’re bending both strings in tune here. Albert King famously played a right handed guitar, left handed with the high E string on top. This enabled him to play some really wide bends with ease. Unfortunately, these bends are brutally tough for most guitarists. Though, SRV had no problem with them and he used really heavy strings. .013-.052
+ 46 more lessons
Reviews
26 results
BabyJohn
Verified buyer
12/24/25
Another Winner
Just like all the other courses I have purchased from Truefire this one hits the mark. As with most things there are overlaps but the new information provided through the exelant examples including relevant scales techniques and how to put it all together in a musical way using the relevant backing tracks is priceless.
jazzjazzblues
Verified buyer
05/24/25
Pentanice
Good
tomac
Verified buyer
12/24/21
Very good exercices
FrankHammer
Verified buyer
02/26/21
Cool licks everybody can use anytime. The pentatonic scale is the swiss knife on every session, you can never have enough of these out of the pocket licks. Very, very cool teacher!!! He knows what he is doing playing these lines.
…
Stop searching. Start improving with All Access.
Try 14 days free. Cancel any time.
