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30 Beginner Rock Licks You MUST Know

Must-Know Rock Licks for Beginner and Early Intermediate Guitarists

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30 Beginner Rock Licks You MUST Know
Chris Buono

Chris Buono

Educator

classic rock, blues-rock, rock

Genres

About this course

Learning how to play a rock solo is a three-step process: 1) Having command of a versatile vocabulary of licks; 2) Understanding how to connect a series of individual licks into longer phrases; and 3) Developing key rock techniques such as bending, legato, and muting. This collection of 30 Beginner Rock Licks from Chris Buono guides you through all three of these requirements to get your rock soloing up and running quickly and easily.

”I remember in the beginning stages of my own playing -- how exciting it was to discover new things and learn new licks. Every lick counted as it was a treasure trove in tricks of the rock trade.

In this collection of 30 fun, yet approachable licks, I’ll introduce you to essential rock guitar soloing techniques such as legato, various types of bending, palm muting, double stops as well as phrasing concepts and a lot more to help get you started on solid ground.

As we progress through the collection, I’ll pass along key tips and insights to help you become a rock lick titan -- AND you’ll be able to use TrueFire’s learning tools to practice and play along with me, at your own pace.

I’ve organized the licks into three sets of ten with varying lengths, a wide variety of must-know techniques, and we’ll play them over jam tracks in a variety of keys and feels. There’s laid back down-home grooves, southern rock grooves, hard driving funk-rock and alt-rock grooves and many more.”

Chris will explain and demonstrate all of the key concepts and approaches along the way. You’ll get standard notation and tabs for all of the performance studies. Plus, you’ll be able to use TrueFire’s learning tools to sync the tab and notation to the video lesson.

You can also loop or slow down the videos so that you can work with the lessons at your own pace. All of the backing tracks are also included to work with on your own.

Grab your guitar and let’s rock with Chris Buono!

What you'll learn

  • Use downstroke picking for consistent attack and tone on low strings
  • Execute unison bends with controlled vibrato
  • Apply palm muting to control open string resonance in melodic passages
  • Understanding how to piece together licks to create solos
  • Developing a vocabulary of essential beginner rock licks
Release date: 10/15/2021 • 2h 12m runtime
late beginnerbeginnerguitarelectric guitarsoloinglicks
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Sample lessons
We're Rollin'
We're Rollin'
Lick #2
It's All Relative
It's All Relative
Lick #6
Top Jimmy
Top Jimmy
Lick #18
Cuda
Cuda
Lick #25

What's included

32 lessons • 30 charts • 10 Jam Tracks

30 Beginner Rock Licks You MUST Know
Hey! This is Chris Buono and welcome to 30 Beginner Rock Licks You Must Know. As one of the original TrueFire Artists in the first batch of the Licks You Must Know series and the guy who brought 50 Rock Licks You Must Know, I’m super psyched to present this course. I’ve composed 30 fun, yet playable licks for you to work with. In these licks I introduce essential rock guitar soloing techniques such as legato, various types of bending, palm muting, double stops as well as phrasing foundational concepts to get you started on solid ground while having a lot of fun.

I remember in the beginning stages of my own playing how exciting it was to discover new things. Every lick counted as it was a treasure trove of tricks of the trade. Many, if not all of what I learned in those first few years can be heard in my playing today. With that in mind, I really paid close attention to what’s in these licks as much as what’s not. I wanted to make sure you were playing the right stuff without putting too much on your plate.

When putting this all together I thought I’d present a Licks You Must Know course in a new way. The goal was to not only provide you with 30 killer rock licks, but also head you off at the pass when you start asking about how to piece together your own solos. To do that I wrote licks in sets of 3’s to a common jam track. Those jam tracks were expertly produced by my good friend and fellow TrueFire Artist Steve Jenkins and they rock! The layout goes like this: The first 10 licks are unique to each other in every way. They’re all two bar licks in different keys, at different tempos with varying techniques introduced. The following batch of ten follow the same order of elements, yet build on the techniques. The third batch follows suit, however they're all four bars long. Each track corresponds to three licks starting with Lick #1 in Em, which shares the same track with Lick #11 and #21. Lick #2 is connected to Lick #12 and #22 and so on. In the end I not only give you licks, I also give a glimpse into what more they can do for you.

Throughout the lessons I will pass along key tips and insight that, with time and practice, will help you become a rock lick titan. As always, you can loop or slow down the videos to work with the lessons at your own pace. Everything is notated in Guitar Pro and PDF.

Ready?! Let’s do it to it!
Slop Sink
Just like a slop sink in real life, this first lick offers a few essentials. These playing elements will used in your lick playing time and time again. The first three notes of each bar employ the trifecta of legato techniques: sliding, hammer-ons and pull-offs. Then you have your first foray with vibrato and, in bar 2, you make your way to the final 14th fret E via a string skip from the second (B) string down to the (D) string. Which, by the way, takes a slide down to nowhere as a final dash of seasoning.

There’s one more element to note that takes to the longest to grasp: SPACE. There’s not a lot of notes here and some breathing room between the two ideas. You could go as far saying this is a call & response lick (more on that later). This is a topic I will come back to over and over again along many others.

While it may feel like the kitchen sink is being thrown at you from the get-go, with time these techniques will be ingrained in your rock soloing making you ready for more.
We're Rollin'
Playing notes on the same fret on adjacent strings helps produce some seriously cool licks. The technique is called “rolling” and this lick gets you doing just that with ascending rolls. To make the rolls happen in bars 1-2 your fret hand first finger needs to fret the fourth (D) string, 7th fret A, then following the hammer-on, fold over onto the third (G) string, 7th fret D. What you’re going for is a smooth transition from note to note that accomplishes two key things: It doesn’t allow both notes to ring together nor, on the contrary, do you hear a gap between them. The preceding whole step (two frets) hammer-on helps gets you started with rolling by breaking up the adjacent string picking. Take it slow and be critical of note separation.
A Quarter Pinch of Grace
This lick introduces three very cool techniques that will instantly make the most basic lick sound pro. As the name implies you have quarter step bending, grace note sliding and pinch harmonics. As a bonus, you also have a descending roll.

The lick starts with a grace note slide. Generally grace notes are quick ornamental inflections used as brief launch pads for other legato techniques such as hammer-ons, pull-offs and in this case sliding. While bending is a big subject, this first glance simply calls for a slight push upwards giving the note and the lick some value-added grease. That said, it’s OK to leave this element off the table it proves to be too much at first. Don’t fret, I will employ this approach so much in these licks it may just rub off on you! Finally, pinch harmonics are a cool sounding alternative to natural harmonics that always bring welcome fire to a lick. The trick is having your pick hand thumb make contact with the string right after the pick does. Where this contact is made determines the pitch of the harmonic produced.

As for that descending roll, that happens going from the 5th fret E on the second (B) string down to the 5th fret C on the lower adjacent third (G) string. You need to fret the first not knowing you’re going to roll down to the next note. It will take time for this to set not only as a technique, but also as an idea that comes about in your playing. Give it time and it will come.
Major Chug
One of the hallmarks of rock lick technique is the incorporation of palm muting. Not just for riffing, palm mutes add an element of muscle and attitude you’d expect to hear in a lick deemed “rock”. Simply placing the lower part of your pick hand pal lightly over the string saddle will produce a thick and meaty sound that adds punch to even to a major-based lick such as this one. Careful of the pick hand palm placement as too far off the mark in either direction will have adverse effects - none of which are desirable. With the exception of the slides, be sure to follow my all downstroke picking pattern. That takes the chug to the next level.

This lick and the one that preceded it ends on the last eighth note of the first bar. However both notes peppered with vibrato ring out into bar 2. Take note of the space between the times you repeat the lick. Keep that in mind as you start to piece together ideas into your own solos. It is that space that will make you play that much more impactful and real.
Fillin' In
At this point all the licks have been based out of two-note-per-string minor and major pentatonic scales. If you haven’t noticed many of the sequences are whole steps (two frets) apart. Following suit with the use of pentatonic this lick does the same, this time in Bm on the 3-2-1 string set. The key element here is the filling in of the whole step intervals on the 10th and 12th frets of the first (E) and second (B) strings respectively. This makes the notes flow in a succession of one fret movements called half steps. Consecutive half step movements such as this is called chromatic. Chromaticism is a great way to add color and/or tension to your licks.

Two other factors to consider here lie within the beginning of each bar. First, the lick starts on the upbeat of bar 1. The message here is not all of your licks need start on the downbeat. Rhythmic variation is just as important as note content - sometimes more so. At the downbeat of bar 2 there’s a palm muted note on the 11th fret of the third (G) string. That’s a rock lick style staple (say that 10x fast) and I promise you’ll see this throughout the course.
It's All Relative
From the onset of the course each pair of licks presented have been relative major and minor keys and will continue to do so throughout the first 10 licks. What ties them together is the notes and thus the key signature used to signify them. What sets them apart, among other things, is the their root notes and overall sounds. Coming off the key of Bm in Fillin’ In, this lick shifts its relative major key of D.

As with all the licks, each one is introducing what will become everyday phrasing techniques. In this lick the first new element, staccato, is applied to the initial eighth notes in bar 1. Staccato calls for short note durations as heard in my playing. This lick also takes a small step away from the pentatonic scale with the addition of the 13th fret C on the second (B) string. It is with that note I have you taking a step forward with your legato development by playing a hammer-on to a double pull-off sequence. Altogether with the sliding and vibrato inflections you have a fun major lick with ample space.

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Reviews

7 results

minhazq

Verified buyer

06/20/26

Highly recommended for guitarists who want focused and efficient practice

This rock licks course is short and to the point. I like that I can focus on the technique of each riff without getting overwhelmed by long lessons. The lessons are clear, practical, and easy to follow. This approach has been very effective for me and has helped me improve my playing faster. Highly recommended for guitarists who want focused and efficient practice.

vaughn771

Verified buyer

03/04/25

I like the approach of how each lick builds from the last one. The jam tracks are helpful and very long - by the time you get to the end of one you definitely feel like you;ve done your practice time.

brosblues

Verified buyer

03/02/25

Chris Buono does not disappoint!

Excellent course as usual from Chris Buono from whom I always get useful ideas and knowledge.

Orville1

08/13/23

first rock lick lessons

I never thought I'd be interested In learning rock licks. My early interests were electric and fingerstyle blues. One day I realized I grew up on rock music and should give it a try. Glad I did as I needed to prove to myself that I could handle these exercises. Chris Buono has excellent technical skills and someday I would like to be at his level. Good course

JohnSmithers

Verified buyer

11/10/22

A good starting point

This course is good fun and it is easy to follow.Recommeded for any beginner.

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