Ending lick — E minor
A short one-bar melodic phrase that descends from the octave and lands twice on the E root. It's built to end a riff or a solo — once, at the very end — not to be looped like a riff. Nor is it a turnaround: a turnaround relaunches the grid by stopping on the tension, an ending lick resolves and concludes.
Tips
The phrase lands on the root, not on a tension note: that's exactly what makes it sound like done.
Play it right after a riff or an improvisation, never on its own, to hear it in its real place.
Slowing very slightly on the last two or three notes strengthens the ending effect.
Understanding this type of exercise
What an ending lick isn't
It isn't a riff (it doesn't repeat) or a turnaround (it doesn't send you back — it concludes). It's a melodic punctuation played once, at the end of a riff or solo, descending and landing on the root.
Practical tips and common mistakes
- The phrase lands on the root, not on a tension note: that's exactly what makes it sound like "done".
- Play it right after a riff or an improvisation, never on its own, to hear it in its real place.
- Slowing very slightly on the last two or three notes (rubato) strengthens the ending effect.
- One ending lick per piece: replaying it every time round the grid makes it ordinary and strips its role.
Tablature
Fretboard position
root note other scale note
The same exercise in other keys
Related sheets
- Blues in G — fingerstyle (Level 3)
- Full round trip riff — F# minor (Level 3)
- Full round trip riff — A minor (Level 3)