5 Must Know Barney Kessel Licks


Barney Kessel was one of the greatest guitarists around, and he left us with a lifetime’s worth of material to study in his recorded output. 


In this lesson, you learn 5 classic Barney Kessel licks featuring Barney’s approach to soloing over 7th, m7, and 251 changes. 


Have fun with these lines and check the practice guide at the end of this lesson to help you get the most from these phrases in the practice room

Barney Kessel Lick 1. 


Barney had a deep vocabulary when it came to 7th chords. And… 


In this Kessel-inspired phrase, you find an enclosure in the first three notes, as well as lower neighbor tones in bar three of the phrase. 


The last item to dissect in this phrase is the use of various rhythmic durations, such as 8th notes, quarter notes, and mixtures of those two rhythms. 


Mixing jazz guitar rhythms is not only a characteristic of Barney’s vocabulary but also an easy way to prevent your lines from becoming rhythmically predictable. 

Barney Lick 1

Barney Kessel Lick 2


Here’s another G7 Barney lick that uses chromatic notes to bring a “tension and release” vibe to the line. 


Notice the enclosure at the start of the line. 


There’s also a passing F# in the third measure. 


There’s an enclosure that resolves to the first beat of bar four well. 


Lastly, there’s the lower neighbor A# on the & of 1 in that same bar. 


When exploring this lick, take these bits of vocabulary and work them separately. 


This way, you develop an understanding of the building blocks of this phrase, not just the lick itself. 


It also allows you to build your own lines using jazz guitar scales, arpeggios, and chromatic patterns. 



Barney Lick 2

Barney Kessel Lick 3


Here is a Barney-inspired phrase over a Dm7 chord that uses mostly diatonic notes, apart from the enclosure in the opening 3 notes of the phrase. 


Note the mixture of scales (bar 1) and arpeggios (bar 2) that Barney uses to bring different textures and sounds to this line.

Barney Lick 3

Barney Kessel Lick 4


This line uses the Dm7 arpeggio in bar one that leads into a chromatic line in bar two, which contains Barney-style passing notes. 


Also, check out the large interval skips in bar three and four. 


Barney was a big fan of large interval leaps in his solos. 


So, using 6th and 7th intervals is a quick way to bring an authentic Barney vibe to your jazz guitar solos and phrases. 

Barney Lick 4

Barney Kessel Lick 5


The last Barney Kessel ii V I lick uses arpeggios that are a staple of the bebop guitarist’s vocabulary. 


Notice the G7 arpeggio that starts in bar one before resolving on the downbeat to bar two. 


Superimposing the V7 chord over the iim7 chord is a technique used by many jazz guitarists to add color without stepping outside the diatonic key center. 


As well, there’s a 3 to b9 arpeggio that builds tension in the second half of bar two. 


It then resolves to the G, the 5th of Cmaj7, on the downbeat of bar three. 

Barney Lick 5

Practicing Barney Kessel Licks


Here are five exercises that I like to use when learning these, or any, jazz guitar licks in the practice room. 


  • Sing the root note of each chord and play the lick on top of that root note. 
  • Solo over a jazz blues and use Barney’s licks as the basis of your solo. 
  • Solo over a modal tune and use Barney’s lines in your solos.  
  • Sing a solo over any backing track, insert these lines into your solo.
  • Alter the licks by adding notes, removing notes, changing rhythms, etc. 


Barney was a master player, leaving many legendary recordings from his long and illustrious career. 


By studying Kessel’s licks, you get into his head, dissect his soloing approach, and bring these concepts into your playing as you learn how to play jazz guitar