Odd Time Licks: Vol.1 5/4

For his debut 20 Licks series we gave Guthrie Govan all of the creative liberties he desired, and what we were left with is pretty outstanding! This package is all Guthrie; from the overall series concept, to the jamtrack, the ideas and licks inside the package. It's all hot off the press from one of the worlds most accomplished, and refined guitar players!

Playing over unusual time signatures can be daunting and people often have trouble relaxing. This series from the brilliant mind of Guthrie Govan aims to break up the rigidity that this entails, helping you overcome any fears of odd time signatures that you might have. Guthrie's licks will help you develop a creative, controlled and intuitive approach, giving you a confident facade that will free up your mind from the arduous task of relentless counting, letting you focus on what really counts, the music.

Guthrie says "I think there's a lot to be said for overcoming your fear of odd time signatures just by kind of feeling your way around the structure of the bar and developing a sense for how far away the next beat is going to be". There are 20 demo licks here to give you an idea about how to navigate your way through a bar of 5/4 or a series of bars of 5/4, and hopefully land on your feet at the end of the lick. The intention is that, as you work through these licks you get some sort of structural idea of how long the bar is and you start to feel to your way around the rhythmic stepping stones and it gives you confidence so that when you are improvising your own stuff you feel a little less lost and a little less at sea. Really there's no reason to be scared of odd time signatures.

Theoretically, the core of Guthrie's melodic work in this package is mainly Dorian, Minor Pentatonic and Blues scale based, interspersed with melodic decorations such as chromatic passing tones and the occasional "outside" phrase thrown in for good measure. Guthrie made this choice consciously to help you focus on the rhythmic aspect of these licks, as you study and master his odd time phrasing techniques to incorporate and ingrain the 5/4 groove into your repertoire.

As ever, we have accurately transcribed every note and included the TAB/notation in the download to help you learn and analyse Guthrie licks alongside the video performances. We have also included the licks in audio format, a 'lick backing track' and extended backing track, as well as bonus lick notes to aid your studies as you delve deeper into the mind of the guitar great, and learn how to navigate odd time signatures like a pro!