definition of a drum lick

For years I tried to refrain from thinking in terms of licks when I play a jazz solo, but finally I gave up. Now trying to copy others licks as well as trying to come up with my own licks, the question pops up, how exactly a "lick" is defined, and what you should practise before you can call a phrase "my lick".

What I mean is the following: You can start a phrase anywhere in a bar. But then it usually gives a completely different feeling (classic example straight no chaser). Is it then still the same "lick"?

You can orchestrate the same phrase using any arbitrary combination of toms, snare, kick, cymbals, etc. How far can you deviate from the "original orchestration" until you cannot call it the same lick anymore?

A saxophone (or any melodic instrument) lick is defined both in terms of the intervals between the notes and in terms of their rhytmic relationship. You may modify the rhythm a bit, but if you change one of the intervals, it's not the same lick anymore. But if you think like that, then the concept of a drum lick becomes vague for the obvious reason that we (normally) don't have pitches.

I know it is just a matter of definition and has no real importance when playing music. But I still would like to understand the common interpretation of the term among the drummers. Thanks in advance for your answers.

I don't know that there is an actual definition.

We could go round and round with this one.

I don't think there can be one sentence that sums it all up, because there are so many diverse musical situations.

In my world the guys who work the most have the fewest licks. Licks aren't even included on the list of things that gets drummers hired in my world. Good time, good feel, being appropriate, showing restraint, VOLUME CONTROL and knowing the genres are King.

Anything else isn't too well received, and I agree with that.

As much as I love the drums, in the wrong hands, they can really irritate me.

But to define a lick....maybe the function of a lick is better to discuss.

What is the function of a lick? Licks serve many purposes.

IMO, on the negative side, most drum licks are done by drummers who feel they have a right to play fills and stuff because the guitarist gets to do it all night and they don't. Like it's a birthright or something.

I can spot those fills a mile away. IMO, a fill needs a damn good musical reason to be there. Feeding my ego solely doesn't qualify as a reason.

I'm not anti lick. I am anti ego though, and the majority of licks I hear spring from an ego place IMO. Licks are like a minefield. You'd better know exactly how to navigate your way through before attempting.

On the positive side, when a drummer can play well fitting appropriate licks, in the right places, that add musically, instead of detracting....that's what I'm talking about.

I think "drum lick" is about as casual a term as we have on this instrument. I wouldn't get too caught up in trying to reach a consensus about what the definition is.

Call ‘em what you want, it always fun to try ‘em.

There’s a youtube guy with a series called “Study the Greats”. He finds a hot lick, breaks it down, transcribes it and then demo’s it.

Example: Vinnie Colaiuta Flam Lick

For Larry,

Drum lick....any manner or combination of rudiments or stickings, used for a particular fill, sound, or pattern on a drum set.

Just my thoughts

From Wikipedia........In popular music genres such as blues, jazz or rock music, a lick is "a stock pattern or phrase" consisting of a short series of notes used in solos and melodic lines and accompaniment.......

Good ol' Wikipedia.

cemguvener said:

I know it is just a matter of definition and has no real importance when playing music. But I still would like to understand the common interpretation of the term among the drummers. Thanks in advance for your answers.

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I think drummers get into trouble when their vocabulary shows itself to be limited, like when you hear a drummer play the same combinations over and over again. We know that drummer is just playing the same "lick(s)", and the result is not very interesting, and may even clash against the music at hand. So this is what we're trying to avoid.

When you're starting out, you have to at least learn some licks, because it would take too long to discover absolutely everything for yourself. Your taste is important; what seems cool to you is worth dissecting! But, the important thing, is that when you find a combination that you like, you also take that next step and really explore that combination. There's a few ways to do this:

1. Start on a different beat (as you mentioned)
2. Start on a different partial of a beat, for example, instead of beginning on a down beat, begin on the second or third partial of the triplet.
3. Change the note rate. If the lick is 8 notes long, it's going to fit easily into 16ths. However, it may be interesting to see how that lick fits into triplets, sextuplets, and so on.
4. Change the voicing.
5. Change the sticking.

Many times it's cumbersome to use licks, and it's faster and more fruitful to take a non-lick approach, for example, filling in the triplets between the rhythms on Syncopation. This way, you're not thinking in specific combinations, you're thinking of a rhythmic idea or theme, and filling in the notes in between. This approach is laid out in Steve Houghton's Studio and Big Band Drumming. You can think of this as being similar to choosing an "anchor" note on a pitched instrument, and then playing other notes in between the moments when you return to the anchor note.

So, the important thing is that you eventually learn to play ideas in time, off the top of your head, and not rely on specific combinations, repetitiously.

Licks, chops, call it what you will. They are different to everyone.

I don't learn "licks' or prewritten stuff for a few reasons though.

You learn a 16 note or 32 note chop or lick, you can play a 16 or 32 note lick.

You learn a few 4 note phrases or 3,4,5 6, etc. you can play thousands of licks.

something like Rllk. I can play that along with rrLk and toss in a 6 stroke roll and probibly groove out and do fills for an hour with them all sounding different. 3 easy patterns. It comes down to getting REALLY good at them, learning them in multiple sub divisions, and displacing them. If you can do all that, and displace them within different sub divisions, orchestration becomes easy and takes you to the next level.

Now, you can see all that time you spent on paradiddles and other patterns really shine. This is how you can start playing long solos and get really creative too.


all that time I spent on a few patterns works all the time. things like groupings of 5 played as triplets, groupings of 4 as triplets, groupings of 3 as 16ths and doing the same really carry the beat over the barline too.


Going back to learning a lick that sounds cool doesn't seem as valuable.

I will say this. If there IS a lick you want to learn, break it up in to what it is. Learn the stickings in all the ways mentioned before and you can play all kinds of cool stuff.

a 'lick' is when your tongue intersects an object and , usually, drags along it ; )


I suggest staying away from trying to distinguish any part of your playing from 'playing the song'. The concept of 'a lick' or 'a fill' breaks your thinking away from the song.

Play a song...not parts of it all stuck together...otherwise your compositions will reflect that thinking.

Full tongue contact.

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Otto said:

I suggest staying away from trying to distinguish any part of your playing from 'playing the song'. The concept of 'a lick' or 'a fill' breaks your thinking away from the song.

Play a song...not parts of it all stuck together...otherwise your compositions will reflect that thinking.

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I hate the name of that concept

Anyway, what you say about playing the song is exactly the reason why I was staying away from learning licks.

But actually it's not completely true. Using licks does not have to rigid like that. You can adapt a lick to any musical situation by shifting, orchestrating it differently, rephrasing it, modifying the accents, flams etc... Like that you can use licks yet still play the song.

The question is how far can you modify a lick until you cannot call it the same lick anymore. Hence the question of my original post

If the flexilibilty margin is low, then you play rigidly and you don't "play the song" (as you suggested). If it is too flexible than it is like you don't use licks but just play the song. There must be a balance point inbetween where the concept of "lick" is useful. Probably too subjective to be well defined.

cemguvener said:

There must be a balance point inbetween where the concept of "lick" is useful. Probably too subjective to be well defined.

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IMO there is no balance point. Like it's not a rule that if you keep time for 128 bars you get 2 bars to fill. I think drummers have more of a global function in a band where the lick players are just an ornament.

You could have a drum lick heavy song that works great and a song that has no drum licks at all that works great.

I just have a problem with people shoehorning licks in so they can be "creative" to the detriment of the song. It's fine when there's great taste and good execution involved, fill away.

Either the "lick" fits and works, or it doesn't. There isn't a certain ratio of licks to time to be maintained.

Our job can't be compared to the other instruments.

We have a vital function, and when that function is compromised (say by a well meaning lick) it's like an earthquake where you have to regain footing. That would be the negative side.

The positive side is a drum lick can elevate the song.

The trick is to avoid the former and to have an understanding and be able to execute the latter whenever possible.

As usual I agree with larryace.

Yes, I have practiced and learned a “lick” or two that I have heard another drummer play. For instance the drum solo in the surf song called “Wipe Out”. Or Gene Krupa’s Sine Sing Sing. Once in a while during a solo I whip out those “licks”. The audience and other musicians love it.

However, in my opinion, all “licks” and fills come from the essential drum rudiments or some combination of them. (Originally there were only 13 of them.) Once I learned a particular rudiment I would then practice it while moving around the drum kit, and while playing along with music. At the age of 12 I did this over and over again for several years. Then when I needed to do a fill, even a very small fill, or a solo, my hands were able to perform any lick, fill or pattern that came into my mind. It feels almost like a thing of magic. Sometimes I would think to myself; “Wow, where did that come from.” But in reality I knew where it came from.

Even today it’s almost as though I have a list of rudiments posted at my drum set. And during a song when I need to add a fill or do a solo it feels like I’m picking out one of the rudiments to use. This technique has never failed me in my 60 years of playing the drums.


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Any phrase in any meter.

cemguvener said:

But actually it's not completely true. Using licks does not have to rigid like that. You can adapt a lick to any musical situation by shifting, orchestrating it differently, rephrasing it, modifying the accents, flams etc... Like that you can use licks yet still play the song.

Click to expand...

...but then you've moved beyond playing a 'lick' and have started playing a song.

Defining part of your song as different from the rest is a great way to learn(you could refer to it as an etude) but an awful way to play IMHO....it breaks up your thinking and the silk you are weaving.

How we think about things greatly effects how we act about them. "Here is my fill" followed by "Here is my time" creates noticeable nuances that you could fight to smooth out, or eliminate all together by not thinking of your playing that way. (lil' bit o' applied cognitive psychology)

Vinnie C is a good example of a guy that can play licks all over a song.

In the context of Jazz with horns that use their tongues to articulate phrases, the term lick actually makes sense. They play a phrase so easily and naturally its a reflex almost like licking.


When I here the term lick, I usually think "slick", like smooth jazz or "thick" like peanut butter.

A lick(or licks) can be compelling and form the basis of a song it self. An example of this is "A Night In Tunisia" by Dizzy Gillespie.

Often times licks have a somewhat legato feel to them. The notes are played fast and smoothly so as to have the same effect or musical function as one continuous note without subdivision.