These videos have been great - I love the “words” analogy and practicing licks seems to make sense to me. The problem I’m having is that I don’t quite get how to string the licks together into “sentences”. Each lick feels like it ends a sentence rather than flow into the next one. What am I missing? Help appreciated 
hi jeff,
The million dollar question for most I guess when first acquainted with this stuff…I’m going to give it a try from my own experience…and I’m pretty sure this isn’t for everyone… .a random list…in the beginning your tempo and timing is not good enough, you can’t just “copy paste” all licks in a row,… practice more…, not every lick “feels” nice to play and just doesn’t suit you but does give the experience that you can use later with other licks and then it makes sense…a lot of practice…don’t try to string them all together take breaks (I do that very often still wrong) … oh yes, a lot of practice and it will really happen to you that you play a few smoothly and perfectly in succession…
I still remember well after the first 2 pattern licks lessons it really annoyed me that I couldn’t play along a little properly with the backing track…that needed …and still does…time and …a lot of practice… …I do see a recurring theme in my slightly too long story… 
So quickly said…I don’t think you’re missing anything, just try and definitely post something about yourself soon and ask for help in time, there are real teachers around here so success is guaranteed…i wish you lots of fun here 
Greetings ,Rogier
Mega
The licks may not sit well over the same backing track as Justin presents them. Having practised them broken them down, played bits, played backwards and everything else Justin says about using you should be able work them into the same track. They might not sit nicely together so you may need passing notes from the pentatonic scale to link them together. Think of those note like punctuation that breaks up a sentence and makes is flow and sound like it makes sense. You need to experienment.
I am not one for pushing my own impros but my latest post may give you an idea. These particular licks are from another source and not just in one position but it may give you an idea of what I am trying to say.
Cheers
Toby
https://community.justinguitar.com/t/madmans-new-diary-chapter-two-blue-boy-wheres-cyndi/84245/40
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Just getting into learning these licks and having them as part of a repertoire. Quick question using pattern 1 licks for example, on what progression you would play these licks over??? Aminor Blues or C Blues?? I understand the realise major minor thing, however I’m trying to land on chord tones.
Lick 1 ends on A note, so would sound good to me over Am, as A is not in the C chord would you not use it over a C part of a progression?
Lick 2 ends on a C note so presumably this is good over Am and C
Am I over thinking and can they be used over Am and C no problem?
Hey, you are not overthinking. These licks are for A or Am blues progressions, but not C blues. The C major pentatonic scale has the same notes as the Am pentatonic, but the licks are generally different. Furthermore, care must be taken when using major pentatonic licks over a blues progression. Justin talks about this in a Grade 7 module.
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Hi @Richard_close2u, thanks for your input.
Yes, I can read the tab and in fact, I can play it in time so it sounds like what Justin plays in the video. However, it doesn’t seem to flow naturally when I play it over a blues backing track. And I find it difficult to count. The problem is the 2nd triplet form, where the quarter note takes the last two-thirds of the triplet. I don’t always come out of that in time and beat 4 sometimes is off the mark. Just needs more practice, I guess.
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Yeah, the bend / curl occupies a moment in time that is rather ‘elastic’.
You can play the G string fret 5 note and begin the curl immediately, or hold the note for its full duration and do the curl on the strict count of the 3rd part of the triplet, or somewhere in between. It is very much an individual feel thing and will sound a little clunky if the count and the note duration is too clockwork and robotic.
Indeed, having to execute the curl at the moment is a complication.
Lots of things to keep in mind at once. Or rather, practice it enough so you don’t have to think about it!
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Hi all,
I’m having trouble with lick #3 as higher speeds. With my bends, I’ve been trying to avoid the “seagull” effect (i.e., unbending the string while it’s still making sound) by using my right hand to mute the string after bending it up. But at a speed of like 80 bpm, I can’t seem to mute the G string after the bend with my right hand but remove that muting so that when I pick the B string, the B string still makes a sound and isn’t muted too. Clearly, my right hand is muting both strings, but I don’t know how to be more accurate with the right hand when muting.
Any advice?
Hi @jwf, my muting is a work in progress, but what I’ve found is that you should be able to position your right hand such that when you mute the G string, you are not also muting the B (or high-E) strings.
You’ll have to experiment with the position of the right hand, such that it touches strings 3-6, but not strings 1 and 2. Btw, you can practice this, of course, not while doing the lick, but just picking the individual strings while your muting hand is in place.
Justin has a lesson on muting here: String Muting Techniques | JustinGuitar.com
He explains right-hand muting in detail starting around 8:10.
Thanks @jjw , I’ll take a look at that lesson and invest some time into making my right hand more precise with the muting. Seems like I’m a little too haphazard with that mute motion right now.
Another hint for that lick is to try and slow it down. The initial triplet makes it pretty fast, so find a down tempo backing track to try it over. I found the track supplied with the lesson was too fast at first.
You can also change the rhythm of that lick, from triplet to eighth notes. So, instead of counting one-trip-let-two, you could count and-one-and-two, something like that. I find myself playing it that way sometimes. Good luck!
I set a tiny little challenge for myself this evening: Create and play a solo by using licks from this lesson only:
Here is the result: Stream 5 Licks From Pattern 1 Challenge by elevatortrim | Listen online for free on SoundCloud
I haven’t recorded myself in a while. This reminded me of how humbling it is to listen to yourself playing. Lots of room to improve.
Feel free to join in!
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Nice. It sounded real good.
I am having so much fun with this. I never knew i enjoyed blues so much until i decided to launch into this module. It’s really helping my improv. Ok my little tunes are still rather pedestrian but i can link some of these licks together and it sounds ok. Bending and those fret 8 to fret 5 pull offs getting easier and clearer. Have also found a sound i really like for this on my amp. Bit frustrated that i can’t knock out a super duper solo yet up and down the fretboard yet but I’ve come a long way so i’m sticking with Justin and working through the module with as much patience as i can muster! Off to buy his backing tracks now…
What is this “trip-let” thing Justin is saying? I’ve been doing the lessons more or less in order and this is the first I’ve encountered this. Is there a lesson that explains this?
@Joshums A Triplet is simply dividing a beat into 3. It is introduced in beginners grade 2 https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/shuffle-grooves-strumming-bg-1302
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this page needs urgently updating i think @Richard_close2u . it links to a site that looked pretty odd. i think probably justin stopped using the url and its been bought and got some kind of phishing site on it. the link is to buy the backing tracks.
Which page or link have you used to take you to that unwanted place?