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Hi Active Melody family!
It’s time for the May 2026 Site Member Challenge!
For this month’s challenge, borrow a lick! Take a well-known lick from any song and use it as your springboard. You can incorporate it into an existing Active Melody lesson or jam track, weave it into something completely original, or use it as a launching point before going somewhere new. Any style, any key, totally your call! When you post your submission, please include which lick or song your borrowed lick came from so other members can follow along and learn from your inspiration.
This is a great opportunity to study how the licks you already know and love can become the seeds of something new. You may be surprised at how much creative territory opens up once you give yourself permission to start with something familiar and then make it your own.
The submission date for this challenge will be Sunday, June 14. You can start submitting Friday, June 12.
If you need assistance with how to record yourself and post to the forum see this postGROUND RULES FOR PARTICIPATION:
Post your Youtube, Vimeo, or Soundcloud links of you playing your chosen lesson anytime between Friday, June 12, through Sunday, June 14, 10:00 pm CST. Please do not submit earlier. I think it is fun to see everyone’s posts at once.
Submit individually in the “Active Melody Member Challenge Response Submissions” forum. Title your posts “May 2026 Challenge Response – [Your AM Screen Name]”
Please submit only a single video or audio file for this challenge.
Have fun and don’t be intimidated by these challenges!!! Use these challenges to help you set goals and complete them by a deadline. You can also use this as an opportunity to chat with your other Active Melody members and share tips or tricks on this challenge that you think are useful.
It is better to show progress versus perfection with these challenges. So if you are a beginner and can only incorporate a single borrowed lick before going off on your own, that is completely ok. The point is that you are trying something new and growing as a player. Remember we are all here to support you no matter what your current playing level is.
I look forward to seeing everyone’s posts! 🙂
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Just to clarify, can we take a lick that was done in one type of pattern or shape and re-configure it so it works in a different part of the fretboard? Or are we to use the same lick configuration as original and just use it in a different song context?
The reason why I ask is any one lick can be played in different places that has the same note sequence but the way it is played changes depending on where you play it at. The other approach is keeping the same pattern of lick and possibly using it in a different key or timing change of some sort.
Go slow and practice correct technique, and your abilities will dramatically improve.
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So those who will watch the announcement video should borrow a lick from any of the AM lessons and use it somewhere else but those who only read the written description below have the instructions to “take a well-known lick from any song…”.
Is that a clever way to figure out who actually watches your challenge announcement videos, Brian? 😁😉😆
🎸JoLa
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It’s like walking into an all-you-can-eat buffet. So much to choose from, and it all looks delicious.
Like real Japanese sushi.
The melody of the notes is what expresses the art of music . 🙂 6stringerPete
It really is all about ”melody”. The melody comes from a language from our heart. Our heart is the muscle in music harmony. The melody is the sweetness that it pumps into our musical thoughts on the fretboard. 🙂 6 stringer Pete
Pete
Active Melody
Forum Moderator -
So those who will watch the announcement video should borrow a lick from any of the AM lessons and use it somewhere else but those who only read the written description below have the instructions to “take a well-known lick from any song…”.
Is that a clever way to figure out who actually watches your challenge announcement videos, Brian? 😁😉😆
A little contradicting as he says we must include the reference to the EPXXX number in the video, but not in the text description. Obviously we all need to know where the original lick came from to see how it was repurposed in each submission, so hopefully everyone uses a lick from any one of the many lessons. But I agree with Steve on the large amount of freedom involved with this challenge. Lot’s of creative freedom.
I’m tempted to use a lick from the lead guitar course, but I haven’t decided what I’m going to do yet. Most likely will pick multiple licks and see which one works best in a repurpose. I kind of feel like everything I play is a repurpose in some way shape or form from one of the lessons, but hard to remember which one’s exactly.
Every guitar player repurposes their favorite guitarist licks, it’s what we do.
Go slow and practice correct technique, and your abilities will dramatically improve.
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So those who will watch the announcement video should borrow a lick from any of the AM lessons and use it somewhere else but those who only read the written description below have the instructions to “take a well-known lick from any song…”.
Is that a clever way to figure out who actually watches your challenge announcement videos, Brian? 😁😉😆
Hahaha – I thought the same thing!
"I hear you talkin' son, but you 'aint sayin' nothin'" - Will McFarlane quoting Muddy Waters hearing a really fast guitar player
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I was wondering if you take a short song say 1.3 minutes and add more to that song, using and changing other licks from other EPs and turning it into a 4 minute one of a kind, that came out of your head,
Would that fall in to the parameters of this challenge?I think it is going to be as simple as using a lick from one lesson and inserting it somewhere in another lesson or backing track arrangement or make up your own progression. Just intentionally use a lick that we can all identify from a particular lesson and use it somewhere else. That’s the essence of what are supposed to be doing with all the licks we learn anyways.
The lick does not have to have the same rhythm to it as the original, just force the original note sequence into the rhythm of new song. I have already decided that I will use at least two different licks from existing lessons. I just need to decide on the song to use them in.
What you are suggesting Scott is not the way I would approach it. Just take the existing song and remove old lick and insert the new lick into it. No need to extend the lesson as the whole point is to repurpose a lick not play the exact same lesson song. Hope that makes s sense. There is a lot of room for creativity in the way you integrate a different lick into an existing song.
Go slow and practice correct technique, and your abilities will dramatically improve.
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I think it is going to be as simple as using a lick from one lesson and inserting it somewhere in another lesson or backing track arrangement or make up your own progression. Just intentionally use a lick that we can all identify from a particular lesson and use it somewhere else. That’s the essence of what are supposed to be doing with all the licks we learn anyways.
I thank you may have said it better than I did.
I’m working on something now, that I have been working on for a few weeks. To make it go longer I’m pulling licks from other EPs. Changing the key ( of course )
and the tempo to make it sound like it should be there.
Enough of the original lick will be there that people will be able to identify that lick from EP xxx .I’m looking forward to see what everyone comes up with.
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