Quick Licks - Santana: Infusing Blues with Latin Soul

"Quick Licks - Santana" is a specialized guitar tutorial series by Stuart Bull that is crafted to help guitarists emulate the iconic style of Carlos Santana, renowned for blending Latin-infused rhythms with blues-rock guitar. This series concentrates on essential techniques such as legato, vibrato, string bending, and the incorporation of Spanish influences into blues licks. Each lesson is not just about learning the techniques, but also about capturing the soulful and melodic essence of Santana’s playing style.

What You Will Learn In This Course

35 killer blues and fusion style licks in the style of Carlos Santana. This course also includes a backing track to play over. The techniques you will learn include:

• Legato
• Vibrato
• String Bending
• Adding a Spanish Influence to Blues

Technique Breakdown

Legato: Smoothness and Fluidity

Carlos Santana's legato playing is characterized by its smoothness and expressiveness. These lessons focus on developing strong legato techniques, including hammer-ons, pull-offs, and slides. You'll learn how to connect notes seamlessly, ensuring your playing flows effortlessly. This technique is vital for replicating Santana’s fluid style, which often mirrors the human voice.

Vibrato: Adding Emotion to Every Note

Vibrato is one of Santana’s signature techniques, used to add depth and emotion to notes. This series dives into the nuances of Santana’s vibrato, teaching you to control its speed and intensity. By mastering this technique, you can infuse your playing with the same passionate and singing quality that Santana achieves in his memorable solos.

String Bending: Expressive Pitch Alteration

String bending is an essential aspect of blues guitar, and Santana uses it to great effect, adding expressiveness to his playing. These lessons guide you through the various types of bends and their expressive potential, enabling you to emulate Santana’s emotional pitch alterations that give his playing a vocal-like quality.

Adding Spanish Influence to Blues Licks

Santana is celebrated for blending the traditional blues scale with Spanish and Latin American musical elements. This part of the series focuses on how to infuse your blues licks with these influences. You'll learn to incorporate Spanish scales, rhythms, and phrasings into your playing, adding a unique and exotic flavor to your blues repertoire, much like Santana.

Practicing Over a Backing Track: Real-World Application

Practicing with a backing track is a critical aspect of this series. This approach helps you integrate the licks and techniques into a musical context, enhancing your timing, rhythm, and improvisational skills. Playing with backing tracks also allows you to experiment with how these techniques can be applied in a band setting, preparing you for live performances and jam sessions.

Carlos Santana’s Guitar Style

Carlos Santana's guitar style is a fusion of blues, rock, and Latin influences, marked by its melodic focus and emotional expressiveness. His playing is known for its sustained notes, smooth legato runs, and the distinctive use of the minor pentatonic and Dorian scales. Studying Santana’s style offers valuable insights into blending different musical traditions to create a unique guitar voice.

The Benefits of Learning These Techniques

By mastering these techniques, you will:

• Develop smooth and expressive legato playing.
• Enhance your solos with Santana's distinctive vibrato.
• Learn to express emotions through string bending.
• Infuse blues licks with Spanish and Latin influences.

Guitar Techniques Used in "Quick Licks - Santana"

Upon completing "Quick Licks - Santana," your skills will be enhanced in the following techniques:

• Legato
• Vibrato
• String Bending
• Alternate Picking

"Quick Licks - Santana" is an indispensable course for any guitarist looking to blend blues with Latin flair. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced player, these lessons provide a comprehensive guide to mastering the unique style of one of the most soulful guitarists in music history.