Top 17 'Lick-Library-Liberating' Improvisation Prompts to listen to in 2025 - Goh Ling Yong
Hey there, fellow music maker! Let's talk about something we've all felt. You pick up your instrument, a cool backing track is playing, and it's your moment to shine. You launch into a solo, and... out come the same three licks you always play. You know the ones. They're comfortable, they're safe, and they sound pretty good. But deep down, you feel a little bit like a robot, just executing pre-programmed lines from your personal "lick library."
This is one of the most common plateaus in a musician's journey. We spend years building our technical facility—learning scales, arpeggios, and patterns—only to find that our technical library has become a creative cage. We're so focused on playing the "right" notes that we forget to play music. The goal isn't just to have a bigger library of licks; it's to liberate ourselves from the library altogether, so we can express what we truly hear and feel in the moment.
So, how do we break free? The answer lies in shifting our practice from "what to play" to "how to play." Instead of learning another lick, we can use creative prompts—specific, focused challenges that force us to think differently. These prompts act like a creative crowbar, prying open new pathways in our musical minds. For 2025, let's make a pact to stop just playing what we know and start discovering what's possible. Here are 17 "lick-library-liberating" prompts to get you started.
1. The One-Note Challenge
This sounds deceptively simple, but it's one of the most profound exercises you can do. The rule: you can only use one single note for an entire chorus, or even the entire tune. Pick a harmonically important note, like the 3rd or 7th of the tonic chord, and stick with it.
Freed from the burden of note choice, your brain is forced to focus on everything else that makes music musical. How can you make this one note interesting? You'll start exploring rhythm, dynamics, articulation, timbre, and phrasing in ways you never have before. You'll experiment with staccato jabs, long, swelling legatos, aggressive attacks, gentle whispers, slides, and subtle vibrato. This exercise teaches you that a single, well-phrased note can be more powerful than a flurry of 32nd-notes.
Tip: Record yourself. Listen back and ask, "Did I tell a story? Did I create tension and release?" You’ll be amazed at how much you can say with so little.
2. The Storyteller
Music is storytelling without words. For this prompt, ditch all theory and scales for a moment and choose a simple narrative. It could be anything: "A secret agent sneaking into a building," "Waking up on a lazy Sunday morning," or "A frantic chase scene."
Before you play a note, think about the emotional arc of your story. The secret agent's part might be quiet, tense, and full of short, sneaky phrases with lots of space. The lazy Sunday story could be slow, warm, and melodic, with long, yawning bends. A chase scene would be fast, chaotic, and full of dissonant leaps. This prompt connects your playing directly to emotion and intention, bypassing the analytical part of your brain that just wants to play a pentatonic scale.
Tip: Try improvising over a movie scene with the sound off. Let the visuals guide your musical choices and see where it takes your phrasing.
3. Rhythmic Displacement
This is a fantastic way to generate new ideas from material you already know. Take a very simple, short melodic idea—just 3 or 4 notes is perfect. Now, play that exact same melodic phrase over and over, but start it on a different part of the beat each time.
For example, play your lick starting on beat 1. Then, repeat it, but start it on the "and" of 1. Then on beat 2. Then the "and" of 2, and so on. You’ll be shocked at how the same set of notes can sound completely different just by shifting its rhythmic placement. It trains your internal clock and breaks you out of the habit of always starting your phrases on the downbeat.
Tip: Use a metronome and be very precise. This is as much a rhythmic exercise as a creative one.
4. Intervalic Leapfrog
We often move through scales in a stepwise motion. This prompt forces you to break that habit. Choose a single musical interval (like a perfect 4th, a minor 6th, or a major 7th) and build your entire solo around it.
Every melodic movement you make should be based on that interval. This is challenging, but it creates a unique and modern sound. It forces you to see the fretboard or keyboard in a completely new way, connecting notes based on a specific distance rather than a scale pattern. Your lines will sound more angular, surprising, and intentional. This is a concept I often discuss with my students, and it's something Goh Ling Yong also emphasizes: true creativity often blossoms under strict constraints.
Tip: Start with more common intervals like 3rds and 4ths before moving on to larger, more dissonant ones like minor 2nds or major 7ths.
5. Call and Response (With Yourself)
The best improvisers sound like they're having a conversation. This prompt makes that concept literal. Play a short musical statement (the "call"), then pause, and play a different phrase that answers it (the "response").
The call could be a simple, questioning melody, perhaps ending on an unstable note. The response could be a more definitive, grounded phrase that resolves the tension. This practice forces you to listen to what you just played and react to it, which is the absolute core of improvisation. It trains you to think in phrases rather than an endless stream of notes.
Tip: Try making the call and response have different characteristics. If the call is high and fast, make the response low and slow.
6. The Color Palette
This is a more abstract, synesthetic prompt. Associate a specific sound, mode, or scale with a color. For example, the Lydian mode might be a bright, ethereal yellow. The blues scale might be a deep, soulful indigo. A diminished scale could be a jarring, chaotic red.
Now, as the harmony of the backing track changes, try to "paint" with these colors. When the chord feels bright and open, use your "yellow" Lydian sound. When it moves to a tense dominant chord, splash in some "red" diminished ideas. This helps you develop a more intuitive and emotional connection to harmony, moving beyond the dry, technical names of chords and scales.
Tip: Don't overthink the color-to-sound association. Go with your gut feeling. The goal is to tap into your intuition.
7. One-String Wonder
This is a classic for guitarists and other string players, but the principle can be adapted to any instrument. Confine your entire solo to a single string (or a very limited range on piano/horns).
This constraint immediately eliminates your go-to fretboard patterns and muscle memory licks. You're forced to move up and down the neck linearly, which encourages more melodic, vocal-style phrasing. You'll discover new ways to connect notes and navigate chord changes that you'd never find if you had all six strings at your disposal.
Tip: Try this on different strings. The thick, dark tone of the low E string will inspire different ideas than the bright, singing B string.
8. The Minimalist
In a world that often values speed and complexity, this prompt celebrates the power of simplicity. The challenge: say as much as possible with as few notes as possible.
This is the ultimate exercise in making every single note count. Your focus shifts entirely to the space between the notes. How long can you hold a note? How long can you stay silent before your next phrase? This approach, famously championed by masters like Miles Davis, creates incredible tension, drama, and sophistication. It proves that what you don't play is just as important as what you do.
Tip: Set a hard limit, like "I can only play 8 notes over this 8-bar section." This forces you to be incredibly deliberate with your note choices.
9. The "Wrong" Note Rule
Fear of hitting a "wrong" note is one of the biggest creativity killers. This prompt tackles that fear head-on. The rule: in every phrase you play, you must intentionally include one note that is clearly "outside" the harmony.
But here's the catch: your next job is to make that wrong note sound right by resolving it gracefully to a "correct" note. This trains your ear to handle dissonance and see non-chord tones not as mistakes, but as opportunities for tension and color. You’ll quickly learn that any note can work if you resolve it with confidence.
Tip: A common and effective way to resolve an outside note is by moving it by a half-step (up or down) to a nearby chord tone.
10. Dynamic Arc
We often play everything at the same volume level. This prompt is all about dynamics. Your goal is to shape your solo with a clear dynamic contour over the entire form of the tune.
You could start at a whisper (pianissimo), gradually build to a roar (fortissimo) by the solo's climax, and then fade back down. Or you could do the reverse. Or you could alternate between loud and soft sections. This adds a powerful narrative dimension to your playing and keeps the listener engaged from start to finish.
Tip: A great backing track with a solid groove is essential for this one, as it gives you a foundation to build your dynamics upon.
11. Motivic Development
This is a cornerstone of classical composition, but it's a dynamite tool for improvisers. Start with a short, simple, and memorable melodic fragment, or "motif" (3-5 notes is ideal).
The challenge is to build your entire solo using only variations of this single motif. You can change the rhythm, turn it upside down (inversion), play it backward (retrograde), shift it to different octaves, or stretch and compress it. This creates an incredibly cohesive and intelligent-sounding solo, where every idea feels connected to a central theme.
Tip: Choose a motif with a distinctive rhythmic or melodic shape to make it easier to recognize as you transform it.
12. The Vocalist's Breath
Many of the greatest instrumental soloists are praised for their "vocal-like" phrasing. This prompt helps you achieve that. Imagine you are a singer. Every phrase you play must be something you could realistically sing.
This means your phrases will naturally become shorter and more lyrical. Crucially, you must leave space between your phrases to "breathe." This simple constraint instantly makes your playing more human, more relatable, and more melodic. It's a powerful antidote to playing long, run-on streams of notes.
Tip: Actually try to sing along with the lines you're playing. If you can't sing it, it's probably too long or un-melodic.
13. Texture Painting
Sometimes, music isn't about melody or harmony; it's about texture and sound. For this prompt, your goal is to create interesting sounds, not necessarily melodic lines.
For guitarists, this could mean using pick scrapes, harmonics, muted "chucks," whammy bar effects, or feedback. For pianists, it could be percussive clusters or pedaled drones. For horn players, it could involve growls, flutters, or multiphonics. This is about exploring the full sonic potential of your instrument beyond its traditional role.
Tip: This works especially well over static or minimalist backing tracks where there is a lot of sonic space to fill.
14. Chord-Tone Weaving
While it sounds like a technical exercise, this is a powerful creative prompt. The rule: you can only play notes that belong to the chord of the moment (the root, 3rd, 5th, and 7th). No scale notes in between.
The challenge is to connect these chord tones smoothly and melodically as the harmony changes. This forces you to "see" the changes coming and to outline the harmony with your lines clearly. It's the secret to sounding like you are truly "playing the changes," and it builds a strong foundation for more complex harmonic ideas later on. Many legendary players, including those I've had the pleasure of working with, build their solos on this fundamental skill.
Tip: Focus on landing on the 3rd or 7th of the new chord right when it changes. These "guide tones" are the most colorful and important notes.
15. The Question & Answer
This is a more nuanced version of the "Call and Response" prompt. Think of your phrases in terms of grammar. A "question" phrase often feels unfinished, ending on a note that creates tension, like the 7th of a major chord or a non-chord tone.
An "answer" phrase feels complete and resolving, often ending on a stable note like the root or the 3rd. Try to create a dialogue in your solo by alternating between these question and answer phrases. This creates a natural, conversational flow that is incredibly compelling for the listener.
Tip: Pay attention to the last note of your phrase. Where does it want to go next? Does it feel resolved or does it leave the listener hanging?
16. Outside-In
This is an advanced prompt for those comfortable with their harmony. The idea is to deliberately play "outside" the established key or chord for a brief moment to create tension, before resolving it back "inside."
There are many ways to do this. You could use a scale a half-step above or below the "correct" one for a beat or two. You could use chromaticism or a diminished pattern. The key is that the "outside" moment is brief and intentional, and the resolution back "inside" is confident and clear. It adds a thrilling, modern edge to your playing.
Tip: Start small. Try playing outside for just two beats before resolving. Timing is everything here—it's the surprise and the satisfying return that makes it work.
17. The Single-Minded Emotion
This is the ultimate test of intention. Before you start your solo, choose one single, specific emotion you want to convey. Don't just pick "happy" or "sad." Get specific: "wistful nostalgia," "cautious optimism," "righteous anger," or "playful joy."
Now, every single note you play must be in service of that emotion. Ask yourself constantly: "Does this note, this rhythm, this dynamic choice serve the feeling of 'wistful nostalgia'?" This forces you to make every musical decision with a clear purpose. It's the bridge between being a technician and being an artist.
Tip: Keep the emotion written down in front of you as a constant reminder. It's easy to lose focus and revert to old habits.
Your Turn to Break Free
These 17 prompts are not just technical exercises; they are gateways to a more creative, expressive, and authentic musical voice. They are designed to break the feedback loop of your muscle memory and force you to listen, react, and create in real-time. The goal isn't to master all of them at once. The goal is to get curious.
For the next week, pick just one prompt that intrigues you. Dedicate 10-15 minutes of your practice time each day to exploring it over a simple backing track. Don't judge the results; just notice what happens. Notice the new sounds you discover and the new ideas that emerge. This is how you begin to dismantle the walls of your lick library and step into the open field of true improvisation.
Which of these prompts are you excited to try first? Do you have a favorite creative constraint that helps you break out of a rut? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below! Let's learn and grow as a community of musicians ready to make 2025 our most creative year yet.
About the Author
Goh Ling Yong is a content creator and digital strategist sharing insights across various topics. Connect and follow for more content:
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