"...en utåtriktad virtuos med en i Sverige ovanlig musikalisk inriktning..."

- Motivering
för Unga Förmågors förstapris på "Uppsala International Guitar Festival” www.uppsalagitarrfestival.com

"Emil, Quit Practicing... You're going to put the rest of us out of work!"

- Al Bonhomme
(Award-winning GIT instructor and Country Guitar picker extraordinarie)

"Emil is one of the best guitarplayers I've heard come through the guitar department at Musicians Institute. He's one-of-a-kind and destined to be a well known player!"

- Carl Verheyen
(Supertramp, Guitar virtuoso and one of LA's first call session players for tha past two decades) www.carlverheyen.com

"Every once in a while, I hear someone play that really gets my attention. Emil is one of the most impressive fingerstyle players I have heard in a long time. Heavily influenced by Tommy Emmanuel who whas in turn so heavily influenced by Chet Atkins and Merle Travis. I was exposed to Emil's playing about a year or so ago on one of the guitar forums. I commented on the forum that I was impressed by his playing and he in turn emailed me to express his appreciation. We emailed back and forth a few times and I sensed the obvious passion this young man has for music. Very impressive."

- Richard Hudson
(Fingerstyle Guitarplaer extraordinarie)

"I've known Emil for about six months now. Not only is his playing technically proficient, he is also a very soulful player with a great feel and intuition in his musical choices. While his solo work is virtuosic, he is also a great accompanist. He has great ears, a big heart and above all, he has one of the best attitudes I have experienced in 18,5 years of teaching."

- Jami Lula
(VIT Instructor at Musicians Institute in Los Angeles) www.jamilula.com

"Mange unge gitarrister over hele verden tar utgångspunkt i Tommy Emmanuel sin spillestil. Et stort antall behersker en fantastisk teknikk på gitaren. Imidlertid, av de mange jeg hittil har hört, er det bare tre stykker jeg föler har en virkelig "groove" og et musikalsk uttrykk som får en til å tenke på Tommy. Disse er Joe Robinson fra Australia, Gareth Pearson fra Wales og Emil Ernebro fra Sverige."

- Claes Neeb
(Norwegian Fingerstyle Guitar picker extraordinarie. Worked with Chet Atkins and many others)

"En musikant som med bländande skicklighet och teknik för den akustiska gitarrmusiken vidare till en ny bred publik."

- Motivering
för gitarrpriset "Guitar People's Prize - Up and Coming" 2010

Licktionary

Do you know how to get at guitarplayer to stop playing? You put sheet music infront of him…

This page is all about licks and ideas that I want to share with other players out there. I keep a lickbook (or a “licktionary”) with me and write out ideas and licks almost every day. It’s a good thing for me since my memory is “good, but short!”
I think learning licks is a great way to study the guitar, and it’s certainly a fun way!

I’ll be posting more licks here from time to time, so be sure to stop by often!

Georg Wadenius Solo – I Don’t Know Why
I transcribed Georg Wadenius solo from the song “I Don’t Know Why” from my new album “Handmade”. Many people have asked me about it, so I thought I’d share it with all of you! I love the solo myself, and I’ve learned so much from listening to Georg. His sense of making up melodies and beautiful tasty lines never seem to stop amaze me. Enjoy!
/Emil

Lick 44
Another bluegrass/country idea. This one is in G, have fun!
/Emil

Lick 43
I picked up this one from Bryan Sutton, a wonderful bluegrass guitarist.
/Emil
Lick 42
I heard Joe Robinson play this diminished idea over a A7 leading in to Dm7. It’s a nice one!
/Emil
Lick 41
Lick in A, inspired by Tommy Emmanuel.
/Emil
Lick 40
Here’s a lick from Danny Gatton. Enjoy!
/Emil

Lick 39
This is a classic Chet Atkins ending in C! I’m sure you’ll recognize this when you hear it. Enjoy!
/Emil

Lick 38
Another great open string-lick in G! Have fun!
/Emil

Lick 37
I’ve had a lot of great teachers so far in my life. One of my teachers at MI was Al Bonhomme, who I picked up a lot of country licks from. This one is nice, and I use it in one of my tunes called “Reed It”. It’s an outro lick, and it’s really fun to play! If you’d like to hear it, find “Reed It” on youtube, and listen to the ending of that song. Have fun!
/Emil

Lick 36
I used this idea over the E7 chord in the song “Wade in the Water”. I listened to Eva Cassidy’s version of it, and got inspired! Check it out, it’s a nice version!
/Emil

Lick 35
Chet Atkins had a lot of nice open string-licks in his “licktionary”.. Check out this one in A minor!
/Emil

Lick 34
Another Thom Bresh idea! Enjoy!
/Emil

Lick 33
Thom Bresh, son of the legendary Merle Travis, is one of my absolute favourite players in the thumbpickin’ style of playing. He always plays with a great groove, and he’s a great singer too! This little lick is a groovy blues rhythm-lick that I really like! Enjoy!
/Emil

Lick 32
Peter Almqvist is a great Swedish Jazz guitarplayer. This is the first few bars of his solo on “All The Things You Are”. I learn a lot studying solos like this, and It’s great fun!
/Emil

Lick 31
This is a fun little open string-lick over D7. I came up with it when I was jamming some bluegrass with a friend of mine.
Enjoy!
/Emil

Lick 30
Ever heard the tune “Birth of the Blues”? It’s an old song that I really like. I’ve heard Tommy Emmanuel play it so great, and Chet Atkins did a few really nice recordings of it back in the 1950’s. He also recorded it together with Les Paul. This is the intro that Chet played on one of his versions. He’s using some harmonics here, and it’s a bit tricky to play. If you want a chord chart for this song, e-mail me from the Contact page, and I’ll send it to you!
Have fun!
/Emil

Lick 29
This is one of my favourites! I got this lick from a friend who’s a great Jazz guitar player. We use a few different arpeggios over the Bb7 chord: Abmaj7, Bb9, Gm7 and Cm7.
What a great lick! Have fun!
/Emil

Lick 28
It’s very commen yo use tritone substitutions on turnarounds, and this lick works great over this one. The chord progression used to be Gmaj7 / E7 / Am7 / D7, but when after using the tritone substitution on a couple of courds, the progression looks like this: Gmaj7 / Bb7 / Am7 / Ab7 / G6. I play this lick with a thumbpick, and I use the “p i m” technique to get those triplets. If you’re playing with a pick, try to sweep the triplets instead.
Have fun!
/Emil

Lick 27
Here is a nice western swing-lick in C, that I picked up from Brent Mason!
/Emil

Lick 26
I use two triads over the V7 chord in C minor. G and Db. The Db triad has the notes Db, F and Ab. The Db is the b5 of the G7 chord, the F is the b7 of the G7 chord, and the Ab is the b9 of the G7 chord. It’s a nice sound!
/Emil

Lick 25
Another II V I lick. This one’s in C, and I wanted to show you how you can use the E major triad over the V chord, to get some nice altered notes. The E triad sounds like a G13b9 played over the V chord.
/Emil

Lick 24
This lick is a good example of how you can use triads from the major scale when you are soloing. It’s just a II V I lick in G, that I heard from Charlie Byrd.
/Emil

Lick 23
Here’s a fun “two-line” idea in A. Enjoy!
/Emil

Lick 22
This is almost just a C major scale played using open strings, starting on the open A note. I heard Chet Atkins play this lick on the tune “Cascade”, written by Gene Slone. The album is “Guitar Legend: The RCA Years” (disc 2). Great right hand workout! Enjoy!
/Emil

Lick 21
Here is a great open string run in D. It reminds me of Chet and Jerry! Have fun!
/Emil
Lick 20
Here is a little turnaround-lick and lesson on using diminished arpeggios over dominant 7th chords. Have fun!
/Emil
Lick 19
Chicken pickin’ from Brent Mason!
/Emil

Lick 18
This is a typical “Emil-Lick” that I use all the time. It’s played over a Dmaj7 chord, and I use two different arpeggios; F#m7 and Dmaj7. The right hand technique is pretty tricky, and it takes some time to get it to sound even, but once you get the technique down, you can use it with many other arpeggios and come up with new nice ideas. Have Fun!
/Emil

Lick 17
I gave one of my guitar students a lesson on right hand technique, and a few of the exercices that we did, involved a lot of open string scales and ideas. One of the things I asked him to do for the next lesson, was to take a scale that he knew, and play it in a totally different position on the neck, using open strings. This is a good exercise, because it makes you think, and you have to be creative. It also helps you to understand the neck of the guitar better, and who knows, you might come up with something cool, like this!
/Emil
Lick 16
I used this lick in my arrangement of “White Christmas”! I hope you’ll like it!
/Emil

Lick 15
Here is a open string run in A minor that I picked up from Doyle Dykes.
/Emil
Lick 14
One of the most unique Jazz players I’ve ever heard is Jimmy Wyble. Check this lick out!
/Emil

Lick 13
Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed were experts at coming up with licks that had two lines played simultaneously, creating harmony. This lick works great at the end of a blues tune. Have fun!
/Emil

Lick 12
To harmonize scales is a good thing, because you find all the arpeggios that you can use when you improvise. In this example I’ve taken an Eb arpeggio from the Bb melodic minor scale, and I use it over a A7 chord, wich gives us some nice altered notes. Experiment with it!
/Emil
Lick 11
This is an altered lick that I heard Georg Wadenius play on a christmas tune!
/Emil
Lick 10
This is an outro lick that I heard Tommy Emmanuel play at the end of his great arrangement of “Lady Madonna”. It’s kind of a quick country lick that reminds me of Albert Lee. Have Fun!
/Emil
Lick 9
I really enjoy listening to a lot of different styles of music, and different kinds of guitarplayers. The more country players, blues players or jazz players I listen to, the more I hear how they all have influences in different styles of music. For example; this lick is stolen from Johnny Hiland, a great country rock player. I heard it in a country blues, but this lick can work perfect in a Bebop Jazz tune or a Jazz-blues too. Try this lick in different styles of music! I bet you can make it work in a classical piece too! ; )
/Emil

Lick 8
This is a jazzy turnaround lick in the key of F. I’ve listened a lot to George Benson lately, and Im so inspired! What a great player. Hope you enjoy Lick of the Week #8!
/Emil

Lick 7
Hope you enjoy this fun open string idea in A minor. Look closely on the guitar fingering for the right hand!
/Emil

Lick 6
This is a great “Chord Lick” using the same shape the whole lick through. The top note is just a simple blues lick,
and it sounds interesting when you harmonize it like this. Have fun!
/Emil

Lick 5
One of my favourite songwriters for the guitar is Jerry Reed. This is a classic lick of his, in E. Reed had a lot of ideas like this one, when two lines are played simultainously, creating harmony. Good luck with Lick of the Week #5!
/Emil
Lick 4
This is a 2 5 1-lick in C Major. It’s very very simple, but I think it’s important to learn licks like this. Notice the first note played over each chord is the third of the chord, and it’s good to practice to land on the third. It always sounds nice.
/Emil
Lick 3
I find these kinds of licks very useful. It can be tricky to play at first, but once you learn the pattern for the right hand, it’s fairly easy. Good luck with lick of the week number three!
/Emil
Lick 2
This lick is a “bluegrassy” lick from the intro to one of my tunes. Start slowly and work it up to speed.
/Emil

Lick 1
Here is the first “Lick of the Week”! This is probably the most famous lick in the world. It’s a very simple bluegrass-style lick, and I use it here to demostrate how you can take it to another level, using open strings. Have fun!
/Emil
Funky Fingerstyle Blues
I heard this somewhere, and I can’t remember where. But it’s a fun funky fingerstyle
blues in E. Enjoy!
/Emil
Johnny Hiland Lick
This is a little part of a solo from Johnny Hiland, one of my favourite country players.
Don’t forget to swing the 8th notes!
/Emil
Larry Carlton Turnaround-lick
This lick is a turnaround lick in a slow G Blues. The little diminished move in there makes this turnaround lick a little different from what we usually hear. Thanks Larry Carlton for this one!
/Emil
CountryBlues Rhythm Lick!
This works great if you are backing up someone else in a country or a blues tune.
/Emil
Brent Mason Lick in G
Brent Mason has many great licks. Here is one!
/Emil
Brad Paisley Lick in G
This is a typical Brad Paisley idea, and it’s good to practice these kinds of licks over and over to build strength in your left hand.
/Emil
The Claw – Main Riff
Here is the opening riff of the old famous song “The Claw” by Jerry Reed. Someone once told me, “If you’re going to visit Nashville, you have to learn The Claw first… otherwise they’ll not count you as a guitarplayer!”. Haha!
/Emil
Jim Nichols Solo – Avalon
Jim Nichols is my favourite fingerstyle/Jazz player, and I find his solos so incredibly tasty. Here is one of his solos from the old swing tune “Avalon”. Good Luck!
/Emil
Harmonic Lick a la Tommy Emmanuel

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When I learn a lick, I usually try the lick in other places on the neck, and in different keys. This idea is from the song “Amy” by Tommy Emmanuel, and it was originaly in the key of A. I messed around with it and found it worked well in other keys too.
/Emil