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  Licks & Tricks
Carlos Santana

Here is a Carlos Santana lick from the first solo (not the intro) in the song "Black Magic Woman". It is in the key of D minor, and comes completely out of a D natural minor scale.

 

 

 

Left hand fingers
     |
     1__  1   3   2     3  2  1    3____ 
E:----------------12---h13p12p10--------------
B:--------10--13------------------13b(15)-----
G:---9/10-------------------------------------
D:--------------------------------------------
A:--------------------------------------------
E:--------------------------------------------

The red number is the note that you should use as your guide when playing the lick in other keys. In this case the red note is a D. This lick is in the key of D minor. If you wanted to play this lick in B minor, then you would move everything down 3 frets so that the note in red would be at the 7th fret (B).

For more information on how to read this, check out the lesson on reading Internet tablature.

Left Hand (slower)
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Here is the fingering for the D minor scale that this lick is played out of.

D Minor Scale

|---|-1-|---|-3-|-4-| -1st string
|---|-1-|-2-|---|-4-|
|-1-|-2-|---|-4-|---|
|---|-1-|---|-3-|---|
|---|-1-|---|-3-|-4-|
|---|-1-|---|-3-|-4-| -6th string
      |
     10th fret

The notes in red are the D notes (the root of the scale).

The lick starts out with an Fmaj7 arpeggio, which is a chord that can be build from the D minor scale. Playing arpeggios within a particular scale is a great way get out of the rut of just playing up and down the scale.

Fma7 arpeggio within the lick

E:----------------12---h13--
B:--------10--13------------
G:---9/10-------------------
D:--------------------------
A:--------------------------
E:--------------------------

Here is the fingering for the Fmaj7 arpeggio contained within the D minor scale fingering used here. The notes in blue are the notes that are used in the lick, but the rest of the notes in the arpeggio are given as a reference.

Fmaj7 Arpeggio

|---|---|---|-3-|-4-| -1st string
|---|-1-|---|---|-4-|
|-1-|-1-|---|---|---|
|---|-1-|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|-3-|---|
|---|---|---|-3-|-4-| -6th string
      |
     10th fret

Here is the Fmaj7 arpeggios with the roots (F) indicated in red.

Fmaj7 Arpeggio

|---|---|---|-3-|-4-| -1st string
|---|-1-|---|---|-4-|
|-1-|-1-|---|---|---|
|---|-1-|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|-3-|---|
|---|---|---|-3-|-4-| -6th string
      |
     10th fret


 


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