Wes Montgomery’s “Three Tiered Approach”: Texture Development in Jazz Guitar Improvisa-

tion

By

Sebastián Acosta

Thesis submitted to the faculty New York University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of

the degree Master of Arts in Jazz Music

December 14th, 2015

1
 Abstract

This thesis will describe three guitar techniques that Wes Montgomery used regularly in

his solos and their textural effect on his improvised work. I will emphasize his approach, consid-

ered to be innovative for the period between1959 and 1970. Montgomery’s specific improvising

style has come to be termed the “three tiered approach.” This approach allowed Montgomery to

create a highly distinctive and individualized sound. This technique and style forged a new per-

spective on traditional jazz vocabulary. Using several transcriptions from Montgomery’s record-

ings, this thesis will examine the three tiers found in his solos: single lines for some choruses,

melodic lines with octaves, and melodies harmonized with block chords. I will demonstrate how

this approach created sound amplitude, nourished the texture, and increased the energy of Mont-

gomery’s solos.

Purpose of this study

The main purpose of this study is to examine the sonoric individualism of Wes Montgomery

through his use of three different techniques on jazz guitar. By analyzing Montgomery´s solo

transcriptions, this paper will illustrate his unique approach to the jazz guitar. By perceiving the

way he passes through different techniques while increasing texture, it is the hope of the author

that other musicians can learn to apply some of these ideas to progressively intensify their solos.

2
 Table of Contents

Abstract.............................................................................................................................2

Purpose of this study.........................................................................................................2

Method..............................................................................................................................4

Wes Montgomery’s musical background .........................................................................4

A) Three Montgomery’s approaches to jazz guitar soloing...............................................7

1-Wes Montgomery single lines solo ...............................................................................7

2-Wes Montgomery lines played in octaves...................................................................10

3-Block Chords soloing...................................................................................................13

B) The use of the “three tiered” approach for texture development in a single solo.......15

1-Texture in music...........................................................................................................15

2-Wes Montgomery´s textures on the guitar...................................................................16

3-Wes Montgomery´s solo sections and growing intensity created by textural

changes..........................................................................................................................20

Conclusion .....................................................................................................................26

Bibliography....................................................................................................................27

3
 Method

This thesis is an analysis of seven solos guitarist Wes Montgomery recorded between 1960 and

1967: some transcribed, others analyzed aurally, as hearing some specific phrases is a good way

to understand the sound and musical ideas of any soloist. This paper will analyze three main

form/growth resources used in Montgomery´s solo work, as well as some rhythmic and melodic

information that contributed to the development of each composition. Montgomery’s so-

los—using one, two or three of the textural techniques—will be compared so that we can per-

ceive the effect of combining these approaches. Most of these musical resources were a major

innovation during the 60´s on jazz guitar, and have contributed to identify Montgomery’s sound

and style, as well as his legacy in jazz guitar.

Wes Montgomery’s musical background

John Leslie Montgomery was born March 6, 1923 in Indianapolis, Indiana to a musical family.

“Wes,” as everyone called him, began to play the guitar at the age of twelve on a tenor guitar that

his brother Monk (vibraphonist and piano player) gave him. Apparently he tuned that guitar like

a six string guitar due to the fact he got used to the six string guitar tuning really quickly.

(Salmon 30) Montgomery stated “I used to play tenor guitar, but it wasn´t really playing. I´ve

really gone into the business since I got the six string, which was like starting all over.” (qtd. in

De Stefano 33) To support his family Montgomery worked during the day as a welder and played

in different jazz clubs during the night. His main influence by far was Charlie Christian, one of

the first bebop jazz guitar players who performed with Dizzy Gillpespie, Thelonious Monk,

4
Kenny Clark, Benny Goodman among others. Clark recalls that “it was at Minton’s that he first

heard the word “bebop” and Christian was the first to use it. He claims that Christian and

Gillespie would use it while scat singing ideas to other musicians. He also states that Christian

helped him write many original bebop tunes.” (qtd. in Salmon 23) Montgomery transcribed

Christian’s music note by note, “He was it for me, and I didn´t look at nobody else for about a

year or so…”(De Stefano 34) He admitted in an interview in Melody Maker 1960 that he

wouldn’t have become a musician if he hadn’t been inspired by Charlie Christian. (Salmon 31)

Montgomery played with his thumb for two reasons: 1) He used to practice until late hours in the

night so in order not to wake up his neighbors and family he played softer with his thumb 2) He

had a warmer tone with his thumb.

At the beginning, Montgomery was hired because he could play Charlie Christian solos note by

note, but then he developed his own sound playing single lines, octaves and chords. Joe Pass told

an interviewer, “Wes, Django and Charlie Christian form the three influences in jazz histo-

ry—they´re the players that expanded everyone’s notion of what the guitar can do. And as for

Wes, although his single lines were brilliant, his work with octaves and chords really broke new

ground.” (Sokolow 3) The first recordings he made were with Lionel Hampton as a sideman, as

well as with his brothers Monk and Buddy in a band called The Mastersounds. He kept working

and playing at jazz clubs in Indiana, until one day Cannonball Adderly heard him and called Or-

rin Keepnews, producer of Riverside Records, to suggest Montgomery sign with the label. He

recorded his first album, The Wes Montgomery trio, as a bandleader in October 5th 1959 and then

The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery in 1960. After that he began working as a full

time musician and received recognition in the jazz world thanks to his albums. Montgomery´s

5
career only went up recording nineteen albums with riverside records between 1959-1964, four

with Verve 1964-1966, and three with A&M. This last period, according to Salmon, had more

commercial success and less improvisations, “Eventually his solos would simply be a statement

of the main melody played in Montgomery’s signature octave style. This fortunately was not the

case in Wes Montgomery’s live performances.” (37) Montgomery in live performances contin-

ued to play straight ahead jazz and developed his solos as usual. Because Montgomery learned to

play aurally, he developed a great ear, but most of the people think he had perfect pitch. Mel

Rhyne, organ player on several of Montgomery´s recordings, reported that Montgomery did not

read music but “could play almost anything after hearing once—twice at the most and played for

hours without repeating himself.” (qtd. in De Stefano 35) Wes Montgomery died of a heart attack

on June 15, 1968 at the age of 45 leaving a legacy of innovation on the jazz guitar and great crea-

tivity on jazz composition and improvisation that inspired world wide jazz guitar players such as

Pat Metheny, George Benson, Jim Hall, and Joe Pass among others.

6
 A) Three approaches of Wes Montgomery to jazz guitar soloing

1-Wes Montgomery single lines solo

Montgomery began to play music because he heard Charlie Christian recordings. According to

Salmon the first Christian´s solo Wes heard was Solo Flight (30), and for a long period Mont-

gomery transcribed and acquired Cristian´s blues and bebop phrasing. Charlie Christian impro-

vised mostly with single lines imitating the phrasing of a horn and could solo like it, that is why
Gl3add9

he played in Benny Goodman and his Orchestra or Sextet. There is a clear example of this

phrasing in Solo Flight, (Christian, Track 13) where Christian responded to the harmonized riffs

of the orchestra with single melodic blues lines. He used a lot of mixolydian scales over domi-
G(e) Em7 Dm c*'ot
nant with the predominant flat 7th blues sound:

Example 1 (Fox 29):

By using arpeggios, he approximated the resolution of non-chord and chord tones (example 1 bar

3) . He also played extensions of c*o7

the arpeggios of the chords (example 2: 9th of G and 13th of C

and G) and mixed major and minor thirds on strong beats (Ex 3 bar 1, 3 and 4):

C cfioz

C G(e) F (e) G7
7
 By
BENIVY GOODMAN,
CHARLIE CHRISTIAN
and JIMMY MUNDY

Example 2 (Fox 28):

Example 3 (Fox 20)

C E. G F Em7
'(A)
"()

Example 4 (Fox 21)

Here is an example of Christian´s use of extensions in an F minor vamp:

Example 5 (Fox 25)

Copyright O 1944 (Renewed) by REGENT MUSIC CORPORATION

Copyright Renewed by REGENT MUSIC CORP. & JEWEL MUSIC PUBLISHING CO., lNC.
lnternational Copvriqht Secured All Riqhts Reserved

8
Wes Montgomery had a lot of this vocabulary as evident in the following. This is an example of

his single lines playing were he includes major and minor thirds on strong beats (Ex 6 bar 1,2

and 3/ Ex 7 bar 2/ Ex 8 bar 1), the flat fifth of the blues scale (Ex 6 bar 2/ Ex 9 bar 4) and the 4th

(Ex 6 bar 2/ Ex 8 bar 1) over dominants. The use of extensions 9th, 11th and 13th on dominants

(Ex 8 bar 3 and 4):

Example 6 (Kahn 7)

Example 7 (Kahn 8)

Example 8 (Kahn 8)

Example 9 (Kahn 23)

9
Montgomery also liked to use some tritone chord substitions within his lines. In “Unit 7,” in his

album Smoking at the Half Note, instead of playing D7 to resolve to G7, Montgomery uses the

notes of Ab7 (Ex 10):

Example 10 (Saood 96)

These are a few examples of Montgomery´s melodic lines that give an idea of his soloing style.

He was not just influenced by Charlie Christian, but also by John Coltrane and Charlie Parker. It

is outside the scope of this paper to focus too much on the melodic content of his linear solo

work since this is an analysis of his textural development while improvising jazz solos.

2-Wes Montgomery lines played in octaves.

Montgomery was the first jazz guitar player to develop a jazz solo in octaves. Playing lines and

scales in octaves is difficult because of the fingering position and large leaps required to main-

tain, or change that position. Gleason states, “Montgomery does ever state when he began play-

ing in octaves, but he recalls that he discovered the technique while tuning his guitar. Octaves

were a challenge for Montgomery and he remembers practicing them used to give him head-

aches.” (qtd. in Salmon 105) The way he used octaves was as fast and melodic as his single

lines. Norman Mongan commented, ”What is most remarkable is that the octave-style fingering

10
never stopped Montgomery from playing essentially what he would play in the single string-

fashion.” (qtd. in De Stefano 110) For playing moderately fast melodies with octaves in the gui-

tar you have to mute a string that will be between the two notes an octave apart. This string is

muted with the same finger you are pressing the lower octave string. The pick or thumb will

stroke the muted string as well as the other two notes and that is what it gives the punchy- per-

cussive effect. Montgomery took that into account and created rhythmic interest in his solos with

what Sokolow called the “percussive octave riff” (6) that was repetition in octaves of unusual

rhythms in straight ahead jazz mainly focusing on fast eighth notes and triplets:

Example 11( Sokolow 6)

Example 12 (Montgomery 95)

He also developed the “sliding octaves” (Sokolow 6) that is another technique particular to his

sound:

Example 13 (Montgomery 36)

11
 6
136

12 15 12 15 10 13 12 12 10 8
13 12 10 13 13 12 10 8
9 12 14 9 12 7 10 9 9 7 5
10 9 7 10 10 9 7 5
12

142 Ebm7

Montgomery used octaves not only to create rhythmic motifs but also 9to develop
8 13 themes,
11 9 8 and
12 10 8 6 5 7 11
12 10 7 7 4 4 6 6 6 6 6 5 10 8 6 5
9 7 5 3 2 4 8
create10strong8 melodic
5 lines.
5 Here 2we have
2 three 4examples
4 4 4 of repetition of complex rhythms

148
grouped in 3 beats over 4 and dotted quarter notes on the solo Impressions on the album Smoking

at the Half Note:

13 13 13 13
12 11 9 14
Example 14 (Coltrane
10 6) 8 10 10 10 11 10 10 10 10
9 8 6 8 8 11
8 6 8 9 8 8
6 6
Dm7
153
8
199

12 12 12 12 12 12 12
13 13 13 13 13 13 13
9 10 9 9 10 9 9 10 9 9 10 9 9 10 9 9 10 9 9 10
10 10 10 10 10 10 10
12 10 8 8 7 8 7 8 127 12 8 7 10 8 7 12 158 7 12 15 12
8
12 10 8 13 12
9 7 5 10 9 9 9 7 12 9 9 12 9 12 9
Example 15 (Coltrane
9 78) 5
8 7
10 59
D‹7
10 7
158

204

12 12 12 12 12 12 8
13 13 13 13 13 10
9 9 10 9 9 10 9 9 9 9 9 5
15
7 810128 7 8 10 10 8 7 10 10 10 7
10 13 10 13
12 5 9 5 7 9 12 7 10 7 10 7 10 7 10 7 10
7 10 7 10
7 10 5 8 5 8 5 8 5 8 5 8
163
Example
208
16 (Coltrane 6)E¨‹7

10
10 10 10 12 13 12
10 10 7 10 7 7 9 10 12 7 12
7 7 13 135 7 9 10 9
10 13 810 13 8 814 513 16
5 7 8131013 14
13
11 10 9 9
11
10 10 10 13 10 10 10 6 6
7 10 7 10 11 11 8 8
15 12 15 10 13 12 12 10 8
10 13 13 12 10 8
12 14 These next melodic
9 lines
12 7in octaves
10 are9 a clear9 example7of D‹7
thematic
5 development beginning on
214 7 10 10 9 7 5
12
measure 3, the fourth and minor third interval are developed rhythmically and melodically.
Ebm7
Example
9 1712 (Coltrane
13 16 7)13 9 15 12 12
11 13 10 13 10
6 9 10 13 10 6 11 12 9 9
8 10 7 10 7
9 12
9 8 13 11 9 8
8 6 5 7 11
7 4219 4 6 6 6 6 6 5 10 8 6 5
5 3 2 4 8
5 2 2 4 4 4 4
 13 11 9
183 11 10 8
10 8
11 10 8 6
D‹75 4 3
6
8
6
10 8 6
9 8 6 4 3 2 1 6
14 13 11 4 13 11 9
13 11 9
11 10 8 11 10 8 6 5 4 3 8 10 8 6
183 10 8
9 8 6 4 D‹7
3 2 1
6
6
6
4
13 11 9 8 8
11 10 8 7 5 7 7 10 7 7 7 10
183 10 8 6 D‹7 5 5
9 8 6 5 3 5 5 8 5 5 5 8
13 11 9 8 8
188 10 11 10 8 7 5 7 7 10 7 7 7 10
8 6 5 5
9 8 6 5 3 5 5 8 5 5 5 8
13 11 9 8 8
11 10 8 7 5 7 7 10 7 7 7 10
18810 8 6
9 8 6 5 3 5
5
5 8 5 5 5 8
5
8 7 7
8 8 8
7 10 7 7 7 10 5 7 7 10 4 7 7 10 4
188 5 5 5
5 8 5 5 5 8 5 5 8 5 5 8
6
8 7 7
8 8 8
7
193 D‹7 10 7 7 7 10 5 7 7 10 4 7 7 10 4
5 5 5
5 8 5 5 5 8 5 5 8 5 5 8
8 7 7
6 8 8 8
7 10 7 7 7 10 5 7 7 10 4 7 7 10 4
193 5D‹7 8 5 5 5 8
5
5 5 8
5
5 5 8
5
7 8 10 12 7 8 10 12 7 8 9 12
6 8 8 8
Emily Remler according
7 10 4 5to Salmon said:
7 9 7 10 4 5 7 9 7 10 4 5 6 9
193 D‹75 8
5
5 8
5
5 8
5

7 8 10 12 7 8 10 12 7 8 9 12
“You can copy Wes 8 Montgomery- Just one little8 thing that he uttered, just one8 bar or a four bar
7 10 4 5 7 9 7 10 4 5 7 9 7 10 4 5 6 9
5 5 5
5 8 5 8 5 8
phrase and it´s such
8
7a well
8 10developed
12 melody,8 such
7 a8 well developed composition,
10 12
8
7 8that
9 could
12
7 10 4 5 7 9 7 10 4 5 7 9 7 10 4 5 6 9
5 5 5
5 8 5 8 5 8
base ten million of your own licks, or a whole solo, on that one thing. By using thematic devel-

opment, you could write forty tunes from that one bar.”(64)

3-Block Chords soloing

Wes Montgomery was also one of the pioneers of chord soloing on the guitar. According to De

Stefano he found a way to play melodies harmonized with chords like jazz piano players, but

transferred to the guitar. (113) Montgomery played with block chords which are four note voic-

ings played on the first four strings of the guitar. He played heads with chords--what we call now

chord melodies-- and like octaves, he developed original rhythmic ideas as well as call and re-

sponse. In the following examples taken from one of his most famous compositions West Coast

Blues, Montgomery plays both complex and unusual rhythms as well as call and response:

Example 18 (Kahn 12)

13
Example 19 (Kahn 12)

Montgomery used different chord substitutions and played some ballads in small combos with

chord melodies, like The Days of Wine and Roses on the album Boss Guitar. This thesis is more

focused on the dynamic and textural aspects of Montgomery´s solos, so harmonic aspects will

not be considered in detail.

14
B) The use of the “three tiered” approach for texture development in a single solo.

1-Texture in music.

The definition of the term texture in music is taken from Benward and Saker’s Music in Theory

and Practice. According to the authors “the term texture refers to the way the melodic, rhythmic,

and harmonic materials are woven together in composition.” This paper will use this term for

Montgomery´s improvised solos since it has the same elements as any composition. A lot of mu-

sicians and music analysts consider jazz improvisation to be the skill to compose in real time.

Cahn states that “in jazz improvisation, musical elements like melodic lines, harmonies, rhythms,

dynamics, and the interplay with other musicians are all open to the performer´s real time selec-

tion.” (25)

Benward and Saker also refer to texture in terms of density and range. Density refers to the num-

ber of voices or parts playing at a specific moment of a piece, so more voices (also called layers)

give a thick texture and few layers give a thin texture. Benward and Saker also specify that the

change of texture can mark the division between different sections or in the ease of Montgom-

ery´s soloing could be termed tiers. (131) In addition, the authors state that “The range of a tex-

ture is often described as “wide” or “narrow,” depending on the interval between the lowest and

the highest tones.” (132)

There are also technical terms for the different types of texture that are widely known in music

analysis, and Benward and Saker explain :

• Monophonic texture: when a single melodic line is played with no accompaniment. That mel-

ody doubled in octaves or at other interval is considered also monophonic texture. (133) Ex-

amples include the Happy Birthday song, or Gregorian singing.

15
• Polyphonic texture is when two or more melodic lines move independently or imitating the

others. Any fugue or invention by Bach is a clear example of this texture. (133)

• Homophonic texture: when a melody has rhythmic and harmonic accompaniment. (135) Most

of western music has this texture. Popular music like jazz, rock, funk, pop and even a lot of

classical music are examples.

• Homorhythmic texture: when all parts (melody, harmony and percussion) are doing the same

exact rhythm. Hymn or chorales are examples of this texture. (135)

Benward and Saker go on to explain that texture is affected by different elements like the charac-

ter or number of music lines (parts), the timbre of each instrument that plays them, the harmony,

tempo, and rhythm. (137) These parts are categorized by the number and relationship to each

other through the labeling of “primary textural elements” (Benward and Sake 137), as follows:

Primary melody (PM), Secondary melody (SM), Parallel supporting melody (PSM), Static sup-

port (SS), Harmonic support (HS), Rhythmic support (RS), Harmonic and rhythmic support

(HRS). This paper will use this labeling system for analyzing Montgomery´s solos and will illus-

trate these examples using passages from these solos.

2-Wes Montgomery´s textures on the guitar.

Montgomery dedicated a lot of effort and practice developing techniques that created different

musical textures in his solos. Musical texture is influenced by several factors and the first we are

going to analyze is the timbre of the instrument. Montgomery played with his thumb unlike the

majority of guitar players that used a plectrum (more popularly know as “pick.”) Montgomery,

according to Duarte did not like the sound that the pick produced so he decided to play with his

16
thumb instead because it gave a warmer sound, “He did not like the sound quality resulting from

the harder percussive pick attack, he preferred instead, the rounder, warmer, and more supple

tone produced by the thumb. In effect it was the thumb that imbued the “Montgomerian” sound

with its singular timbre.” (qtd. in De Stefano 105) The use of the thumb helped Montgomery ac-

quire an individualized sound. According to De Stefano, this yielded more expressiveness and

dynamic range. As a result, Montgomery adopted four basic stylistic concepts: 1-single-note so-

loing 2-octave playing 3-double octave playing 4-block-chord playing. (109) All of these stylistic

concepts contributed to varied textures, dynamics and sonoric intensity making Montgomery´s

solos unique, appealing to his listeners.

In this manner Montgomery achieved different textural densities during his solos or even while

passing from the head in to the solo section of a song.

The first “thin” texture he used was the most common guitaristic approach for soloing: single-

note lines. This texture is thin because it contains only one voice or layer of sound. This in refer-

ence to Wes Montgomery’s solo work and not to the accompaniment behind the solos--piano

chords, walking bass lines and swing feel drums-- which will be analyzed later on.

The second approach Montgomery liked to use in his solos to increase texture density, was oc-

tave playing. This technique creates more density and a wider range than a single line because

two notes are played at the same time, exact one octave apart. Some fragments of his solos in-

cluded two note voicings in thirds, but that was not the most recurrent textural technique. Mont-

gomery also played double octave lines. That is two same notes, two octaves apart. This tech-

nique produces wider textural range than octave soloing. Here is an example of Montgomery´s

double octave soloing technique on Bumpin’ on Sunset.

17
Example 20 (Sokolow 31)

The third approach shows the denser texture that Montgomery used in in his solos, formed usu-

ally by three or four note voicings producing melodies with their top notes. In the following ex-

amples, the block chords give a denser texture because more layers of sound are created. The in-

tervals between the notes of these voicings are less than an octave, but between the lowest and

the highest note is typically more than an octave, which produces a wide textural range:

Example 21 (Saood 42)

Example 22 (Rob Chordaddict.com)

18
Example 23 (Rob Chord addict)

The PM (primary melody) of each chord is harmonized sometimes by a PSM (parallel supporting

melody) which according to Benward and Saker “are melodies that are similar in contour with a

PM or SM. They often maintain a constant interval relationship with the melody they support.”

(138) In the block chord examples in this study, the PM is typically supported by a PSM which

is the second voice or alto voice in a four note voicing. Montgomery also uses a great deal of

reharmonization (chord substitutions) to create more movement, while at the same time playing

coherent melodies with the upper voices. This technique creates tension and release, thereby af-

fecting texture. The relationship between the notes creating different intervals, as well as the

rhythms played within the “block chords” affect the homophonic texture creating a more dense

and intense section during the solo.

19
3-Wes Montgomery´s solo sections and growing intensity created by textural changes.

Montgomery used different textural techniques to create “tiers” in his solos. Usually these tiers,

or sections, begin at the top of each form and is very clear to the listener. Each successive section

usually increased intensity, as well as textural and rhythmic density which progressively created

growing dynamics and wider textural range.

Missile blues on the album “The Wes Montgomery Trio” (Track 9) is a clear example of the dif-

ferent sections that result from textural changes. In a 12-bar blues where Montgomery plays the

first 3 choruses in single-note lines, then from chorus 4 to 6 he plays with octaves, chorus 7 oc-

taves and block chords, and on chorus 8 and 9 only block chords.

De Stefano represents this three tiered approach for soloing in the following graphic:

Example 24 (202)

Another example can be find on Wes Coast Blues from the album “The Incredible Jazz Guitar”

(Track 5) : single-note lines on choruses 1 to 4, octaves on choruses 5 to 7 and block chords on

choruses 8 to 9. Out of the majority of Montgomery’s solos which are divided in three tiered, the

rhythmic density has an important roll for growing intensity throughout each section. As we can

20
see in the following examples, the first four bars of each chorus of each section, has more rhyth-

mic intensity than the last one:

Example 25 (Kahn 7 and 8) single lines chorus 1 and 3:

Example 26 (Kahn 10) octaves chorus 5 and 6:

Example 27 (Kahn 11 and 12) block chords chorus 8 and 9:

21
 In Unit 7 from the album “Smoking at the Half Note” (Montgomery, track 3) the solo structure

is as follows: single-note lines on choruses 1 and 2, octaves on chorus 3 and block chords on

chorus 4. In Sun Down which is also a blues from the album “California Dreaming” (Track 2) we

have single lines on the first 2 choruses then chorus 3 octaves and chorus 4 block chords. Cariba

from Montgomery´s album “Full House,” also a blues form, features single lines on choruses 1

to 4, octaves on choruses 5 to 8 and block chords on choruses 9 to 11.

There are many other Montgomery solos that have this three-part structure which is what leads

authors like Matt Warnock to use the term “Three Tiered Approach.” Many other Montgomery

solos are divided in two sections, which we could call a two tiered approach. Some solos begin

in single lines and then octaves, like in Four on Six from the album “Smoking at the Half Note”

(Track 4): single lines first 4 choruses and octaves on choruses 5 to 7; or the studio version from

the recording “The Incredible Jazz Guitar” (Track 4) that has the same number of choruses with

single lines and octaves as the live version. Other solos begin in single lines and jump to block

chords like in Bud´s Beaux Arts on the the recording “The Montgomery Brothers in Canada”. On

their track the first form AABA is played with single lines and the second is played with chords

going into the last A section before the melody. Another example of single lines and block chords

is Jingles from the recording “The Wes Montgomery Trio.” (Track 11) Here is a diagram analysis

by De Stefano:

Example 28 (204)

22
Montgomery not only divided his solos using the three tiered approach, but sometimes he would

also employ two of these techniques in one long phrase in order to give texture diversity, varia-

tions, orchestration or execution a call and response line. Kahn in his analysis of Unit 7 states,

“He plays small, but crisp phrases in octaves, and then answers them with

chordal punctuations. As he's just beginning this portion of the solo, the chordal

voicing, a very common Gm7 form, is in the lower register of our instrument. I

believe that this was Wes' way of using the guitar as if it were a "big band." So,
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

the octaves might represent the saxophone section, and, at this moment, I would

say that the lower Gm7 voicing would be played by the trombones. If he conti-

nued in this vein and the chord voicings began to rise in register, they would be

come much more like a trumpet section. In short, it was a tremendously orchestral

way of using the guitar.”(Wes Montgomery “Unit 7” solo and analysis)

23
 && œ œ œ œ œ ‰ b b œœ ‰ b b œœ .. œœ b œœ ˙˙ # ˙ ˙ b˙
˙ ˙
J
b b
77

b œ œ3 b œ œC7F7 œ œ GÈ œ3 œ CÈ œ C7œ bF7œ œ3 b œ GÈ œ GÈœ b œC7œ3 œ C7œ œ GÈ B È E 7

141

œœœ œœœ œœœJ œœ œœœ œœœ b œœœœ œœœ œbœb œœœ œ #bœœœ ..œ
CÈ
œœœ œœœ œœœ œœ J œœœ œœœ œœœ œœ J b œœ
GÈ C7

& & b œ œ œ œœ Ó ‰ b œ œ œ œœ‰ ‰ œœ Œ b œ œ‰ œ œœ Œ œ œ b œ œœ ‰ œœ ‰ œœ ..

Here are some examples of what Kahn is stating J as well as examples of combining single lines
b
81

A ÿ
F7 b œ b œCÈœ b œ F7œ bbœœ bGÈ
bÈ G7E#bœ7j œ
145

œœ .. œœ b œ ‰ œœœœ œœœ œœœ œœ œ œ œœœ œ œ œœœŒ œœœ Œœœ bœœœœ‰

Gõ Cÿ DÈ
œœ œœ œœŒ œœ ‰ J œ
with chords:
CÈ C7 B
Ó
& b b œœ29œœ(Ochoa) œœ œœ Œ ‰ œœ ‰ b b œœ .. œœ n œœ b œ œ œ œœ Œ ‰œœ ‰ b œ œ œœ b J œ
& J J J
Example
85

b C7 œ bGÈ
149 3rd Chorus
C7 œ GÈ C7 œ GÈ C7 œ
Abœœÿœ Cÿ b œœj œ n œ Ì
b œœœ œb œœ‰ bnœœœœ Œœœ œb b œœ bœœœ œ ‰œb œœ Œ œ œœ b b œœœ nœn œ‰œb œœ Œb b œœœœ b œœœœ œœœœb œœ‰ bœœœœ œŒ œ œœ œ
GÈ
Gõ E A7
& œ œ b œœ b œ b œ œœ œ b œ œœœ œœ œœ Œ b œ n œ œ‰ œ b œœ œœb œœ œœœœœ œœ œœ œœ
& œ bœ b œ œ J œ œœ
b b
89

F7 œ F7 œ GÈ C7 œ B È E 7b œ
œœ œœ œœœ œ œEÈ œ œ œ œ œ A7œ œœ œb œ b œ œœ
153

DÈœ 30œ (chordaddict.com)

CÈ CÈ
b œœœ œb œ G7 b
& œœœ.. œœœœ ‰‰b b bœœœ Œ‰ b b b œœœ bœœœœ œœœœ ‰ œœœœ Œœœ œœœ ... œœœœ œ‰ ‰bbœœœœœ Œœœ b œœœ œœœœ œb œœœŒ ‰ #‰œj # n œœœJ
Example

&93 œ .
œ. œ œ bœ œ. œ b œ bœ œ œ
b J J J
A ÿ
b œ œ œ œ œ b œ bG7 œ bœ œ œ œ G7œ # œj œ
157
Gõ Cÿ DÈ
# œ A7œ œ œ œ œG7# œ œ
b œ œ œ b
œ œ œ
& b œœœ œb œœœ œœœ œœœœ bbœ œœ b œœ b œœœ bœœœœ n œœœ œ œœœ œ # œ œ# # œœœŒ œ b œœœ J œœ
DÈ EÈ DÈ

& ‰ b œœ b n œœ œœ œ œ b œ œœ b œ Nbœœœ ‰ b œ . ‰ ‰ œ ‰ J ‰ b œ ‰ ‰ œœ ‰
J J J
97
Example 31 (Ochoa)
C7 b œ
˙ ˙ j ˙ œ . œ
C7 ~ œ b œ œ .
~ ~ C7 ~ GÈ ~ C7œ b œb œ
œ œ œ ~ œ b œ œ œ
161
GÈ j C7 GÈ j C7 GÈ C7 GÈ
b œ b œ œ
& œœœ˙ b œ 3 ˙ œœœ b œ ˙ 3 œ œ .œœ œJb œœœ ... œ b œ œœœœ œ 3œ . œJœœœ œ b œ3 œ œ œb œœ
GÈ C7 GÈ GÈ

& bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ ‰ bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ‰ œ Œ
101
J
b b
165

CÈsection)b œinF7most cases supported GÈ œ C7 B È textural E 7 changes

œ œ œ bœ œ œ
b œœ œœ œœ b œœ œœ ‰ b œœœ ‰ b b œœ Œ b œœœ œœœ b œœœ œœœ œœœ œœœ ‰ b b b œœœ ...
CÈ
The accompaniment
F7 (rhythm Montgomery´s

&contributedœ œ toœ theb œgrowingœ intensity. œ hear thisœ intensity created by the rhythm section
J We can
and
J
b like No BluesGõ
169

Ab œÿ.
b œ . œ . . j
in recordings (Montgomery and Kelly, Track 1) where the band hits the dotted
b œ œ
Cÿ DÈ G7
œœ . bwith œœ Montgomery´s
b œœ ‰ b b œœriff.. onœœminute . œœ 5:00œœ or œœthe œœcallb œœand
... response
œœ .. œ in œminœ 5:18.
& . b œ Œ b œ b œ . . b œ œ
œ. œ œ œ œ œ. œ. œ œ b œ œ œ œ b œ
J
quarter notes In

Unit
173 7 (Montgomery and Kelly, Track 3) the band J play the exact J same riff that Montgomery is
playing and repeating during twelve bars in his solo (min 4:57). Here is the riff with the chords

that Montgomery played:

Example 32 (Saood 13)

24
 D‹9 D‹9 11
283 F‹7 E‹7 D‹7E¨‹9 D‹9 F‹7 E‹7 F‹7

12 12 8 7 5 12 10 8 7 12 12 8
10 10 6 5 3 6 5 10 10 6 5 10 10 6
10 10 8 7 5 6 5 10 10 8 7 10 10 8
10 10 6 5 3 4 3 10 10 6 5 10 10 6
6 5
9
288 E‹7 D‹7E‹7E¨‹9 D‹9

We can even find a homorhythmic texture in the solo of Impressions (Montgomery and Kelly,
7 5
5 3 8 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Track 7
11) 5 7
beginning 6 min 5
on 5 The
3:46. 5 5 5 5band
5 5 5Montgomery
5 5 5 5are5 playing
5 5the5 exact
5 5 5
5 3 5 4 3 3 3 3 whole
3 3 3 and
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 same3
7 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

rhythmic pattern grouped in three beats over the 4/4 meter. The following measures are the
292 F‹9E‹9E¨‹9D‹9 F‹9E‹9E¨‹9
chords that Montgomery played on the guitar:

5 33
Example 8 7 6 11)
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 8 7 6
5 8 (Coltrane
7 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 8 7 6
3 6 5 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 6 5 4
5 8 7 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 8 7 6

297 D‹9 F‹9E‹9E¨‹9D‹9

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 8 7 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 8 7 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 6 5 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 8 7 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

302 F‹9E‹9E¨‹9 E¨‹9

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 8 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 8 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 6 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 8 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

306 F©‹9F‹9E‹9 E¨‹9

6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 9 8 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 9 8 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 7 6 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 9 8 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

25
 Conclusion

There are many things we can say about Wes Montgomery as an innovator harmonically and me-

lodically and in terms of technique, timbre and texture. His self-taught process to learn the in-

strument helped Montgomery go as far as possible without barriers. With a lot of dedication and

practice he was able to adopt the sound of others instruments finding new techniques on the gui-

tar. His octave work resembled the sound of a tenor saxophone, or his block chord solo

improvisation--a technique used exclusively on the piano--permitted him to go a step further on

the jazz guitar by creating a unique sound, and lastly, interaction with the band and with the lis-

teners.

Wes Montgomery as we have seen through this study was an architect for designing different

textures on the guitar in order to diversify and develop his solos as while incrementing intensity

within each section. The order in which he used his three tiered approach for soloing, and the

combination of each of this textural techniques on the appropriate moment to finally deliver a

climax, create for the listeners a coherent and varied flow of melodic ideas which are full of vi-

tality and authenticity.

26
 Bibliography

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McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.

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ton Kelly Trio. Verve, 1965.

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Thesis. University of Montreal, 1995. Print.

-Fox, Dan. Charlie Christian The Art of the Jazz Guitar. New York: H. Leonard, 1988. Print.

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Midnight." Wes Montgomery Jazz Guitar Solos. Place of Publication Not Identified: ALMO Pu-
blications, 1976. 61-79. Print.

-Montgomery, Wes. No Blues - Smokin' at the Half Note" Wes Montgomery and the
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Http://www.guitare-jazz-blues-rock.ch/files/WesMontgomeryNoBlues.pdf. Web. 25

27
-Montgomery, Wes. Wes Montgomery for Guitar Tab. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

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-Saood, Zafar Saalik. Wes Montgomery Jazz Guitar Artistry. Missouri: Melbay, 1995.
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-"Wes Montgomery Chord Solo Transcription: Unit 7." Chordaddict.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15
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<http://www.chordaddict.com/2011/08/wes-montgomery-chord-solo-transcription-unit-7/>

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28