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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
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-
nant with the predominant flat 7th blues sound:
Example 1 (Fox 29):
G(e)
Gl3add9
c*o7
Em7 Dm c*'ot
C cfioz
G7C G(e) F (e)
G?add 9.11.13^\Em7 Dm7
Bend
Dr
By using arpeggios, he approximated the resolution of non-chord and chord tones (example 1 bar
3) . He also played extensions of 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):
7
Example 2 (Fox 28):
28 SOLO FLIGHT
This is Charlie's most extensive solo recorded with the Goodrnan band. It features guitar all the waythrough, and has Charlie at his most driving and exciting. The interesting points are too numerous to men-tion, but are marked with brackets in the solo itself. They include added 7th,9th,1 lths and 13ths, delayedpassing tones and anticipations.
ByBENIVY GOODMAN,
CHARLIE CHRISTIANand JIMMY MUNDY
FC"()
G Em7E.'(A)
Copyright O 1944 (Renewed) by REGENT MUSIC CORPORATIONCopyright Renewed by REGENT MUSIC CORP. & JEWEL MUSIC PUBLISHING CO., lNC.
lnternational Copvriqht Secured All Riqhts Reserved
Example 3 (Fox 20)
Example 4 (Fox 21)
Here is an example of Christian´s use of extensions in an F minor vamp:
Example 5 (Fox 25)
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
Montgomery used octaves not only to create rhythmic motifs but also to develop themes, and
create strong melodic lines. Here we have three examples of repetition of complex rhythms
grouped in 3 beats over 4 and dotted quarter notes on the solo Impressions on the album Smoking
at the Half Note:
Example 14 (Coltrane 6)
136
142
148
153
158
163
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Ebm7
gG
gGDm7
gG
5 D‹7
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1013
912
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1013
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58
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58
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36
24
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58
1013
811
6
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58
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9
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6
Example 15 (Coltrane 8)
199
204
208
214
219
224
G
gG
gG
E¨‹7
gG
D‹7
gG
gG
C©º7 7 D‹9 E¨‹9D‹9 C©º7 D‹9 E¨‹9D‹9 C©º7 D‹9
g
55 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 =55� 4
55 5555 55 55 55 =
55�55� =
5555 =
55�912
710
58
912
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58
810
79 9
12912
1013
710
912
1012
79 9
121215
9121215
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55� =5555 =
55�55� = 55
55 = 55�55� = 55
55 55 5555 55
� 55 55� 55 55
� 55 55� 55
1215
58
912
58
710
710
1013
710
1013
791012
57
810
57
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55�55 55�
55 455 BB 55��
55 :: 55��� ?55 BB 55��
55 :: 55��� ?55�� 55 55 55��
710
1013
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1013
1013
1013
1114
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69
811
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55� 455�� = 55��� 4 55�� =
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1013
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4 55 = 55� 4 55M= 55� 4
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11121112
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8
Example 16 (Coltrane 6)
136
142
148
153
158
163
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gG
Ebm7
gG
gGDm7
gG
5 D‹7
gG 0
g
5555M 55I 55M 55
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M 55M 55M 55M 55
M 55M 55M 55M
1013
912
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1013
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55M 55M 55M 55M
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6
9
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58
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6
These next melodic lines in octaves are a clear example of thematic development beginning on
measure 3, the fourth and minor third interval are developed rhythmically and melodically.
Example 17 (Coltrane 7)
12
169
173
178
183
188
193
G
gG
E¨‹7
gG
gG
D‹7
gG
gG
6
D‹7
g
55 55 5555EE 55 55
55!! 55 5555 55
55 55 55 5555EE 55 55
55!! 55 =55�
55� = 4710
710
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=55� 4
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55�� 55 55�� 55 55�� 55�� 55 55�� 55�� 55 55 55�� 55��4 55�� 4 55�� =
55� =55��� =
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68
46
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5555 4
1013
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911
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55 :: 55� = 55�55 55
555555 = 55
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173
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6
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55 55 5555EE 55 55
55!! 55 5555 55
55 55 55 5555EE 55 55
55!! 55 =55�
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710
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55 :: 55� = 55�55 55
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7
Emily Remler according to Salmon said:
“You can copy Wes Montgomery- Just one little thing that he uttered, just one bar or a four bar
phrase and it´s such a well developed melody, such a well developed composition, that could
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)
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
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
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
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,
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
Here are some examples of what Kahn is stating as well as examples of combining single lines
with chords:
Example 29 (Ochoa)
&69
.œ Jœ œ ŒDÈ œ œ œ œ ‰ œ œ œ
G7œ œ ‰ œ œ œ#EÈ
‰ œ Jœ œ# œ ‰ œA7
&73
‰ œ œ œ ‰ œ JœDÈ œ œ œ# Jœ œ ‰
G7 œ œ œ œ œ# œ œ œEÈ A7 œ œ œ œ# œ œ œDÈ G7
&77
.œ Jœ ÓGÈ C7
‰ œ Jœ œb œn œGÈ C7 œ œ jœ# œ ŒGÈ C7
Œ ‰ Jœ Jœb œ JœGÈ C7
&81
œb œ œb œ ‰ Jœœ œ œ3 3CÈ F7 œ ‰ Jœ
œb œ œb œ3CÈ F7‰ Jœ œb œ œ œ œ œb3GÈ C7 œ œ œ œ œ œ# œBbÈ Eb7
&85
Ó Œ ‰ JœbAbÿ œb œ œb œ œbGõ‰ œb œ œ œ œ œ œ
Cÿœ œ Œ Œ jœ# J
œœ ‰DÈ G7
&89
œœ œœ ‰ œœœb Œ œœGÈ C73rd Chorus
œœ œœ ‰ œœœb Œ œœGÈ C7 œœ œœ ‰ œœœb Œ œœGÈ C7 œœ œœ ‰ œœœb Œ œœGÈ C7
&93
œœ œœ ‰ œœœbb Œ œœCÈ F7 œœbb œœ ‰ œœœ ŒœœCÈ F7 œœ œœ ‰ œœœb Œ œœGÈ C7 œœ œœ Œ ‰ œœbb J
œœBbÈ Eb7
&97
œœbb œœ œœ œœ œœ œœbbAbÿ œœbb œœbb œœ œœNn
Gõ œœ œœ œœ. œœ## œœ ŒCÿ
Jœœ œœ J
œœ œœ jœœ## œœDÈ G7
&101
˙̇ jœœbb ˙̇GÈ C7 jœ
œbb ˙̇ jœ
œ..œœ J
œœGÈ C7 œœ œœbb œœ œœ ..œœ J
œœGÈ C7 œœ œœbb œœ œœ œœ œœbbGÈ C7~ ~ ~ ~~ ~
Wes's Solo On "Unit 7" 3
Example 30 (chordaddict.com)
Example 31 (Ochoa)
&141
œœœœbb œœœœ œœœœ œœœœb œœœœ ‰ Jœœœœbb
Abÿ‰ ....œœœœbbbb œœœ œœœb
Gõ ˙̇̇ ˙̇̇#Cÿ ˙̇̇̇ ˙̇̇̇bbbDÈ G7
&145
œœœœb œœœœ œœœœ œœœœ ÓGÈ C7 œœœœb œœœœ œœœœ œœœœ ‰ J
œœœœb ŒGÈ C7 œœœœb œœœœ œœœœ œœœœ Œ œœœœ œœœœ
GÈ C7 œœœœb œœœœ ‰ œœœœbb ‰ ....œœœœbGÈ C7
&149
œœœœbb œœœœ œœœœ œœœœ Œ ‰ JœœœCÈ F7
‰ ....œœœœbb œœœœ œœœœnbbCÈ F7 œœœœb œœœœ œœœœ œœœœ Œ ‰ Jœœœœ
GÈ C7‰ œœœœb J
œœœœ œœœœ œœœœbbBbÈ Eb7
&153
œœœœbb œœœœb œœœœbnb œœœbAbÿ œœœbbb œœœb œœœbb œœœ
Gõ œœœ œœœ Œjœœœœbb
bb œœœœnnnn ‰ JœœœœbbCÿ œœœœbb œœœœ œœœœbb œœœœ œœœœ œœœœ œœœœ œœœ
EbÌ A7
&157
....œœœœ Jœœœœ ‰ œœœœbb ‰ œœœœbbbbDÈ œœœœ œœœœ œœœœ œœœœb
G7 ....œœœœ Jœœœœ ‰ J
œœœœbb œœœœbEÈ œœœœb œœœœ œœœœbb ‰ jœœ# œœœœn#
A7
&161
‰ œœœœb Jœœœœnbb Jœœœœ œœœœ J
œœœœbbDÈ œœœœb œœœœ œœœœbb œœœœb
G7‰ œœœœbb ‰ ‰ œœœœ## ‰
EÈ A7‰ œœœœbb ‰ ‰ œœœœ ‰
DÈ G7
&165
œœœœb œ œ œ œ œœœœ3GÈ C7 œ œ œ œ œœœb ‰ ...œœœb3
GÈ C7 œœœœb œ œ œ œ œœœœ3GÈ C7 œ œ œ œ ‰ J
œœœœbb Œ3GÈ C7
&169
œœœœb œœœœ œœœœ œœœœbbbCÈ F7 œœœœ ‰ J
œœœœbb ‰ Jœœœœbb Œ
CÈ F7 œœœœb œœœœ œœœb œœœGÈ C7 œœœ œœœ ‰ ...œœœbbbBbÈ Eb7
&173
....œœœœbb Jœœœœbb Œ œœœbb
Abÿ‰ ....œœœœbbbb ....œœœœ J
œœœœbGõ œœœœ œœœœb J
œœœœ ....œœœœbCÿ
...œœœjœœ œœ œ œ œb
DÈ G7
Wes's Solo On "Unit 7" 5
The accompaniment (rhythm section) in most cases supported Montgomery´s textural changes
and contributed to the growing intensity. We can hear this intensity created by the rhythm section
in recordings like No Blues (Montgomery and Kelly, Track 1) where the band hits the dotted
quarter notes with Montgomery´s riff on minute 5:00 or the call and response in min 5:18. In
Unit 7 (Montgomery and Kelly, Track 3) the band play the exact 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
We can even find a homorhythmic texture in the solo of Impressions (Montgomery and Kelly,
Track 11) beginning on min 3:46. The whole band and Montgomery are playing the exact same
rhythmic pattern grouped in three beats over the 4/4 meter. The following measures are the
chords that Montgomery played on the guitar:
Example 33 (Coltrane 11)
283
288
292
297
302
306
GD‹9 F‹7 E‹7D‹7E¨‹9D‹9 F‹7 E‹7 D‹9 F‹7
gG
E‹7D‹7E‹7E¨‹99
D‹9
gG
F‹9E‹9E¨‹9D‹9 F‹9E‹9E¨‹9
gG
D‹9 F‹9E‹9E¨‹9D‹9
gG
F‹9E‹9E¨‹9 E¨‹9
gG
F©‹9F‹9E‹9 E¨‹9
g
=5555� 4
5555 5555��5555
5555 5555��� 5555!! =
5555� 4BBBB =
5555�� � 4BBBB! =
5555� 45555 5555��
10101012
10101012
6868
5757
3535
6466
5355
10101012
10101010
6868
5757
10101012
10101012
6868
55555555
55555555��� 555
55555555555555555
55555555
555555555555
5555555555555555
5555
55555555555555555555
5757
3535
7578
6466
5355
5355
5355
5355
5355
5355
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5555���55555555555555555555
5555���5555EE
5555!!�� 5555
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11
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
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