Wes Montgomery's Chord Improvisations / Analyzing Wes

[MegaLolburger]

It seems pre-constructed to me to. He is definitely improvising, but its more logical to think he had some sort of basic structure to this before-hand which he then built upon. Many guitarists/bands do this (Chili Peppers my personal favourite band they have a lot of beautiful jams, band of gypsys, buckethead etc) They just agree upon a chord progression and then it goes from there. Obviously Wes was an extremely talented guitarist so it is probable that most of this was improv.

[Dazzer1234567]

Where can we see the full song?

[TheBlues088]

@Dazzer1234567 Download the DVD. There are about 4 another songs on this recording.

[SpectacularFrontiers]

Listening to Mr. Montgomery puts me a superb state of absolute relaxation

[William102582]

What makes him great is not about those technical stuff, anybody can imitate that now, it's how he play from the inside, have that fantastic groove and sound so natural and free, even a guitarists who knows all the techinique in the world can't be immediately like that!

[railcar123]

Very nice!

[BeatBay]

everytime when i hear wes play, i think this is so genius, but did he know all the theory behind it, like most modern jazz artists?

[rorygaven]

vertical or horizontal, how ever you want to look at it. up and down the neck is what i'm trying to say.

[rorygaven]

I think what made Wes most unique is that he learned by transcribing solos and had to work out the phrases himself without having the 'luxury' of seeing how other guys were attempting to play the same things. If you watch him play single note things his forms / blocks are unique (allot of horizontal movement with the use of 1 or 2 fingers). He must have found that this technique made sense.

[doopeyduk]

@rorygaven I don't think Wes transcribed anything, since, he didn't read music.

[rorygaven]

@doopeyduk i am using 'transcribing' loosely to mean someone transposing a peice of music onto the guitar by ear

[jazz1bro]

Oh about Perfect Pitch According to Horace Silver. kOne time Wes sat in and sounded great ..Only one problem..He was in the wrong key

Better to have perfect relative pitch for jazz according to Mundall Lowe

[puskro]

The reason Wes could play such beautiful melodies in 3-4 voicings so fast was basically that he spent a massive amount of time playing guitar, looking for the chords and harmony, listening carefully to Charlie Christian and other early guitarists, and practice practice practice.

Of course he was improvising, and as someone said, he was listening to these chords and melodies in his head, and by hard work, he mastered the instrument.

[mantatnam]

maybe he listened to the music and didnt spend time trying to play something fast or like someone else....he was creative thats all....its not about chords or guitar its about music if he played harp hw would still be great becouse he is an musician

[WAMEDJO]

To the question : "How did he improvise chords at such a fast tempo" it seems to me that he did an extensive use of parallel moves in his block chords technique. That may be a simplistic explanation but what do you think ?

[gentilguy]

I never thought of him as an improviser, maybe in blues, but most of his solos must be prepared.

youre saying this solo is improvised, really?

also, thats a blues like chord progression with alterations and substitutions, with a more jazz bridge in the major relative. nothing impossible to play on.

[Bomberomusician]

LOL...Yes, mostly everything that Wes played (away from the main structure) was improvised. Sure I'm sure he had his bag of tricks that he used. But he soloed to what he was hearing at any given moment.

[jazz1bro]

@gentilguy

That's why noone in other musics can reach the depths of both feeling and musicainship taht have as much global appeal. Jazz is the most demanding muisc since one also has to be a composer while creating in front of an audience. There are no limts. I often laugh at hearing people playing things they never wrote or invented. I laugh at me ..sometimes. Ignorance is behind much of today's fans and those who are devious use it to their advantage to make money.

[88naka]

@gentilguy Wes is a master improviser , the hes ideas are so clear that seems to be composed. But listen to the live recordings of Wes, the man can play 20 perfect chorus.

[encounter1000]

@gentilguy

You're joking, right? I mean this is really whole thing about Wes - yeah, he had great tone, great time, played with his thumb, played octaves; (all great) - but what made him the jazz giant that he was, was his ability to improvise beautiful, swinging, cliche-free, melodic passages - single note, octaves AND chords.

He was a fantastic guitarist, but first and foremost, he was a brilliant jazz soloist. Alternate recorded takes of some tunes (e.g. Fried Pies) demonstrates this.

[sitarnut]

@encounter1000 Too true- a monster to be reckoned with by us mortals- I can't even FIND the notes on the fretboard he hears.....been listening to him since IJG Riverside LP my bro and I bought new in the 60's-- gosh, he is sorely missed. You are so correct- we're still quaking in our boots... like Santana says in his video, "You hear two notes and you know it's WES".

[taildragger53]

@encounter1000 Oh yes, absolutely.,the point is...we are all left analysing..intellectualising on something that was part of an auto reflex to Wes Montgomery. Students at Jazz Colleges who are voracious sight readers continue to criticise his unorthodox skill .

Clever bastards on ytube claim to know MORE than Wes! (ha ha!!) Wes didn't analyse, read music or claim to be clever  He didn't have time..he just PLAYED.

In the interview i have of him in 1965 he says just this.

[twixttime]

@gentilguy

"This comment has received too many negative votes"

Funnily I think Wesley would not have voted this comment down.

I also think the only person who found his playing 'preconceived', a better term than prepared, was perhaps Wes himself.

His stuff isnt wholly improvised, even the world took six days( !?) to 'throw out'.

If things worked like that Wes would have been as good on the first day he picked up the guitar as the last time he played.

But he made up as he played.

[taildragger53]

@gentilguy I can't believe the smug comments on here from someone like you. Yes, we KNOW it's the Blues...Jazz is 80% Blues based..didn't you know?

It's nearing 50 yrs since Wes was around and people are still talkng about and analysing his solos..

Just how many will be still praising you in 50 yrs time?

Wes was a great guy who was self deprecating and always thought others were ahead of him.

A friend of my family interviewed him in 1965.

Shame you miss the point and lack SOUL.

[Smonmcglynntrio]

he had a normal action

[jazz1bro]

@Smonmcglynntrio

Ted Dunbar said once basically that Wes' action was so easy ..you could almost play with your left hand. After Looking at the videos..no doubt very low..Heavy Flats helped..058-.014. and lower frets helped.

[Chromatype]

You can tell that his action was pretty low, I heard some fret buzz on the last phrase. I always wondered how low his action was...too play his lines with high action is practically ridiculous

[snuffy39]

I never cease to be awed at Wes' ability to play such absolutely brilliant chord phrases. Also, his tempo was just perfect, always.

[Bomberomusician]

These are the Chords that he is soloing over

Fm Bb7 (3) C7#9 Gb7 Fm

Bridge

Bbm Eb7 Abmaj7 Db7 Gb7 Bb7 C7#9 Gb7 Fm