Mel Bay Essential Jazz Lines: The Style of Wes Montgomery for Guitar Book/CD Set [Paperback]

Corey Christiansen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 17, 2002

Wes Montgomery took jazz guitar to a new level when he came to the public's attention in the late 1950's. Known for his fluid lines and his big jazz guitar sound, Wes influenced thousands of guitarists in the styles of jazz, blues, and rock. This book will present some of the soloing techniques that Wes used as well has present many melodic ideas (lines) similar to the way he played over the chord progression in many jazz standards. Because the major and minor ii-V-I progression are the most widely used chord progression in jazz standards, the lines in this text will work over these progressions. The accompanying CD contains many play-along tracks (vamps of one chord and vamps around the circle of fourths) that the student should use to practice the material in one key and then master it in all twelve keys. By learning the techniques used by Wes Montgomery, guitarists will add to their own improvising arsenal. As improvising musicians add to their collection of musical ideas, their ability to express themselves completely increases. Have fun studying these ideas and applying them in improvised solos.
Also available in Japanese fromATN, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 72 pages
• Publisher: Mel Bay Publications (January 17, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078666178X
• ISBN-13: 978-0786661787
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 8.8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #972,983 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A super book, April 22, 2007

By 

J. S. Karlovsky "Jerome" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mel Bay Essential Jazz Lines: The Style of Wes Montgomery for Guitar Book/CD Set (Paperback)

I am a beginning guitarist with a passion for jazz, and as such I cannot give a very educated critique of this book, but as an enthusiastic learner I can say it is just what I am looking for. The first half explains some techniques used by wes to achieve his sound: guide tones, bebop scales, note targeting, 3rd to flat 9 notes, arpeggios and extended arpeggios etc with some background theory. The second half is a collection of lines in the style of wes, grouped into lines to be played over major minor or dominant chords, leading to phrases over major and minor ii V I progressions. Exactly the right mix of theory and practice I think. A great inspiration is an example solo which basically cuts and pastes some of the example lines and phrases over a progression and it sounds very melodic indeed. The official blurb says this book is for beginners to intermediate players which is probably right but it is not suitable for complete novices because knowledge of basics such as chord structure, scale structure and diatonic harmonies are assumed. I imagine this will keep me busy for months, and at this moment in time I can honestly say it is the best guitar book I have bought.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Convenient and Not so Convenient, February 21, 2008

By 

Carolyn Gorman (Newburgh, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mel Bay Essential Jazz Lines: The Style of Wes Montgomery for Guitar Book/CD Set (Paperback)

Nice book/cd with tab. The amount of work put into transcribing and organizing the lines shows. My only disappointment is that the lines themselves are not played. The cd only contains progressions to practice the lines over.