Besame Mucho (Grant Green)

Besame Mucho, one of the most popular songs of the 20th century, was written in 1940 by Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velázquez. The bolero is inspired by the Eusebius theme from the first movement of Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor (opus 54).

The most famous jazz guitar version of the song was recorded in 1963 by Wes Montgomery for his album Boss Guitar.

In 1962, Grant Green recorded Besame Mucho for his Blue Note album The Latin Bit which also featured songs such as Brazil and My Little Suede Shoes.

In this lesson, you will learn the melody of Besame Mucho as played by Grant Green and a solo inspired by Grant Green’s recording on The Latin Bit.

Recommended Listening:

• Grant Green – The Latin Bit (1962)
• Wes Montgomery – Boss Guitar (1963)
• The Beatles – Anthology 1 (1995)
• Ulf Wakenius – Taste of Honey (2020)

 

 

Besame Mucho – Video

 

Besame Mucho – Melody

The melody of Besame Mucho uses the A Aeolian mode (the 6th of the guitar modes), mixed with the A harmonic minor scale (on the E dominant chords) and some chromaticism.

 

Backing Track (produced by Stefan Elsner)

Listen & Play-Along

 

Besame Mucho – Guitar Solo

This solo over Besame Mucho mixes Grant Green licks with scales and arpeggios.

Grant Green comes from a rhythm and blues background and uses a lot of blues devices in his solos, such as the blues scales.

 

 

Jazz Guitar Patterns

Here are 10 jazz guitar patterns that are lifted out of the solo and that you can use as building blocks for your own improvised solos.

 

Jazz Guitar Pattern 1

This first pattern over Dm7 switches between Dm7 and A7.

Playing the dominant (A7) over a minor chord creates a sense of movement.

In this pattern, I play the D harmonic minor scale over A7.

 

D harmonic minor scale	D	E	F	G	A	Bb	C#
Played over A7	11	5	b13	b7	1	b9	3

 

 

Jazz Guitar Pattern 2

Here, I play an Fmaj7 arpeggio over Dm7.

This creates what is called a 3 to 9 arpeggio.

 

Fmaj7 arpeggio	F	A	C	E
Played over Dm7	b3	5	b7	9

 

 

This pattern can also be reversed, like this:

 

And here are two other positions:

 

 

Jazz Guitar Pattern 3

This typical Grant Green lick uses the D harmonic minor scale over A7.

 

 

Jazz Guitar Pattern 4

Pattern 4 starts with an E7 arpeggio (with the 4 as a passing note) and moves on to the A harmonic minor scale before resolving to Am7.

 

 

Jazz Guitar Pattern 5

This pattern uses a simple A7 arpeggio with a typical bebop rhythm.

 

 

 

 

 

Jazz Guitar Pattern 6

Pattern 6 uses a typical minor blues scale double-stop technique.

 

 

Jazz Guitar Pattern 7

This pattern uses an Am7 arpeggio pattern that targets the b7.

 

 

This pattern can also be used over A7 by changing the b3 (c) of the minor chord to a 3 (C#).

 

 

Jazz Guitar Pattern 8

Pattern 8 uses a chromatic line inside an A7 arpeggio.

 

 

Jazz Guitar Pattern 9

This pattern uses an F7 chord shape and targets the b7 (play as single notes, don’t fret the entire chord).

 

 

Jazz Guitar Pattern 10

This last pattern uses a simple E7 arpeggio that resolves to Am7.

 

 

Check out our course Jazz Guitar Patterns & Phrases Volume 1 and learn 87 classic jazz guitar patterns that are ideal building blocks for your jazz guitar solos.

 

 

Related Lesson – Besame Mucho Chords

 

Besame Mucho Guitar Pro File