Four on Six (Wes Montgomery) – Intro & Melody

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to play Four on Six, a jazz standard written by Wes Montgomery. The tune was first recorded in 1960 on Wes’s album The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, which also introduced another classic Wes composition, West Coast Blues.

In this lesson, I’ll walk you through the iconic intro and theme, followed by a harmonic analysis.

In the JGO+ bonus content, you’ll study transcribed material from Wes Montgomery’s solos, breaking down the arpeggio choices and soloing concepts he uses to improvise over the tune, followed by four chord studies that explore the harmony further and provide practical comping ideas.

The origin of the title “Four on Six” is unclear. Wes never explained it, and no documented source confirms a definitive meaning. A few theories circulate, but none are particularly convincing.

• Some suggest it refers to a 4/4 rhythm superimposed over 6/8, but that interpretation doesn’t hold up musically.
• Another theory is that the title refers to four fretting-hand fingers on six strings.
• A third theory links the title to the song’s introduction, a four-note riff played on a six-string guitar.

Recommended Listening:

• Wes Montgomery – The Incredible Guitar of Wes Montgomery (1960)
• Wes Montgomery & Wynton Kelly Trio – Smokin’ at the Half Note (1965)
• John Scofield & John Abercrombie – Solar (1982)
• Lee Ritenour – Wes Bound (1992)
• Lee Ritenour & Larry Carlton – Live in Tokyo 1995 (1995)
• Pat Martino – Remember – A Tribute to Wes Montgomery (2005)

 

 

Four on Six – Intro & Melody

Four on Six has a great intro that is made entirely of parallel fifths, played in unison with the bass and piano. It ends with a chord break that can be a bit challenging to play clean at first.

The first part of the melody is built with notes from the G Aeolian mode and ends with the same chord break as the intro, this time voiced differently.

The second part of the melody is a ii-V sequence with strong accents, following the harmony of the intro.

Normally, the theme is played once, but I play it twice here because there are two different versions of the ii-V part: the first is melodic, while the second uses chord hits.

 

 

 

 

Four on Six – Chord Changes & Improvisation

The chord changes of Four on Six are closely related to those of Summertime.

Most of the harmony is identical. The main difference occurs in bars 5 to 8, where Wes Montgomery replaces the more conventional harmony of Summertime with a series of descending ii–V progressions.

Form: 16 bars
Key: G minor

 

 

Wes Montgomery’s soloing on Four on Six is rooted in arpeggio-based phrases rather than scale runs.

Much of his harmonic color comes from outlining upper extensions of the underlying chords, most often by using arpeggios built from the 3rd of the chord.

A substitution that he uses over and over is the 3-to-9 arpeggio: Bbmaj7 over Gm7, for example.

 

Bbmaj7 arpeggio	Bb	D	F	A
Played over Gm7	b3	5	b7	9

 

Bars 5 to 8 are a descending series of ii-V progressions.

Wes treats these as a sequence of independent ii–V progressions rather than as a single connected harmonic line. He uses short, melodic patterns that he transposes through these changes instead of weaving long, continuous lines across them.

The Ebm7-Ab7 progression in bar 8 is a tritone substitution. Ab7 is the tritone sub of D7 (the dominant), and Ebm7 is the related ii of Ab7.

 

JGO+ Bonus Content: 14 Wes Licks + 4 Chord Studies

In the JGO+ bonus section, you’ll find 14 note-for-note transcribed licks from Wes Montgomery’s solo on Four on Six, along with 4 chord studies that explore practical comping ideas over the changes (click here to become a member).