Wes Montgomery-Bebop Reverse Engineered

This lesson constitutes the second installment of Bebop Reverse Engineered, a series devoted to the analytical study and systematic reconstruction of bebop vocabulary. Whereas the first installment examined phrases drawn from Charlie Parker, the present study applies the same methodological framework to excerpts from Wes Montgomery.

The approach introduces a step-by-step procedure for reducing canonical bebop lines to their essential harmonic and melodic framework and subsequently reconstructing them as new, stylistically consistent variations. Each phrase is analyzed as a sequence of “approach-note events” resolving to structurally significant target tones. By isolating these events and their resolutions, the method clarifies the internal logic governing the melodic and harmonic coherence characteristic of the bebop idiom.

The procedure is applied to five phrases from Wes Montgomery’s recorded improvisations. Each phrase is presented in its original form alongside multiple reconstructed variants that preserve the underlying target tones while systematically altering approach patterns, rhythmic placement, and—where appropriate—tonal color through modal interchange.

The accompanying 24-page PDF booklet included in the download presents all examples in both standard notation and guitar TAB.