Explaining the tone of two legendary jazz guitarists
Chirag Gokani – chiragokani@utexas.edu
Instagram: @chiragokani
Applied Research Laboratories and Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering
Austin, Texas 78766-9767
Preston S. Wilson (also at Applied Research Laboratories and Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering)
Popular version of 2aMU6 – Timbral effects of the right-hand techniques of jazz guitarists Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass
Presented at the 188th ASA Meeting
Read the abstract at https://eppro01.ativ.me/appinfo.php?page=Session&project=ASAICA25&id=3847349&server=eppro01.ativ.me
–The research described in this Acoustics Lay Language Paper may not have yet been peer reviewed–
Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass are two of the most influential guitarists of the 20th century. Acclaimed music educator and producer Rick Beato says,
Wes influenced all my favorite guitarists, from Joe Pass, to George Benson, to Pat Martino, to Pat Metheny, to John Scofield. He influenced Jimi Hendrix, he influenced Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson. Virtually every guitarist I can think of that I respect, Wes is a major, if not the biggest, influence of.
Beato similarly praises Joe Pass for his 1973 album Virtuoso, calling it the “album that changed my life”:
If there’s one record that I ever suggest to people that want to get into jazz guitar, it’s this record, Joe Pass, Virtuoso.
Part of what made Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass so great was their iconic guitar tone. Montgomery played with his thumb, and his tone was focused and warm. See, for example, “Cariba” from Full House (1962). Meanwhile, Pass played both fingerstyle and with a pick, and his tone was smooth and rich. His fingerstyle playing can be heard on “Just Friends” from I Remember Charlie Parker (1979), and his pick playing can be heard on “Dreamer (Vivo Sonhando)” from Ella Abraca Jobim (1981).
Wes Montgomery (left, Tom Marcello, CC BY-SA 2.0) and Joe Pass (right, Chuck Stewart, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons)
To better understand the tone of Montgomery and Pass, we modeled the thumb, fingers, and pick as they interact with a guitar string.
Our model for how the thumb, fingers, and pick excite a guitar string. The string’s deformation is exaggerated for the purpose of illustration.
One factor in the model is the location at which the string is excited. Montgomery played closer to the bridge of the guitar, while Pass played closer to the neck. Another important factor is the amount that the thumb, fingers, and pick slip off the string. Montgomery’s thumb delivered a “pluck” and slipped less than Pass’s pick, which delivered more of a “strike” to the string.
Simulations of the model suggest that Montgomery and Pass balanced these two factors with the choice of thumb, fingers, and pick. The focused nature of Montgomery’s tone is due to his thumb, while the warmth of his tone arises from playing closer to the bridge and predominantly plucking the string. Meanwhile, the richness of Pass’s tone is due to his pick, while its smooth quality is due to playing closer to the neck and predominantly striking the string. Pass’s fingerstyle playing falls in between the thumb and pick techniques.
Guitarists wishing to play in the style of Montgomery and Pass can adjust their technique to match the parameters of our model. Conversely, the parameters of our model can be adjusted to emulate the tone of other notable guitarists.
Notable jazz and fusion guitarists grouped by technique. The parameters of our model can be adjusted to describe these guitarists.
Our model could also be used to synthesize realistic digital guitar voices that are more sensitive to the player’s touch.
To demonstrate the effects of the right-hand technique on the tone, we offer an arrangement of the jazz standard “Stella by Starlight” for solo guitar. The thumb is used at the beginning of the arrangement, with occasional contributions from the fingers. The fingers are used exclusively from 0:50-1:10, after which the pick is used to conclude the arrangement. Knowledge of the physics underlying these techniques helps us better appreciate both the subtlety of guitar performance and the contributions of Montgomery and Pass to music.