Uploaded January 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Jazz Guitar Lesson: Four On Six (Wes Montgomery)
PDF of this lesson with TAB, standard notation and backing tracks available on my Patreon page: patreon.com/ChrisWhitemanMusic
Membership includes access to this lesson and access to ALL of my previous Patreon Lessons with accompanying TAB/PDF Files, as well as 25% Off My Arrangements at Musicnotes.com
part 1: youtu.be/gEAc1NEoAGU
chriswhitemanmusic.com
patreon.com/ChrisWhitemanMusic
Chris' Latest Album: chriswhiteman.hearnow.com
bandsintown.com/chriswhiteman
Books & Gear I use and Recommend:
The Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine
amzn.to/4s1NdOO
Thomastik-Infeld Flatwounds 11-47
amzn.to/44yMTNs
Quilter Amp:
amzn.to/4oZdpqC
Joe Pass Chord Solos: For Guitar, Vibes, and All Keyboard Instruments
amzn.to/44Rb7ml
Wes Montgomery Guitar Folio
amzn.to/45mzWGM
The New Real Book by Chuck Sher
amzn.to/49j31nV
"As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases"
Jazz Guitar Lesson: Four On Six (Wes Montgomery)
PDF of this lesson with TAB, standard notation and backing tracks available on my Patreon page: patreon.com/ChrisWhitemanMusic
Membership includes access to this lesson and access to ALL of my previous Patreon Lessons with accompanying TAB/PDF Files, as well as 25% Off My Arrangements at Musicnotes.com
part 1: youtu.be/gEAc1NEoAGU
chriswhitemanmusic.com
patreon.com/ChrisWhitemanMusic
Chris' Latest Album: chriswhiteman.hearnow.com
bandsintown.com/chriswhiteman
Books & Gear I use and Recommend:
The Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine
amzn.to/4s1NdOO
Thomastik-Infeld Flatwounds 11-47
amzn.to/44yMTNs
Quilter Amp:
amzn.to/4oZdpqC
Joe Pass Chord Solos: For Guitar, Vibes, and All Keyboard Instruments
amzn.to/44Rb7ml
Wes Montgomery Guitar Folio
amzn.to/45mzWGM
The New Real Book by Chuck Sher
amzn.to/49j31nV
"As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases"




![Mercy, Mercy, Mercy - Solo Jazz Guitar
The 1966 Joe Zawinul composition, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy arranged for solo guitar.
https://www.chriswhitemanmusic.com/
from wikipedia:
Mercy, Mercy, Mercy is a jazz song written by Joe Zawinul in 1966 for Julian Cannonball Adderley and his album Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live at The Club. The song is the title track of the album and became a surprise hit.[1] Mercy, Mercy, Mercy went to #2 on the Soul chart and #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[2]
Original version
The original version was performed by: Cannonball Adderley (alto saxophone), Nat Adderley (cornet), Joe Zawinul (piano, electric piano), Victor Gaskin (bass) and Roy McCurdy (drums). The theme of the song is performed by Zawinul on a Wurlitzer electric piano previously used by Ray Charles.[3]
Buckinghams cover
Mercy, Mercy, Mercy has been re-recorded numerous times, most notably by The Buckinghams, who reached # 5 in August 1967, adding lyrics to the tune. Musicians on the Buckinghams version included James Henderson, Lew McCreary and Richard Leith on trombone, Bill Peterson, Bud Childers on trumpet, John Johnson on sax, Lincoln Mayorga on Wurlitzer electric piano, Dennis Budimir on guitar, Carol Kaye on bass, and John Guerin on drums.
The first part of the theme is played twice and is completely made of notes from the major pentatonic scale of the first degree.
Structure and chord progression
The tune is in the key of B-flat major and has a 20-bar structure with four distinct sections. The chord progression is mainly made of dominant-seventh chords on the first, fourth and fifth degrees, giving the song a bluesy feeling although it does not follow a typical blues progression. The subdominant (IV) chord in the beginning section emphasizes this bluesy feeling. In the second section, the tonic chord alternates with a second-inversion subdominant chord, creating a parallel to the I-IV-V progression (in which the tonic moves to the subdominant).
Books & Gear I use and Recommend:
The Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine
https://amzn.to/4s1NdOO
Thomastik-Infeld Flatwounds 11-47
https://amzn.to/44yMTNs
Quilter Amp:
https://amzn.to/4oZdpqC
Joe Pass Chord Solos: For Guitar, Vibes, and All Keyboard Instruments
https://amzn.to/44Rb7ml
Wes Montgomery Guitar Folio
https://amzn.to/45mzWGM
The New Real Book by Chuck Sher
https://amzn.to/49j31nV
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases Mercy, Mercy, Mercy - Solo Jazz Guitar](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UmCPr1EUE3w/mqdefault.jpg)


![Donna Lee (Charlie Parker): Jazz Guitar Chord Melody
Donna Lee (Charlie Parker): Jazz Guitar Chord Melody
TAB/pdf Arrangement available here: https://www.musicnotes.com/l/DcjXb
Chriss other arrangements- https://www.chriswhitemanmusic.com/chord-melody
Chriss website - https://www.chriswhitemanmusic.com/
Low cost lessons on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ChrisWhitemanMusic
Chriss Latest Album - https://chriswhiteman.hearnow.com/
Zoom/Skype Lessons: https://www.chriswhitemanmusic.com/guitar-lessons
From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Lee
Donna Lee is a bebop jazz standard attributed to Charlie Parker, although Miles Davis has also claimed authorship.[1][2] Written in A-flat, it is based on the chord changes of the jazz standard (Back Home Again in) Indiana.[1] Beginning with an unusual half-bar rest, Donna Lee is a very complex, fast-moving chart with a compositional style based on four-note groups over each change.
Donna Lee was recorded by the Charlie Parker Quintet on May 8, 1947 for Savoy in New York City.[2] Musicians with Parker for the session were Miles Davis (trumpet), Bud Powell (piano), Tommy Potter (bass), and Max Roach (drums). Donna Lee was the first of four tunes recorded during the session and was recorded over four takes, the fourth being the master take.[2]
Later in 1947 it was recorded for Decca by Claude Thornhill and his orchestra, which included Gil Evans, Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan, Sandy Siegelstein, Bill Barber, and Joe Shulman. Some of these musicians were hired by Miles Davis for his album Birth of the Cool. Evans approached Davis for permission to write the arrangement of Donna Lee for Thornhill. Davis agreed and then got the idea to imitate the sound of Claude Thornhill but with less people for his nonet recordings, as he says in his autobiography.[5]
Jazz bassist Jaco Pastorius recorded a version of Donna Lee on bass guitar, with Don Alias on congas, for his debut album Jaco Pastorius (1976).[1] His friend Pat Metheny called this version astounding because of its hornlike phrasing that was previously unknown to the bass guitar and one of the freshest looks at how to play on a well traveled set of chord changes in recent jazz history.[1] Donna Lee has also been recorded by Karrin Allyson, Anthony Braxton, Nick Brignola, Clifford Brown, Ryan Kisor, Lee Konitz, Warne Marsh, Tito Puente, and Wallace Roney.[1] - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Lee
Books & Gear I use and Recommend:
The Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine
https://amzn.to/4s1NdOO
Thomastik-Infeld Flatwounds 11-47
https://amzn.to/44yMTNs
Quilter Amp:
https://amzn.to/4oZdpqC
Joe Pass Chord Solos: For Guitar, Vibes, and All Keyboard Instruments
https://amzn.to/44Rb7ml
Wes Montgomery Guitar Folio
https://amzn.to/45mzWGM
The New Real Book by Chuck Sher
https://amzn.to/49j31nV
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases Donna Lee (Charlie Parker): Jazz Guitar Chord Melody](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Vv2tUh6JifU/mqdefault.jpg)


