How to Transfer a Jazz Line from the Wes Line to the Django Line
What was the question?
Malique asked about a practical challenge he was facing: he had been working through the Russell Malone transcription in the Fundamental course and was having difficulty transferring fingering across the two diagonal structures. Specifically, he wanted to take a line that works naturally on the West Line and apply it to the Django Line — to build vocabulary that moves freely across both. That question comes in at (24:44).
The core idea (in plain English)
Wes Montgomery's own playing offers the clearest answer to this question. When you look at how Wes handled the same phrase in different parts of a tune, you find that he was not simply moving a pattern to a new string set. He was thinking through the line conceptually — as a West Line phrase — and then finding the equivalent position within the Django Line structure, even when the Django Line required him to extend the line into a higher register to make it fit. (26:08)
The West Line builds upward on stacked thirds from a minor 7 shell voicing. The Django Line does not extend upward the same way — it sits in a different string relationship and has a different upper boundary. When Wes wanted to play a West Line phrase over a Django Line chord, he extended the line past the typical endpoint and reached the part of the Django structure where the equivalent notes live. (27:14)
This is confirmed in the Russell Malone transcription of Four and Six. Malone extends lines in exactly this way — the structure is Django Line, but the phrase is being thought through in West Line terms, extended to match. (27:14)
Fretboard breakdown (what to play)
Start with a phrase you already know on the West Line for G minor 7. Play it until it is comfortable.
Find the G minor 7 with its root on the fifth string. The Django Line shape appears above that position. (26:08)
To play the same phrase in the Django Line context, you may need to extend beyond the typical Django stopping point — Wes did this by going higher up the neck to reach notes that correspond to the West Line phrase. (27:14)
The fingering choice also depends on where you want the phrase to end up. If you want to reach a higher register, use the Django fingering and extend upward. If you want to stay in the middle register, you can play within the Django structure without extension. (31:16 — 32:30)
Charlie Christian used the same octave-displacement logic: the same phrase on B7, appearing first in one register and then repeated an octave higher when the chord returned. Wes absorbed this from transcribing Christian. (29:03)
Common mistake to avoid
The most common approach is to try to directly map fingerings from the West Line onto the Django Line string-for-string, as if they are mirror images. They are not. The West Line and Django Line are structurally different. You are not transposing the fingering — you are finding where the same sound lives within a different diagonal structure, which sometimes means going higher up the neck than expected. Think of it as finding the same pitch content in a different structural home. (26:08)
A 10-minute practice assignment
Take one simple line you know on the West Line — even just a four-note phrase targeting the third of a G minor 7. Play it in the West Line position. Then locate the same chord with the root on the fifth string and find the Django Line structure above it. Try to play the same four notes using the Django structure, adjusting register if needed. Notice what changes in the fingering. Repeat at a slow tempo, alternating between West Line and Django Line versions of the same phrase. Focus on hearing that the sound is the same, even if the position and fingering differ. (24:44 — 32:30)
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