Article 3 Octaves (Copyright) Stephen Housden

My all time favourite Jazz guitarist is the great Wes Montgomery. When I first heard Wes, back in the late ‘60’s, I didn’t realise that he was famous for his octave playing. My first reaction was, “how does he get such a smooth sound from a twelve-stringer”?
After a bit more listening I realised that it was no twelve-stringer and that he was actually playing octaves - he just had the knack of making the impossible sound easy. I later found out that the smooth sound came from using his thumb instead of a pick.
Octave playing is by no means restricted to Jazz. In “Third Stone from the Sun” Jimi Hendrix plays the main melody in octaves. In funk music octaves are often used as a rhythm device , sometimes with just the one octave repeated over and over.
When the following fingerings are played correctly it should be possible to strum across all six strings and only hear the two notes of the octave ring out. This makes it possible to play rhythmically as well as melodically. In figs 1 to 4 all strings (except for the two notes of the octave) should be deadened.

Fig 1.
The first finger plays the low G and deadens all unwanted strings by resting lightly on them. Third finger plays G on D string.

Fig 2.
The first finger plays A on the G string and deadens the B string. The middle two fingers deaden the lower three strings.
Fourth finger plays A on E string.

Use the same approach for Figs 3. & 4.

Remember you should only be able to hear the two notes of the octave as you strum across all six strings.
The easiest way to learn a melody in octaves is to first learn it on the lower four strings (this is a bit like soloing on a bass guitar) then add the upper octave.
Playing in octaves will slow you down somewhat and force you to think seriously about what notes you choose to play. This could very well inspire new melodic and rhythmic ideas and possibly give you a new outlook on the way you play. I hope you have fun experimenting with octaves.