How to Play Chords Like Wes Montgomery

As a jazz guitarist, you’ve spent a good amount of time listening to jazz guitar legend Wes Montgomery. 

One of the most recognizable sounds in Wes’ playing is his personalized approach to comping and chord soloing.

It may seem like a big hill to climb to play chords and chord solos in the style of Wes Montgomery.

But.

By breaking down Wes’ chord concepts, you can make it easier to add those cool-sounding Wes chord phrases into your playing.

In this lesson, you explore one of the most widely-used Wes chord techniques, the V-I concept.

Wes’ V-I Chord Concept

One of the techniques that you can borrow from Wes’ chord approach is his V-I alternating chord concept. 

With this concept, you move between the chord you’re on and it’s relative V7b9 chord. 

Such as moving between Gm7 and D7b9, or C7 and G7b9, as you see in the examples below.  

This approach produces a “tension and release” sound in your chords as you move between the V7b9 (tension) and written chord (release). 

To make this concept easier to apply in the moment, think of the chord you’re on as a “temporary tonic chord.”

This allows you to quickly find the V7b9 chord to alternate with the written chord in that particular section of the tune. 

To make it easier to apply, Wes took this concept one step further. 

Instead of playing a full 7b9 shape, Wes played any/all of the 4 dim7 chords that can be used to outline the 7b9 sound. 

When you play any 7b9 chord, you can play a dim7 from the 3rd, 5th, b7th, and b9 of that chord to imply the 7b9 sound without playing a 5-note shape. 

Here’s how that looks for the D7b9 chord, the V7b9 of Gm7. 

D7b9 Diminished Chords

F#dim7 = F# A C Eb

Adim7 = A C Eb F#

Cdim7 = C Eb F# A

Ebdim7 = Eb F# A C

Notice that the notes are always the same, you’re playing inversions of those notes with each dim7 chord. 

And, dim7 inversions use the same shapes, as you see below, making it easier to apply than non-dim7 chord inversions. 

Here’s how this concept is applied to a G7b9 chord, the V7b9 of C7. 

G7b9 Diminished Chords

Bdim7 = B D F Ab

Ddim7 = D F Ab B

Fdim7 = F Ab B D

Abdim7 = Ab B D F

The easiest way to find the dim7 chords to use with this concept, is play a dim7 chord 1 fret below the written chord and run the inversions from there. 

This means that if you’re playing over Gm7, you move between Gm7 and F#dim7 to produce that V7b9 alternating sound. 

And, for C7, you alternate between C7 and Bdim7 to bring out that same sound in your comping and chord soloing. 

Minor 7 Chords

OK, enough talking, let’s play some Wes Montgomery chords on guitar.  

Check out the example below to see how you apply the V-I chord concept to drop 2 chords on the top-4 strings. 

In this phrase, you alternate between inversions of Gm7 and the four dim7 chords that make up the D7b9 sound, F#dim7-Adim7-Cdim7-Ebdim7. 

Start by learning these chords in one key as written. Then, bring them to other keys to expand this concept on your fretboard. 

From there, comp with these chords over Gm7 backing tracks or in tunes that have Gm7, or other m7, chords. 

Dominant 7 Chords

Here, you see Wes’ V-I chord concept applied to a C7 chord in the example below. 

In this example, you alternate between inversions of C7 and the four dim7 chords that make up the G7b9 sound, Bdim7-Ddim7-Fdim7-Abdim7.

ii V I Exercise

I also like to run these chords through progressions such as ii-V-I’s. 

Here you start on the lowest possible dim7 chord over Gm7 and run up the neck as you alternate dim7 with Gm7, C7, and Fmaj7 inversions from there. 

Learn this exercise as written, then comp over a ii-V-I backing track while altering the picking and rhythm to experiment with this phrase in your playing.

To expand on this exercise, you can start on any inversion of the dim7 chord and alternate those inversions and the written chords from there. 

Experiment to see which combinations of these chords you prefer as you comp and chord solo over ii-V-I’s with the Wes V-I chord concept. 

Wes Montgomery ii V I Chord Line

In the last example, you learn a ii-V-I line that’s built with the Wes V-I chord concept. 

After you learn this phrase, take it to other keys and add it to your comping and chord soloing over standards to expand on this phrase in your playing. 

Learning to play chord-solos like Wes Montgomery is a long process to be sure. 

But. 

By learning the V-I concept and applying it to your comping and chord soloing, you can bring that smooth Wes chord style to your playing today.