One of Wes Montgomery’s signature tunes, West Coast Blues, is a captivating take on the blues form. Drawing on classic blues elements, West Coast Blues is constructed in a way that is both unique and a joy to listen to.

This three part lesson series will take a look at improvising over this classic tune using Wes Montgomery licks.

Although you’ll be using West Coast Blues as a vehicle for learning the material, the licks in this lesson aren’t restricted to a single tune. Every lick you learn here can be played in countless other Jazz tunes. It’s highly encouraged that you apply the licks in as many musical situations as possible.

In order to help you apply this new material to new situations, each lick will be played over a specific chord or chord progression common to the Jazz music genre.

Part 1 of this lesson series will look exclusively at Wes Montgomery licks played over dominant 7 chords. The dominant 7 chord is arguably the most important and frequently occurring chord in Jazz, making it a great point of departure for learning the sounds of Wes Montgomery.

Taking the steps to really get that Wes Montgomery sound will involve learning the material slowly, internalizing concepts and playing in different contexts.

Before jumping right in, let’s take a look at the overall form of West Coast Blues and how it’s both similar and different from a standard 12-bar blues form.

The changes you see below are from the solo section of West Coast Blues.

The first thing you’ll notice is that the song is in 6/4 time. If you don’t have any experience playing in 6/4 time, by the end of the lesson you’ll have enough vocabulary to get playing.

Secondly, in bar 2, instead of playing the IV7 chord, the tune goes to an Ab7 chord, which is a bVII7.

The rest of the tune from here features chromatic II-V progressions almost exclusively until the turnaround. This is a great tune for working on II-V’s because of the frequency that they occur and the keys that they take place in.

The last important concept to digest in the changes to West Coast Blues is the turnaround. In the last 2 bars of the tune, the turnaround takes a different harmonic approach to that of most Jazz standards.

One way to look at the turnaround is as a series of tritone substitutions for a VI-II-V progression in Bb.

In Bb, a VI – II – V progression is G7 – Cm7 – F7.

Using a tritone substitution for each chord in the progression will give you the changes to the turnaround in West Coast Blues.

Db is a tritone away from G (VI)

Gb is a tritone away from C (II)

B is a tritone away from F (V)

To make the ending even spicier, maj7 chords are used instead of 7 chords. You might recognize almost the exact same turnaround here as found in Tadd Dameron’s popular bebop tune Ladybird.

Now, how do you approach learning a tune like this? Whenever you start improvising over a tune with more than 1 new harmonic component, it’s best to break the process down into manageable pieces.

It’s for this reason that this lesson is in 3 parts. The first part will take a look at licks that you can use over the first 3 bars, the Bb7 and the Ab7.

To learn even more licks after this lesson, pick up a free copy of my 64-page eBook, The Jazz Guitar Primer, here.

Dominant 7 Wes Montgomery Licks

As mentioned in the introduction, the first part of the lesson will feature Wes Montgomery licks over dominant 7 chords.

You can start from the first lick or quickly jump from lick to lick using the menu below.

Pentatonic Blues Lick

The first lick you’ll work through is shown below. Be sure to check out the video as an additional reference.

This is a great example of a really strong bluesy lick used in a Jazz setting. The lick features notes of the pentatonic scale, including the blues note, ending with a chromatic approach to the 3rd of Bb7 (D), and the root note of Bb.

After you’ve learned this lick, play it through as many keys and areas of the guitar as possible. Following this process will ensure the lick will make it into your regular playing vocabulary.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out my lesson on learning Jazz Guitar licks, here. The lesson goes into detail about how to properly internalize and apply licks in Jazz.

Mixolydian Lick

This next lick may not seem very interesting at the get go, but it’s great for connecting ideas and to bring out different modal sounds.

The idea behind this lick is to simply play, note for note, the notes in the mixolyidan scale. However, instead of starting on the Bb root, you’ll start from the 6th scale degree, which is a G.

If you’re wondering why starting form the G doesn’t classify the scale as Phrygian, it’s because of the root note of the chord you’re playing over. The bass player would be playing a Bb at this point, bringing out the Bb7 Harmony. Your ears will hear Bb as the root, and therefore when you play the G, it will sound like the 6th degree of Bb, rather than the root of the Phrygian scale.

13th Chord Lick 1

Lick #3 is an excellent example of bringing out the 13th in a 7 chord while still maintaining the harmony of the 7th chord.

Starting from the Bb root, the lick progresses up a major 3rd to D, but then jumps right to the 13th (G) instead of completing a Bb major arpeggio.

The second half of this lick features a chromatic approach to the 3rd of Bb (D), finally ending with the root.

If you’re new to the idea of chromatic approaches, essentially they are notes that are progressing towards a particular note (in this case the D) in a chromatic fashion (1 fret a time). So, in this example, Eb and Db are approaching the D note on beat 5.

If you want to learn more about chromatic approach notes, you can read my lesson on the subject through the link.

Maj7 Substitution Lick

This next lick is a great example of using triplets in a Bebop setting. Check out the tab and video below in order to learn the lick.

The lick itself involves a bit of a substitution. Wes combines the notes of Abmaj7 (Ab, C, Eb, G) and Bb7 (Bb, D, F, Ab) in order to create a line that highlights both the 11 (Eb) and 13 (G) of the Bb7 chord.

Because of the use of triplets, this lick is sometimes demanding in terms of speed. Start slowly and really get the timing down before playing faster.

13th Chord Lick 2

The last single line lick you’ll work through is another great line that brings out some of the extensions of 7th chord.

Beginning on the 9th of Bb7 (C), this lick dances around the chord tones of the Bb7 chord and the 13th of Bb7 (G).

Using a bit of syncopation in the rhythm, Wes creates a captivating line that you can add to your vocabulary.

Octaves Lick

No Wes Montgomery lesson is complete without a lick featuring octaves. Use the video and tab below to get the notes for this lick.

Using nothing more than the Blues scale (the pentatonic scale with an augmented 4th), Wes creates a versatile line that you can use over any dominant 7 chord in Jazz.

If you’re new to octaves, play slowly and get a feel for the fingerings before trying to speed up the lick.

Once you’ve completed all 6 of these dominant 7 licks, make sure to play them in all 12 keys and in as many positions on the guitar as possible.

As I mentioned earlier in the article, nothing helps to internalize new solo material better than learning a given lick in as many ways as possible on the instrument. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out this lesson on learning Jazz guitar licks that goes into detail about the process of learning solos on the guitar.

That’s all for today, but don’t forget that this lesson is a 3 part series with II-V licks, turnaround licks, and a complete solo in the style of Wes Montgomery on the way. Be sure to check your inbox to get the next part of the lesson series when it’s released.

If you haven’t already, you can subscribe to stay updated on new lessons and get a free 64-page eBook, The Jazz Guitar Primer, here.

Finally, I love to hear your comments and any questions you might have about the lessons and Jazz guitar. So, please leave a comment in the section below and we’ll be in touch soon!