Miles Styles

transcription and analysis by Bart Marantz

Miles Davis' original tune So What was first recorded in 1959 on his album Kind of Blue (Columbia CS-8163) with the famed "‘56 Quintet". For purposes of comparison, this 1959 debut studio recording and a subsequent 1961 live performance recording of the same tune will be transcribed and analyzed.

The conservative tempo of = 138 lends itself well to the cool icy-blue sound of Miles Davis' playing and to the smooth simplicity of statement he observes in this rendition of So What.

(The music is available for viewing at the end of the article)

Measures 1-10, including the pick-up beat, firmly establish the tone E, which appears one or more times in every measure except measure 6. Even later in measure 14, where he ventures into polytonality by ascending to the eleventh, he still ends the phrase in measure 15 on the tonic. Despite the danger of too much tonic repetition, Miles manages to camouflage and integrate it into a masterful melodic line.

In the first five measures of the B section, beginning at measure 17, Miles uses this same technique of emphasizing the tonic to declare the key change to F dorian. In measure 23, he

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An ascending eleventh, such as C to F in the next octave, contains an octave plus a fourth. For example, the D dorian mode, based on the second note (D) of a C major scale, consists of the notes D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D in the step interval pattern of whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half-whole. Each solo begins chorus two with a rhythmic change to sustained half and whole notes from the preceding moving eighth note lines. This 1961 improvisation, being some three years later than the solo previously analyzed, is marked by several distinct differences in setting. Also, the key has been moved down one step from E minor to D minor, and the tempo quickened from = 138 to an almost doubled speed of = 240. For example, the E phyrgian mode, based on the third note (E) of a C major scale, consists of the notes E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E in the step interval pattern of half-whole-whole-whole-half-whole-whole. sets up an anticipation of the return to E dorian with the chromatic interplay of Eb and E. The phyrgian mode, also used in So What, is built on the third note of a major scale.

The second chorus, as was the case in the CS-8163 solo, is dintinguished at the beginning by its rhythmic change from running eighth note lines to long, sustained-tone phrases. This continued chromaticism adds its own sense of daring to the overall intense nature of this solo. The solo continues for four more choruses for a total of six choruses.

Another term for scales is modes. To start with, most music is defined as being either in a major key (such as C major) or a minor key (C minor). Our ears have become accustomed to hearing music in only one key (or tonality) at a time, such as C major. In reference to the live 1961 live Carnegie Hall performance, Bill Coss of Down Beat magazine wrote in the July 6, 1961 issue, "It was jazz at its finest.

Approximate Word count = 1560
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

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