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... he chords throughout this section are actually the same as the opening, being D then C/A, because it would mean that Davis is super-imposing the sub-dominant chord of D over the top, but this issue remains debatable. After this run Davis returns for a few bars to the disjointed style that we saw earlier. Davis returns to using the flattened 13 ths that he used earlier, and also in the run, but he also uses the 11 th extension, and a natural 13 th, which is anticipating the 9 th extension of Am 7 which arrives in the next bar. Davis uses extensions more often in this section of the solo than in the previous one with the same chord progression (bars 65 - 72). In the first two bars he makes use of the 9 th and 11 th extensions.
He also uses the 9 th extension in bar 101, and then the 7 th and 13 th in bar 102. He plays on a little 3 note motif in bars 101, 102 and 103, which he varies the rhythm of in bar 103, and then in bar 104 he uses the 13 th extension, and then finishes the bar on a D, which is Davis again anticipating the chord change to D in the following bar. The rest of the piece with improvising over the top then remains on the D chord. In the first two bars of this section, and the last bar of the previous section, Davis is again developing a theme.
E, F#, E, D, and again he experiments with different rhythms on this theme. In playing this theme, Davis employs the 9 th extension of D major. The 5 bars of rest that Davis leaves after this theme shows that the piece is now heading towards the end. When looking at the whole piece, this section is breaking down the piece to a basic bass line and the solo, in order to emphasis the climatic ending.
In this last section Davis last quite a lot of emphasis on the 9 th extension of the chord. In this first 16 bars of this last section this is the most predominant extension, with the 11 th and 7 th also being used. There are a few sharp 7 ths, but if one looks at the music, and listens to it, they can see that Davis never labours these notes, he simply touches on them, usually in passing while ascending or descending to a note in the chord. In the next 16 bars (bars 121 - 136), Davis spreads put his use of extensions, while still playing in a relaxed way to keep the music simple so that the ending achieves its full impact. In bar 121, there is another run, in which all four extensions are used, but he quickly slows down, and for the next 9 bars he uses only the 7 th and 9 th extensions. In bar 131 he uses the 13 th extension, and then a flattened 13 th, but it in an ascending run leading up to an A, so it is a passing note.
From bar 133 to 136 he uses all four extensions again, but he is still sparing in the amount of notes that he plays. From bars 137 to 152, Davis again uses rests to slow down the feel of the piece in preparation for the ending. His use of extensions has been mainly held back to the 7 th, 9 th, and 11 th. Instead of fast runs involving many different notes, he is instead holding on to notes for longer than a bar at times, and leaving plenty of bars empty of improvisation.
The rest of this solo is not so much showing the skill of Davis, in his technical ability, and musical ability, but more winding back the music. It still requires skill to do this however, and this is how Davis helps to create a memorable song, because he doesnt allow the ending to lose any of its impact. The piece 'So What', recorded by Miles Davis in (date etc) is in the modal style. This means that it sticks to two main scales. Em 7, and Fm 7.
In his solo, Miles Davis plays with these seventh chords, but also uses extensions to give the melodies he plays more colour. The base notes are, for Em 7, E, G, B, and D. These are the first, third, fifth, and dominant seventh degrees of the Em 7 scale. And for Fm 7, F, Ab, C, and Eb.
Extensions to this kind of basic chord are the notes that one can put above the seventh. The notes of a minor seventh chord move up in intervals, alternating from a minor third interval, to a major third interval. In Em 7, the chord moves from the first degree of the scale; E, up a minor third to the third degree of the scale; G, up a major third to the fifth degree of the scale; B, and then up a minor third to the seventh degree of the scale; D. The first extension is up a major third from the seventh, to the ninth degree of the scale; F#, the second extension is up a minor third from the first, to the eleventh degree of the scale; A, and the third extension is up a major third from the second, to the thirteenth degree of the scale; C#. Miles Davis uses these extensions widely in his solo for 'So What'.
From bars 32 to 49, which is set over the Em 7 chord, Davis use of extensions in relatively sparse. For the first 12 bars he barely uses them. The ones that he does occasionally use are the 11 th and 13 th, but in the early stages of the solo, he is merely establishing the key, and the specific chord. In bar 46 he uses the 9 th and the 11 th and an Eb. As theses notes appear in a run, they are really only passing notes to get back up to the E natural.
After this, the 9 th and 11 th are again used to get back down to E. During this 8 bar section, Davis uses the eleventh and the thirteenth of the Fm 7 chord to great extent. It is as if the chord that here is hearing in his head when he is playing his solo, is one with the eleventh and thirteenth firmly in it, and so he is drawn to them. This use of the extensions enriches the melodic qualities of these eight bars. During the next five bars, Davis plays only the triad and the seventh, to firmly establish that he has moved back to Em 7. After he has done this he begins to again use the extensions of the chord.
In this extensions he is using the ninth and the eleventh more than the thirteenth that he used in the Fm 7 section. Where the Fm 7 section went for 8 bars, this Em 7 section goes for 24 bars. By the time it reaches 16 th and 17 th bars, there is a sense that it wants to move to the chord change. There is tension that is being created by this lengthy section. This tension is heightened by the notes that Davis uses. He uses the flattened fifth of Em 7, which is the eleventh of Fm 7.
In this way Davis is anticipating the chord change, and when the chord change finally arrives, there is a sense of release in the music, as the tension is released. In the second to last bar of this section, there are C#'s, which is the thirteenth of the chord, but it is really just a passing note in the phrase, as Davis moves from D to C# and then repeats it. The C# is technically not significant, it just completes the musical phrase. In the last bar of this section, Bb, the eleventh of Fm 7, is again used, and leads the piece into Fm 7 for the following bar. During the next 8 bar section, Davis again makes heavy use of the ninth and eleventh notes of the chord.
In the last bar there is a run of E, F#, G, A. This doesn't serve a purpose in technical musical terms, they are passing notes which lead into Em 7 which begins in the next bar. In the next Em 7 section, Davis brings the solo back to a more basic form. He uses less extensions, while still using ninths ad elevenths. In the fourth to last, ad second to last bars, he uses a flattened tonic, and a flattened fifth, but again, these act as passing notes to complete the musical phrases Davis is using. In this solo, Davis is quite sparing in his use of notes outside the set chord and the occasional extension.
The main feature in this solo, is the way he uses space. The moments when he doesnt play become as important, and musical as those when he does. In many of Davis earlier solos, with songs in the bebop style, such as Now's the Time, and Night in Tunisia, he dazzles the listener with impressive chromatic runs, set to a fast changing chord backing. This piece however, contains only two chords, and Davis ventures beyond them relatively rarely. There are some recurring themes that Davis uses in this solo which stand out to the listener. The motif that is heard in bars 34 and 35, is heard several more times throughout the solo.
Bars 36 and 37 are a variation on this motif. It is again heard in bars 77 and 78. A variation on it is also heard in bar 94. Davis uses this as a theme for his solo. He plays with it at points through the piece, and in doing so gives the solo a sense of unity. It acts as a hook line to the solo, and so draws the listener in, and helps them to appreciate the other parts of the solo.
Davis also uses a rhythmic motif in this solo. There are many examples, bar 35, bar 39, bar 53, bar 57, bar 63, bar 73, bar 75, and the last bar of the solo where Davis finishes a musical phrase, occasionally the recurring one I mentioned earlier, with two notes of equal pitch and value. This again gives the solo unity because it rhythmically links together the melodically different parts of the solo. Although Miles Davis established his style as a jazz trumpeter at an early age, there are certainly differences that can be seen when comparing an earlier piece to a later piece. From the time Davis recorded New Rhumba to the time he recorded So What, he developed a new style of improvising. The runs and frequent playing outside of the chord that is featured in New Rhumba, and even more so in earlier pieces, is substituted in So What for the use of space.
In this piece Davis feels that he can have an impact on the audience when he isnt playing, just as much as when he is. For this reason he leaves gaps in his solo, and often plays very slowly and rests on notes for long periods of time. Some of this style is evident in New Rhumba, as they are not actually that far apart in terms of when they were recorded, but it is far more obvious in So What. I feel that So What shows a more mature Miles, as it shows that he realises he doesnt have to impress people with amazing musical feats. He can just as easily be impressive by his ability to know when to play, and when not, and his ability to seemingly compose tunes in his solos.
I think that these are the aspects about Miles Davis, that have made him such a household name, and why he has become such an influential giant in the jazz world. Bibliography Ian Carr, Digby Fairweather, Brian Priestley Jazz: the essential companion First Published in Great Britain by Grafton Books, 1987 William Collins Sons & Company Limited Collins Encyclopaedia of Music First printed in Great Britain by William Collins Sons & Company Limited, 1959 Christopher Headington Illustrated Dictionary of Musical Terms First published in London by The Body Head Ltd, 1980 Edited by Barry Kernel The New Grove Dictionary of JAZZ (Volume One, A-K) First Published in London by Macmillan Press Limited, 1988
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