Play ‘So What’ Game

kind_of_blue Miles Davis played an amazing solo on ‘So What’ from the Kind of Blue album. Recorded in 1959.

He doesn’t play a ton of notes. But he says a lot in the music. The space he uses in the solo is done very well.

It’s a good one to learn by ear or transcribe, especially earlier on. Other solos can be a lot more intimidating.

Thought I would set this up kind of like a game.

The first phrase (me playing it) looks like this:

1sowhat

It sounds like this:

The Notes:

In the entire first sixteen bars (first chorus), Miles Davis mostly sticks to a minor scale. There are two accidentals.

For tenor/soprano sax (or clarinet or trumpet) these are the main notes from lowest to highest:

tenor_sowhat_scale

And the accidentals:

tenor_sowhat_accidentals

For alto/bari sax

alto_sowhat_scale

And the accidentals:

alto_sowhat_accidentals

First Phrase Notes:

Here are the notes for the first phrase, out of order and without the rhythm written.

Figure out the order and play it with the right rhythm. You can get a better idea of the rhythm by looking at the diagram with the sound wave.

Tenor/Soprano Sax:

tenor_sowhat_1st

Alto/Bari Sax:

alto_sowhat_1st

And here’s what the rhythm looks like again:

1sowhat

Play those three notes on your saxophone and then figure out the order and play them with the correct rhythm.

Once you get it, click the Google+ button, facebook share, etc.

If it looks like people are interested, I’ll teach more of this. Thanks