So What (with annotations)

If you like Miles, you might dig my new album! tinyurl.com/cbu5z5o Visit my new webpage for lessons, videos, and more: http://tjjazzpiano.blogspot.com Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tjjazzpiano This is a jazz piano tutorial of the Miles Davis tune "So What" from Kind of Blue. Thanks again YouTube for featuring me! ... Some cool things to do: 1) Over D minor I think mostly D dorian in the left hand. In the right hand however, I think D, Db, and Eb Dorian. Using half step chromatically "out" scales is the easiest way to add and resolve tension. You may also want to try the tritone which is Ab Dorian. You can and should take the LH out too occasionally as well. 2) When the bass player is pedaling the I or V you have ANY option of diatonic scales to play since he is implying no scale with his walking. These include (but are not limited to) D harmonic minor, D mel. minor, D dim, D altered, D major, D lydian, and many more! You can also play with half step chromaticism while doing this! 3) It's easy to want to over play in a modal tune where you know the basic scale very well. A way to break up the monotony of single note lines is block chords. I use 4th voicings in the LH w/ octaves, single notes, clusters, and thirds in the RH. It's a hip and updated way to play the George Shearing style over modern tunes. 4) Cluster Vocings: Practice just dropping letting your hand randomly fall on the piano. Remember, for it to sound best all the notes you "fall" in to should relate to the scale you're improvising with. Clare Fischer used to do this, but he often didn't worry about scale relationships until AFTER the fact. 5) If you don't own "Kind of Blue" go buy it! Now... Read Mark Levine's section on "So What" chords in his "Jazz Piano Book." He talks extensively about how to alter standard So What chords. Playing contrunpuntaly with quartal vocings is a great thing. It's used extensively by pianists Hal Galper and Enrico Pieranunzi. If you haven't heard of Enrico check out "Live in Paris." It's one of the most impressive trio albums I've ever heard. Check him out here: http://www.myspace.com/enricopieranunzi Thanks to Lot2Learn for helping me with this one.