Miles Davis solo on It Could Happen to You. 🎺

Reader,

We've looked at some pretty sophisticated and complex solos over the past couple of months, but I wanted to look at something simpler this week. A Miles Davis solo on It Could Happen to You

On our recent workshops we've been exploring ways to take a traditional melody and modify it to make it swing, and you can see Miles use many of those same techniques we've been learning in this example.

Zoom Workshop - Friday, Jan 10 at 1:00 Eastern.

We're starting a new comping series this week on our Zoom workshop. We'll be focusing on the importance of total mastery and fluency over chord voicings.

Today's 2-5-1

Each week I share 2 transcribed phrases, 5 ideas observed from 1 featured jazz recording.

Above is the main melody from the head of It Could Happen To You. I'd encourage you to look at this tune in the Real Book side by side, and notice what Miles has changed to make it swing.

1. Miles knows that the swing feel comes from the off-beats. So, he shifts many of the notes rhythmically so they start and end on off-beats.
2. If everything is off the beat, then the syncopation doesn't work. You need a variety of rhythms on and off the beat like Miles plays throughout.
3. Notice the 2nd bar of the last line. He briefly abandons the melody to play a fill that has a similar gesture to the original melody.

These 8 measures are an excerpt of the solo sections later in the tune. Notice how simple it is? Sometimes I feel like I study so much theory that I need to throw everything I know at every phrase. But Miles just plays a scale.

1. The 2nd measure is just a scale down, that's obvious. But measures 3&4 are a scale as well -- just disguised with cooler rhythm. So simple.
2. Notice that emphasis of the A natural on the Fm7 chord in measure 3, foreshadowing the F#dim that is to come. What a legend.