#----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE---------------------------------#
#This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the #
#song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research. #
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------##
From: tgannon@charlie.usd.edu (spideir)
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/d/davis_miles/so_what_tab.html ]
"So What" (Miles Davis)--opening "theme"
=========
-- comp. Miles Davis & Bill Evans (from _Kind_of_Blue_, 1959)
-- guitar arr., tcg, '8?, '94
-- 4/4 // Keys: Dm; Ebm // Allegro
__3__
-- eighth notes (1 &) are "swing" 8ths: closer to 1 & & . . . .
DAH duh
-- what follows is the opening of the tune (after some Debussy-esque
ad-lib piano diddling by Evans), apparently the only pre-composed
part of the song; it's a neat interplay of bluesy bass and quartal
piano chords, both integrated into the following guitar "arrangement":
Form (32-bar): ||: A (8 measures) - A (8) - B (8) - A (8) :||
{pick-up measure} A:: Em7/11 Dm7/11 Em7/11 Dm7/11
-----------------||----------7==---5--|------------------|----------7==---5-|
-----------------||----------8==---6--|------------------|----------8==---6-|
-----------------||o---------7==---5--|------------------|----------7==---5-|
-----------------||o---------7==---5--|------------------|----------7==---5-|
----------5-/7---||--5==-----7==---5--|----------5-/7----|--5-------7==---5-|
--3/5-7-8------8-||-------------------|--3/5-7-8------8--|----5==-----------|
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
Em7/11 Dm7/11 Em7/11 Dm7/11
|------------------|---------7==---5--|------------------|----------7==---5-|
|------------------|---------8==---6--|------------------|----------7==---5-|
|------------------|---------7==---5--|------------------|----------7==---5-|
|------------------|---------7==---5--|------------------|----------7==---5-|
|----------5-/7----|-5==-----7==---5--|---5/7--/7--/7-5==|==5==-----7==---5-|
|--3/5-7-8------8--|------------------|------------------|------------------|
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
__________________ __________________
| 1. [repeat A]| 2. [to B->]
|-----------------||------------------|-
|-----------------||------------------|-
|----------------o||------------------|-
|----------------o||------------------|-
|----------5-/7---||----------6-/8----|-
|--3/5-7-8------8-||--4/6-8-9------9--|-
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
B:: Fm7/11 Ebm7/11 Fm7/11 Ebm7/11
|---------8==---6--|------------------|----------8==---6-|------------------|
|---------9==---7--|------------------|----------9==---7-|------------------|
|---------8==---6--|------------------|----------8==---6-|------------------|
|---------8==---6--|------------------|----------8==---6-|------------------|
|-6==-----8==---6--|----------6-/8----|--6-------8==---6-|----------6-/8----|
|------------------|--4/6-8-9------9--|----6==-----------|--4/6-8-9------9--|
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
Fm7/11 Ebm7/11 Fm7/11 Ebm7/11 [to A->]
|---------8==---6--|------------------|----------8==---6-|-----------------||
|---------9==---7--|------------------|----------9==---7-|-----------------||
|---------8==---6--|------------------|----------8==---6-|----------------o||
|---------8==---6--|------------------|----------8==---6-|----------------o||
|-6==-----8==---6--|----------6-/8----|--6-------8==---6-|----------5-/7---||
|------------------|--4/6-8-9------9--|----6==-----------|--3/5-7-8------8-||
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
----------------
... rest of tune a free-form improv over the same A-A-B-A 32-bar form: two
8-bar sections ("A-A") of Dm dorian, 8 bars of Ebm dorian ("B"), and 8 more
bars ("A") of Dm dorian. The bass starts "walking," the piano comps/
ad-libs quartal-modal chord voicings, and Miles & the other horn players
take leads in Dm & Ebm Dorian. (Dorian in Dm: d-e-f-g-A-B-c-d; Eb Dorian
a half-step higher). . . . Here's the start of Miles' lead, to give you a
better idea (note that the D dorian scale "fits" whether the chord is Dm7/11
or Em7/11: both consist of notes from this very scale)--
{pick-up} A::
-10=====-||------------------|------------------|------>
---------||------------------|------10-8----10--|-------
---------||--7============---|--10--------------|--7-7===
---------||------------------|------------------|---------
---------||------------------|------------------|----------
---------||------------------|------------------|----------->
3 & 4 & 1 2 3 4 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 1 & 2 &
|
--:--tcg
)
