HOW TO PLAY BASS LINES ON MILES DAVIS "SO WHAT"

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Playing over the chords of Miles Davis' "So What" is not easy, because there are only two chord changes!
You will find in this video some advices on how to outline the form of the song, to create a shape with tension/resolution spots that will help you create coherent melodic bass lines and help the band know where they are, with a very effective structural harmony approach (as opposed to using triads and modes).
Thank you for watching!
clovisnicolas.com
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[@Barabyk]

Every bass guy should watch this and engrain those concepts. Thanks!

[@clovismusic007]

Thanks, I hope so too! That's why I put it on KZbin 🙂

[@StavrosKalt]

Finally someone addressed this topic the right way!!

[@clovismusic007]

Thanks Stavros!

[@LíviaRocha-e1x]

Exactly what I was looking for

[@robertellison4691]

Very informative!!

[@xxxmikben]

Man you are a breath of fresh air. Your insights are genius. Bravo maestro 👏

[@clovismusic007]

Thank you!

Thank you!

[@flavienalgans]

So cool and so true! Thanks Clovis!

[@vovardlaurent1722]

Thanks ! Very instructive ! The problem is that I often get lost in the cycle of bars especially when there are theee A (24 bars of Dm...)

[@clovismusic007]

That's the reason why using harmonic progression "markers" will help, to give your lines a shape, a beginning and an ending.

[@fabiorocco7752]

Thank you pdf

[@simonjorge9850]

aaaah vraiment bon vidéo. Merci pour les explications cher monsieur.

[@mojito6629]

Awesome!

[@michaelrose9556]

What song is playing on the intro? Sounds great!

[@clovismusic007]

Thanks! It's this one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZDWZKJ_nsedb5Y

[@yekri2398]

Cool ! En ce moment je le travaille en partant sur les voicings de Bill Evans (DGB/CFA), ca me sort des schémas tonaux, bon challenge; Coltrane l'utilise aussi dans la fameuse vidéo avec Miles. Sinon je marque souvent la tonique toutes les deux mesures, comme le raconte Bootsy en parlant de sa rencontre avec James Brown (Give the one!). Et super le générique, c'est un truc à toi ?

[@clovismusic007]

Excellent! C'est bien de mettre la tonique toutes les deux mesures, encore mieux de faire une ligne qui amène logiquement cette tonique toutes les deux mesures. Oui le générique c'est le morceau "Fine and Dandy" sur mon avant dernier album "Freedom Suite Ensuite" ;-)

[@yekri2398]

@@clovismusic007 Carrément ! En réécoutant l'original je me suis rendu compte que P. C le fait aussi avec la quinte. En fait j'ai l'impression qu'il s'appuie sur un riff, celui qu'il joue à la fin avant de reprendre le thème . De même sur le pont il fait Db(1er temps !)FF#GAb, la plupart du temps. Comme l'a dit Scofield, à chaque que tu écoutes ce disque tu entends un nouveau truc.

[@9jabol]

Muito boas ideias.

[@Matthew-ym2bb]

I'm a beginner and don't understand the harmonic application of playing A7 and Bflat7 in your example at 5:30. How does A7 and Bflat7 fit harmonically with D minor? Sounds great though!

[@clovismusic007]

Good question ! It’s one of the topics of this video. Adding extra chords at the right places helps to enhance the harmony, and the d minor sound. Bb7 A7 is just a minor 2-5-1 in d minor (Bb7 being a similar chord than E7)

[@Matthew-ym2bb]

@@clovismusic007 Thanks for the reply. Theory still over my head I guess. Isn't the 2nd of a D minor 2-5-1 an Em7 rather than a Eb7th? I know you are not playing the 7th note of the Bb7 in that specific example so I suppose it doesn't matter b7th vs. minor 7th but still trying to understand.

[@clovismusic007]

@@Matthew-ym2bb the 2nd would be E-7b5, but look at the notes: E, G, Bb and D. Now the notes of Bb7#11: Bb, D, E, Ab. One note difference! It it very common to substitute a b6 dominant to a 2nd degree in a minor 251. Many standards do that....

[@Matthew-ym2bb]

@@clovismusic007 Thanks again. Ah yes. The HARMONIC minor scale. I've got a lot of work to do!

[@clovismusic007]

@@Matthew-ym2bb I explain a few of these concepts on my Patreon teaching page ("Bass Workshop") if you're interested to check it out :-)

[@bustabass9025]

What Mr. P.C. does in the original Classic KOB version of this timeless standard, is really not complicated at all. I have followed his base line ad infinitum. After his introductory statements, and trading salvos with Bill, he simply walks between the Dm and Ebm Dorian scales, with leading tones, and scale progressions. I have a transcript of his original bass notations that I used for years to develop my own improvisational lines, when playing this tune. Nothing like learning from the original instructor.

[@clovismusic007]

Yes...and not exactly. He plays a lot of C# and Bb in his lines on D-7, which don't belong to the Dm Dorian scale (and he does that starting on the first chorus). Which is the purpose of this video: there is something more than that scale in walking a bass line on this song. Which is what you address when you say "...with leading tones" (there are no leading tones in D minor dorian...).

[@bustabass9025]

@@clovismusic007 I fully understand that he plays notes outside of the scales. The outline however follows those two scale patterns. That's what uncomplicates it for me, and has for the past few decades.

[@neilsaunders6009]

@@clovismusic007 I think that @bustabass might have meant that the note C# acts as a leading note to D minor (in a quasi-cadential fashion), while the note Bb is an upper chromatic neighbour note (of a kind often loosely referred to as a "leading note" in American jazz pedagogy) to A (the 5th of D minor).

[@StavrosKalt]

I don't think he plays notes outside a particular chord scale. Every note has a cadential function. If you want to use a scale for the chords, sixth diminished scale would really help I believe. If you do chose to think of modes because that helps you, it is fine but it might take away from what Paul's approach was. He does not sound like he is trying to convey the specific color of a dorian mode because, again, he is going for functional basslines here. Peace.