All Blues- Davis

Question 1

What instrumentation is in this piece?

Answer 1

Trumpet
Alto sax
Tenor sax
Piano
Double bass
Drums

Question 2

What style is the piece?

Answer 2

BLUES

Question 3

What structure is this piece?

Answer 3

Head arrangement (head...solos...head) including an intro and an outro.
INTRO- HEAD- SOLOS- HEAD- OUTRO

Question 4

Describe (in detail) the intro

Answer 4

• 8 bars long
• 2 four bar sections (called intro 1 and intro 2)
• Intro 1= piano tremolo
• Intro 2= saxes join in with the main riff

Question 5

Describe (in detail) the head

Answer 5

• 32 bars long
• Muted trumpet plays 12 bar theme whilst saxes play main riff in the background
• Link (based on intro 2)
• 12 bar head again on muted trumpet
• Link (intro 2)

Question 6

Describe (in detail) the solos improvised

Answer 6

1. trumpet (48 bars)
  link (based on I2)
2. alto sax (48 bars)
  link (based on I2)
3. tenor sax (48 bars)
   link (based on I2)
4. piano (48 bars)
   saxes play main riff after

Question 7

Describe (in detail) the 2nd head

Answer 7

Same as the first head section:-32 bars long

• Muted trumpet plays 12 bar theme whilst saxes play main riff in the background
• Link (based on intro 2)
• 12 bar head again on muted trumpet
• Link (intro 2)

Question 8

Describe (in detail) the outro

Answer 8

• fades out
• saxes play main riff again
• trumpet plays a new riff

Question 9

Tonality:

Answer 9

In the key of G throughout, but uses modal tonality.
Chord Pattern
G7       G7       G7       G7   
C7       C7       G7       G7  
D79     Eflat7  G7       G7

Question 10

Timbre and texture

Answer 10

Melody and accompaniment
drums/piano/bass- rhythm section
trumpet plays head
saxes play riff in the head sections

Question 11

Dynamics

Answer 11

intro is soft
trumpet uses a mute in head section
first trumpet solo has lots of dynamics and variety as he plays with expression
generally the trumpet solo is quite loud

Question 12

rhythmic devices

Answer 12

swung
syncopation
6/4
156bpm