Davis- All Blues Flashcards
What’s the pitching of “All Blues”?
All instruments keep to their middle and lower registers.
What’s the duration of “All Blues”?
It lasts for more than 11 and a half minutes!
What’re the dynamics like in “All Blues”?
The piece is generally quite subdued-most of it is moderately loud (mf), except for a few louder trumpet bits. The ensemble plays even more quietly when a soloist is playing.
What’s the tempo of “All Blues”?
It’s marked ‘jazz waltz’, so should be played at a moderate pace.
What’s the time signature of “All Blues”?
Unlike most jazz and blues at the time, “All Blues” is in 6/4
What’s the timbre like in “All Blues”?
The timbre’s very mellow. Miles uses a mute, ghost notes (notes that are hinted at rather than played), and rests in his solos to make it seem mellower. (remember, however, that at one point he takes the mute out!)
What’s the texture like in “All Blues”?
It has a simplistic texture; the wind instruments play in 3rds and 4ths, while the piano and double bass play a simple riff and chords. The drum keeps a steady beat.
What’s the structure of “All Blues”?
“All Blues” uses a standard 12-bar blues chord pattern in G, which is repeated throughout the piece, played under the solos and the main melody. However, the chords aren’t exactly the same as a traditional 12-bar blues.
What’s the chord pattern of “All Blues”?
G7 (I7), G7 (I7), G7 (I7), G7 (I7), Gm7 (I7) , Gm7 (I7), G7 (I7), G7 (I7), D7 (V7), E flat7 (flat VI7), D7 (V7), F (flat VII), G (I), F (flat VII), G6 (I6)
What’s the instrumentation of “All Blues”?
Trumpet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, piano, double bass and drums
Which instruments have an improvised solo in “All Blues”?
The trumpet, the alto and tenor saxophones and the piano.
What do the saxophones in “All Blues” tend to do when they’re not playing solos?
Play together
Was the recording session for “All Blues” pre-planned?
Yes and no. When the instrumentalists turned up to the recording session, they had little idea what they were going to play. Miles gave them a few scales and melody lines to improvise on, gave them brief instructions, then off they went.
“All Blues” has five sections: Intro, head, solos, head, outro. Describe the intro.
The intro is eight bars long. It’s made up of two four-bar sections (Intro 1 and Intro 2). In Intro 2, the alto and tenor saxes play Riff B in 3rds (they don’t play anything in the first four bars
“All Blues” has five sections: Intro, head, solos, head, outro. Describe the head.
The head lasts for 32 bars. A muted trumpet plays a 12-bar theme (the saxes play Riff B in the background). They play intro 2 followed by the theme again, followed by another repetition of Intro 2.
