Four

Question 1

Describe the Texture of Four: (4)

Answer 1

• Trumpet and ten sax play in octaves in head
• High tessitura for trumpet and walking bass line
• Piano is silent leaving a 2 part texture in the beginning of the 1st chorus
• Monophonic for trumpet solo in break before 1st improvised solo

Question 2

What is the Structure of Four? (4)

Answer 2

• Head arrangement with 32 bar tune
• Series of solo 32 bar choruses
• 3 choruses of trumpet solos
• Head contains a 16 bar theme repeated with altered endings

Question 3

What is the Harmony and Tonality like in Four? (6)

Answer 3

• First four bars on tonic, next 4 on supertonic 7th
• All in Eb maj but chromaticism blurs tonality
• Frequent use of substitution chords (1.25): Eb instead of Gm7
• Circle of fifths (1.26-1.29)
• Harmony is more dissonant and complex due to bebop style (supertonic 7th in H5 has a G becoming a 9th)
• Last bar in each 4 bar phrase moves to a min 7th with a flat 3rd

Question 4

What is the Melody in Four? (6)

Answer 4

• Head features 3 note scalic passages, repeated then inverted
• 1st 4 bar phrase repeated in sequence (down a perfect 5th)
• Next 2 bars= more chromatic with more leaps (like a 6th at the end of 2nd time bar)
• Relatively narrow pitch range in head (9th)
• Choruses have larger pitch range
• 3rd chorus= screaming notes

Question 5

Describe the Rhythm and Metre of Four (5):

Answer 5

• Triplets found in choruses (2.5-6)
• Syncopated head with 1st beat often avoided
• Longer notes kept for special techniques like fall offs (1.15)
• Continuous crotchet fast walking bass
• Main rhythm is continuous groups of quavers/swung quavers

Question 6

What is the Context and Forces of Four? (6)

Answer 6

• Written by Miles Davis in 1954 (recorded in 1964)
• Modern Jazz (bebop)
• Original composition ‘54 was a lot slower
• Fast walking bass line (plucked on Db Bass)
• Virtuosic Improvisation
• Ghost Notes (2nd note of 2nd Chorus)