MU239 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Miles Davis, Modal Jazz, Hard Bop
Document Summary
Style characteristics: use of one scale (or mode = variation of a major scale) over long durations in a song"s form, e. g. basic major scale is 1,2,3,4,5,6,7. If there is a variation, then it will be 2,3,4,5,6,7,1, or 3,4,5,6,7,1,2 or 4,5,6,7,1,2,3 each of the variation is a mode. Change the mode, you change the mood: both melody and harmony dictated by the chosen mode, creates the ultimate horizontal style of improvisation, rhythm section essentially still focuses on swing feel (hard bop element back beat) Some notes are consonant, some are dissonant, the improviser charges where when, and how long you want to be consonant or dissonant . People in pre-ancient greece believed mode can change the wether, etc. e. g. bring the dead back. He worked on the mode, and let the others play accordingly during performance. Miles davis established modal jazz with his release of kind of blue in 1959. To this day the best selling jazz recording of all time.
