Playing “So What”

“So What” is the opening track on the album “Kind of Blue”. But before the tune actually starts there’s an introduction which lasts about half a minute which is a kind of tone poem really that sets up the spirit of the ensuing piece. A number of authors think that this was possibly due to Gil Evans - not Bill Evans - Gil Evans. Gil Evans was a Canadian pianist, arranger, band leader, composer and he had been working with Miles on a collaboration – an “Orchestral Jazz” collaboration - “Miles Ahead” was the first of them. He was a friend of Miles and it was thought that he was at the recording session and suggested this tone poem introduction.

Whether he did or not, I certainly don’t know, but certainly it is his sort of style. When eventually we get to the tune it’s a straightforward 32 bar sequence - AABA. The A structure’s completely in D Dorian - all the white notes. The E flat section is exactly the same as the A section - sorry, the B section’s exactly the same as the A section - but it’s in E flat Dorian, not D Dorian. E flat Dorian is … E flat major with a flattened seventh, or D flat major … rooted on E flat. So it’s all the black notes plus C and F.

It’s a “question and answer” tune and, strangely enough on the album, the questioner is the bass player. So the bass player gets to play … and the rest of the band answer it with … most people now refer to that as “So What” and the chord … is called the “So What” chord. Then that repeats - no, it’s a slightly longer phrase.

Now that repeats - the first phrase. Then a new phrase. By the way when I play this I sometimes play the first “So What” chord with a grace note - F sharp going to G - in the right hand. I didn’t notate it. Similarly, when I get to that last phrase, I often play it as … so that’s got a grace note in as well. Then that repeats. Then we get to the middle 8, which is, as I say, exactly the same thing up a semitone … and then back to A. Let’s try it with the Aebersold playalong.

A couple of warnings: first of all the Aebersold playalong is far too fast compared to the original. I’m playing mine at 75% of the Aebersold speed to get it back to the speed of the album. The other warning is, as I said, the question part of the tune is played by the bass player typically. So if you’re in a jam session and they call “So What” then find out whether the bass player wants to play the question phrase on their own.