Passing Diminished Turnaround- Miles Davis "Someday My Prince Will Come"
The May 2019 tune of the month is "Someday My Prince Will Come," originally from the 1937 movie "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" but now a classic jam tune for jazz musicians. The song is also a waltz, written in a time signature of 3/4. The song features several interesting harmonic devices, including passing diminished chords (both a biii dim and a #I dim). This part of the tune can be challenging to solo over, so I've transcribed the improvisational phrases used by Miles Davis in his classic recording to see how he approaches soloing over this tune. Note that I've also posted a blog about quoting the heads of jazz standards as one other possible approach.
Quote the melody/Treat the whole thing like the I chord
In this example, Miles quotes the melody over the first few bars. Over the last turnaround, he
essentially plays what could be thought of as a Bb major 7 line. This has the effect of sounding "home" before the chords resolve to the I, suggesting an anticipatory or almost yearning sound. The note choices over the two dim chords are A and C. These notes are from the 8-note half-whole diminished scale, built by adding a tone a whole step above (equivalent to say a half step below) any diminished 7th chord tone. Any of these notes are fair game to use, each one with its own distinct sound. Miles milks these "flavorful" notes for two beats before resolving back to a chord tone. Thus, the second idea could be thought of as a variation of the first- using the same rhythm and harmonic idea (just displaced to resolve to a different chord tone).
(0 min 50 sec)
Pick the smooth (common) notes
Notice the two notes Dm7 has in common with Dbdim7: Bb and G. Thus, choosing either of these note will create a smooth melodic line that does not directly imply movement from one chord to the other. When you have a bass and comping instrument backing you, that is fine because they will cover the Db diminished sound. The result is a smooth, melodic solo line. If you are looking for your solo to more directly imply the changes, then choose the Db or the F. The result will be less melodic, more "angular," which is a cool way to sound too.
Another way to think about it: From the iii point of view, play the 4 or b6 to connect smoothly to the biiidim7 chord. Play the natural 2 or the major 7 of the iii to more directly imply the chord change. From the I perspective (I as a sub for iii which often occurs), this is like playing the 1 or the 6 to connect the changes smoothly or the b3 or #4 to more directly imply the chord change.
Note that Miles's smooth, connecting notes are made more effective with rhythmic anticipation, holding these notes across the bar line leading into the next chord.
(1 min 26 sec)
Skip it
An underused and undervalued approach. Jazz improvisers can feel pressured to nail every single change, but Miles is the king of space. No shame in skipping a chord once in a while (so long as it's not an excuse for not knowing how to play over it).
(2 min 2 sec)
Recycling ideas
Miles uses ideas all described in examples above in his last diminished phrase of the solo. His line over the first diminished chord is based on the head of the tune. In both diminished chords in this example, he uses identical rhythmic and harmonic ideas (which he uses in examples above as well): holding a "flavor" note (a whole step above the dim7 chord tone) for two beats before resolving to a chord tone at the end of the measure. Both these ideas are based on ideas from the song's melody.
(2 min 40 sec)
This post only covers the passing iii dim7 phrases, however the same concepts may be applied to the #1 dim7 (Ebmaj7 to Edim7).
Quote the melody/Treat the whole thing like the I chord
In this example, Miles quotes the melody over the first few bars. Over the last turnaround, he
essentially plays what could be thought of as a Bb major 7 line. This has the effect of sounding "home" before the chords resolve to the I, suggesting an anticipatory or almost yearning sound. The note choices over the two dim chords are A and C. These notes are from the 8-note half-whole diminished scale, built by adding a tone a whole step above (equivalent to say a half step below) any diminished 7th chord tone. Any of these notes are fair game to use, each one with its own distinct sound. Miles milks these "flavorful" notes for two beats before resolving back to a chord tone. Thus, the second idea could be thought of as a variation of the first- using the same rhythm and harmonic idea (just displaced to resolve to a different chord tone).
(0 min 50 sec)
Pick the smooth (common) notes
Notice the two notes Dm7 has in common with Dbdim7: Bb and G. Thus, choosing either of these note will create a smooth melodic line that does not directly imply movement from one chord to the other. When you have a bass and comping instrument backing you, that is fine because they will cover the Db diminished sound. The result is a smooth, melodic solo line. If you are looking for your solo to more directly imply the changes, then choose the Db or the F. The result will be less melodic, more "angular," which is a cool way to sound too.
Another way to think about it: From the iii point of view, play the 4 or b6 to connect smoothly to the biiidim7 chord. Play the natural 2 or the major 7 of the iii to more directly imply the chord change. From the I perspective (I as a sub for iii which often occurs), this is like playing the 1 or the 6 to connect the changes smoothly or the b3 or #4 to more directly imply the chord change.
Note that Miles's smooth, connecting notes are made more effective with rhythmic anticipation, holding these notes across the bar line leading into the next chord.
(1 min 26 sec)
Skip it
An underused and undervalued approach. Jazz improvisers can feel pressured to nail every single change, but Miles is the king of space. No shame in skipping a chord once in a while (so long as it's not an excuse for not knowing how to play over it).
(2 min 2 sec)
Recycling ideas
Miles uses ideas all described in examples above in his last diminished phrase of the solo. His line over the first diminished chord is based on the head of the tune. In both diminished chords in this example, he uses identical rhythmic and harmonic ideas (which he uses in examples above as well): holding a "flavor" note (a whole step above the dim7 chord tone) for two beats before resolving to a chord tone at the end of the measure. Both these ideas are based on ideas from the song's melody.
(2 min 40 sec)
This post only covers the passing iii dim7 phrases, however the same concepts may be applied to the #1 dim7 (Ebmaj7 to Edim7).
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