Freddie The Freeloader

Frank Markovich

Before we dig in! Remember the process

Start by listening to the piece. Then Analyze the chords. Listen closely to the repeated bass line. Sing it! Now the melody. It is built largely off of intervals of a 2nd. Learn the Melody, then the chords, then the bass, combining chords and bass. For this it is possible to do all of the parts at one time. Do the scales used. Analyze the solo. Do your own solo Put it all together.

This is just a 12 bar blues

Freddie the Freeloader is a 12 bar blues with a slight twist at the end. Very common to do this at that time. Original key is Bb that is a good key for Trumpet and horns in general. We will do it in Bb to start. The next page has the chords and the melody. Again start with analysis of the chords. Bb7 = Bb D F Ab Eb7 = Eb G Bb Db F7 = F A C Eb Ab7 = Ab C Eb Gb

Chords
Take chords from All Blues and move them up 3 frets (easy chords) and you will have the basic chords to this.

Chords
Chords are as follows:
6/4 ||: Bb7 | | | | Eb7 | | Bb7 | | F7|Eb7 | Ab7 | : ||
Bb7 Eb7 These are just basic chords. You can make it more complex by using 9ths 13ths etc. Chord substitution can work also but be careful in this tune as the simplicity is one of the items that makes this work!

1 2

6th 1 1 fret

1 1

6th 1 fret

3 Ab7 at the 4th fret

F7 at the 8th fret!

Freddie melody. Play in 5th postion

Take your time in learning this. The key is to get it down pat. Learn it up one octave also and then as a chord melody.

Here it is up one octave.

Here is Freddie as a chord melody. It is really a good idea to learn it this way. Later you can even play this while doing a walking bass line!

Chords
This is very easy take the chords used in All Blues and just transpose them to Bb. G7 to Bb7 just move it up 3 frets to the 6th fret. For C7 move it up 3 frets to Eb7 etc. You can use almost any voicing for this. This song is in many ways very similar to a rock blues. A simple 1 bar blues. You dont need complexity in jazz all the time.

Next add in the Chords

Chords are as follows:
6/4 ||: Bb7 | | | | Eb7 | | Bb7 | | F7|Eb7 | Ab7 | : ||
Bb7 Eb7 These are just basic chords. You can make it more complex by using 9ths 13ths etc. Chord substitution can work also but be careful in this tune as the simplicity is one of the items that makes this work!

1 2

6th 1 1 fret

1 1

6th 1 fret

3 Ab7 at the 4th fret

F7 at the 8th fret!

Bass Line
The bass line is a walking bass similar to the one in All Blues. Take what is in the book and write it out by first writing the notes of it down then writing out in tablature the bass line on the 5th and 6th strings!

Here is a sample bass line that will work on Freddie. While I have the tablature in 1st position this can be played up the neck

Move this up 3 frets and it can be a Freddy Green (Count Basies Guitarist) type backup. This is very common in jazz. Particularly in Swing music. I could spend a whole term just on this.

Scales
Follow exactly what was done in All blues but now transpose it to Bb. You need to do that so that you can play any blues in any key. You could simply move everything up 3 frets. That is at least a place to start. This is since G7 is 3 steps (frets) from Bb.

Analysis of Miles Solo

To start I want you do write it out from the book and the following 2 slides. Do at least one chorus.
Write the names of the notes map them to the chord tones:
Bb7 = Bb D F Ab Eb7 = Eb G Bb Db F7 = F A C Eb Ab7 = Ab C Eb Gb

Then try to map to what degree of the scale each note is. Then to the scale that each note resides in.

Here is Miles solo in the key he played it in. This might be easier to analyze as it is in the key of C.
RR R (R=1 of chord) 3 5 3 7 9
13,R b3 4 b3

Note that the analysis has slightly different changes than the head (melody), this is also common. I did the first line. Chord tones C7 = C E G Bb F7 = F A C Eb G7 = G B D F Bb9 = Bb D F Ab C

Again notice how many chord tones!! I tell you the chord rules!! Compare to the following 7 pages of Wess solos. Very similar in many ways. Also note the use of rests. Note how many times Miles comes in on the and after 3 or on 3 to start the next phrase. Notice how he ends like the start! This is so musical, that is why people loved his music. That is something you can and should learn from Miles.

Less direction than All Blues

Even though there is less direction than All Blues at this point you need to apply what was learned in All Blues to other songs. It is key that you get it not that I give it to you. Next few slides have a solo that Wes Montgomery did to this song. He did Miles tunes and used many of Miles techniques. You could analysis his solo and at least use some of the riffs that Wes used.

Very simple to analyze. Just take your time. Note that the first note of the solo is the first note of the melody. Great way to tie in. Use the G as the starting note but approach it differently than in the melody.

Final thoughts
You have looked now at 3 Miles Davis tunes in some depth. The more you put yourself into it the more you will get out of it. Spend time on other pieces or other artists and follow the procedure. It will improve your playing significantly.