Miles Davis, credited music · Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, said he wrote it · First recorded by Miles Davis for Prestige, March 1954
Four
Four is a 32-bar tune in E♭, credited to Miles Davis, who first recorded it in 1954. Its eight-bar sections make the 32 bars easy to follow, and Jon Hendricks later wrote words for it. You will hear it from Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Dexter Gordon, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross and Keith Jarrett.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
- 1 Learn the song Miles Davis Quartet✓
- 2 Hear a full quintet Miles Davis Quintet✓
- 3 Hear a pianist lead it Red Garland Quartet✓
- 4 Hear the tune with words Lambert, Hendricks & Ross with Zoot Sims✓
- 5 Hear a long tenor sax take Joe Henderson with the Wynton Kelly Trio✓
- 6 Hear the 1960s quintet Miles Davis Quintet✓
- 7 Hear a piano trio Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette✓
- 8 Hear it led by guitar Peter Bernstein Quartet✓
How the tune works
Thirty-two bars in four sections of eight, A B A C, all in E♭. The A section sits on E♭maj7 for two bars, moves through E♭m7 and A♭7, rests on Fm7 for two bars, and ends with A♭m7 and D♭7. The B section plays E♭maj7, F♯m7 B7, Fm7 and B♭7, then plays those four bars a second time. The A section comes back unchanged. The last section starts with the same four bars as B, then plays Gm7 and G♭m7, Fm7 and B♭7, and settles on E♭maj7 for the final two bars. Published charts differ in a few bars, which the note under the chart lists.
Read each line as four bars. Two chords in one bar share it equally. The 32 bars make one chorus, and the last bar leads back to bar 1.
Seven charts on the iReal Pro forum thread were compared: the Fifth Edition Real Book changes and six user charts. This chart follows the chords the user charts share. They agree on E♭m7 in bar 3 and Fm7 in bar 5, and most have A♭7 in bar 4 and a second bar of Fm7 in bar 6. The Real Book changes have B♭m7 E♭7 A♭maj7 A♭maj7 in bars 3 to 6, and a poster on the thread calls those changes wrong. Some charts write Gm7 or E♭maj7 with G in the bass in bars 9, 13 and 25. The last four bars vary most. The Real Book changes and one user chart play B♭7, Gm7 G♭m7, Fm7 B♭7 in bars 28 to 30, as drawn here. Two charts play Dm7♭5 G7 in bar 28, and one plays Dm7 G7, Cm7 F7, Fm7 B♭7, which a poster says is the turnaround on the recording. This chart is a lead-sheet reading and does not transcribe any one take.
Source: iReal Pro Forums: Four - Miles Davis (Fifth Edition Real Book changes and user charts)
Listen in this order
Play all 8 on YouTube ↗The path covers one 32-bar form in eight settings: Miles Davis's 1954 quartet and 1956 quintet, Red Garland's quartet, a vocal group, a tenor sax set, a 1964 live quintet, a piano trio and a guitar quartet. Listen for the same four sections each time.
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Step 1 · Learn the song Now playing
Miles Davis Quartet 1954
Miles Davis Quartet
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- Listen for
- One horn and a rhythm section: trumpet, piano, bass and drums. At 4:03 it is the shortest take on this path, so it is a good one to hear straight through while you count the 32 bars.
- Try this
- Play the chords of the first A section (bars 1 to 8 of the chart below) along with the record, one chord per bar. If chords are too much, play only the root of each chord.
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Step 2 · Hear a full quintet Now playing
Miles Davis Quintet 1956
Workin' with the Miles Davis Quintet
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- Listen for
- A tenor sax joins the trumpet, and Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones make up the rhythm section. The take runs over seven minutes, more than three minutes longer than the 1954 quartet's.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords along with the record, one chord per bar. Each time the chords come back to the first bar, make a mark on a page and count how many times the form goes round.
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Step 3 · Hear a pianist lead it Now playing
Red Garland Quartet 1957
Red Garland Revisited!
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- Listen for
- Garland leads on piano, with Kenny Burrell on guitar, Paul Chambers on bass and Art Taylor on drums. Garland is also the pianist in step 2, so you can compare how he plays the tune as a sideman and as a leader.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords on piano or guitar with the record, one chord per bar, for one full chorus of 32 bars. Stop at the end of the chorus and start again from bar 1 at the next one.
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Step 4 · Hear the tune with words Now playing
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross with Zoot Sims 1959
The Swingers!
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- Listen for
- Three singers, Jon Hendricks, Dave Lambert and Annie Ross, with Zoot Sims on tenor sax and a rhythm section. Follow the singers through the 32 bars and notice where each section of the form starts.
- Try this
- Sing or hum along with the singers for one chorus, then play the chart's chords while they sing, one chord per bar. If you can play the melody, play it softly under the singers and check where you differ.
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Step 5 · Hear a long tenor sax take Now playing
Joe Henderson with the Wynton Kelly Trio 1968
Four
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- At 12 minutes this take is about three times as long as the 1954 quartet's, so the 32 bars come round many times. Keep count by listening for the return to the first chord of the form.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords along with the record for one chorus, one chord per bar. Playing along with the solos needs the skill of improvising over changes; a smaller version is to play only the root of each chord in time.
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Step 6 · Hear the 1960s quintet Now playing
Miles Davis Quintet 1964
‘Four’ & More: Recorded Live in Concert
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- Listen for
- Listen to Hancock, Carter and Williams answering the soloists. The writer Ian Carr described this rhythm section as in constant dialogue with whoever was soloing.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords with the record for one chorus. If you lose your place, wait for the form to come back to bar 1 and start again there; the chords are the same 32 bars as on the 1954 record.
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Step 7 · Hear a piano trio Now playing
Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette 2001
My Foolish Heart
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Only piano, bass and drums: Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette. With no horn, all of the playing comes from these three.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords on any chord instrument with the take, one chord per bar, for one chorus. A smaller version is to play only the bass note of each chord.
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Step 8 · Hear it led by guitar Now playing
Peter Bernstein Quartet 2008
“Four (Live)”, Live at Smalls
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Guitar leads, with Richard Wyands on piano, John Webber on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums. Cobb also plays drums on step 5, so you can compare his playing in two different years.
- Try this
- Play the chart's chords on guitar or piano with the record, one chord per bar. The take runs over ten minutes, so pick one chorus of 32 bars and play it from start to finish without stopping.
More great versions
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Anita O'Day with Marty Paich and his Orchestra 1958
Anita Sings the Winners
A vocal take of under three minutes with Marty Paich's orchestra, recorded for Verve in 1958.
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Phineas Newborn Jr. 1961
The Great Jazz Piano of Phineas Newborn Jr.
A piano trio take under five minutes, recorded in Los Angeles in 1961 with Sam Jones on bass and Louis Hayes on drums.
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Miles Davis Quintet 1965
“Four (Live at the Plugged Nickel, Chicago, IL, 2nd Set)”, The Complete Live at the Plugged Nickel 1965
The complete second-set take from the 1965 Chicago club run, over fifteen minutes long, with the same rhythm section as the 1964 concert.
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Dexter Gordon Quartet 1975
Bouncin' with Dex
Dexter Gordon on tenor sax with Tete Montoliu on piano, recorded in Copenhagen in September 1975 and issued in 1976.
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Chet Baker 1987
Chet Baker in Tokyo - Four
Chet Baker's quartet playing Four live in Tokyo in June 1987, with Harold Danko, Hein van de Geijn and John Engels.