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solo<br />
Woodshed | by Shawn Purcell<br />
Peter Bernstein<br />
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Peter Bernstein’s Motivic Guitar Solo<br />
On ‘Means And Ends’<br />
The ability to “tell a story” during an improvised<br />
solo is perhaps the superlative goal<br />
for every jazz musician. It is common to<br />
hear improvisers construct solos by stringing<br />
together their hippest patterns and licks, but<br />
the larger challenge facing the jazz improviser<br />
is the development of these ideas to craft a<br />
cohesive musical statement. Jazz guitarist Peter<br />
Bernstein has mastered this art. Through the<br />
use of melodic and rhythmic repetition and<br />
development, Bernstein consistently improvises<br />
solos that are motivically unified and compositional<br />
in nature.<br />
“Means And Ends” is an up-tempo minor<br />
blues recorded on Bernstein’s 1997 album<br />
Brain Dance (Criss Cross). The guitarist’s<br />
relaxed and swinging solo on “Means And<br />
Ends” exemplifies his adroit ability to develop<br />
small amounts of melodic and rhythmic information,<br />
producing a powerful musical statement<br />
over this often-played form.<br />
The key to any story is a strong introduction.<br />
Bernstein grabs the listener’s attention in<br />
measures 1 and 2 by playing a line spanning<br />
nearly three octaves in less than two measures.<br />
He achieves this large intervallic range through<br />
the use of 7th chord and triadic arpeggios<br />
over the underlying harmony. In this example,<br />
Bernstein uses ascending Bm7 and Bm<br />
triad arpeggios over F#m7 (b5), finishing with<br />
a descending B augmented triad over B7 (#5).<br />
The first example of motivic development<br />
occurs in measure 4. Bernstein plays a line<br />
based out of E Dorian, and develops this melodic<br />
idea throughout the entire solo. In measure<br />
40, he plays this motive again, creating a slight<br />
rhythmic variation by dropping the first note<br />
of the original motive. The measure 40 motive<br />
is played again in measure 62, however it is<br />
rhythmically displaced by one beat. In measure<br />
72, Bernstein plays this motive again, now with<br />
a rhythmic displacement of two beats. The last<br />
example of this motive occurs in measure 81.<br />
Bernstein starts the line on the upbeat of beat<br />
1, as in measure 40, but in this example he varies<br />
the end of the melodic line.<br />
Bernstein sets up a recurring harmonic<br />
motive by resolving to the natural-six scale<br />
degree on the Em7 in measure 13, at the end<br />
of the first chorus. He resolves to this scale<br />
degree at the end of the second, third and sixth<br />
choruses, as shown in measures 25, 37 and 73.<br />
The recurring resolution to this colorful scale<br />
degree also adds to the highly motivic quality<br />
of the solo. Furthermore, Bernstein employs<br />
the E minor pentatonic scale almost exclusively<br />
over the entire first chorus, creating a strong<br />
bluesy flavor.<br />
An example of motivic repetition, specifically<br />
melodic sequencing, occurs in the third<br />
chorus. Bernstein opens this chorus with a<br />
four-measure phrase (measures 27–30), then<br />
transposes this idea up a perfect fourth in measures<br />
31–33, employing a slight rhythmic vari-<br />
104 DOWNBEAT DECEMBER 2011