So What:

"So What" is a hip song based on modal jazz from Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue", my all time fav recording. It's based on Dm Dorian and Ebm Dorian scales in a AABA structure. Where A is 8 bars of Dm and B is 8 bars of Ebm.

I hear the bass lines in my head and pretty much do a bass improve to play the song. Tonight I was trying to figure out some guitar comps for the song. At first I was stuck using Dm7, Em7, and Dm11 chords for basic comps but felt limited.

After much experimentation I found that you can harmonize the Dm dorian scale to pull out some other chords that make great subsitutions for the A parts (1/2 step up for the B section):

Dm dorian scale = D E F G A B C
Dm dorian scale harmonized = Dm Em F G Am Bm C

The chords gave me a base and using the 9th and 11th extensions gave me a whole new pallet to work with. I was able to play partial melodies with the chords in addition to following the bass lines and comps. I can't wait to experiement in a group setting. Should be a blast!

If anyone reading this has a correction to the theory please post a comment. I really want to know this stuff for expanding my toolset =)