Nardis (Miles Davis) – Chord Melody & Jazz Guitar Solo

Nardis is a jazz standard written by Miles Davis for Cannonball Adderley’s album Portrait of Cannonball, which also featured a young Bill Evans. Strangely enough, Miles never recorded it himself, but the song became a signature piece for Bill Evans, who played it regularly with his trio.

There’s a bit of controversy about who actually wrote Nardis. The tune is officially credited to Miles Davis, but many musicians believe Bill Evans had a hand in writing it or even wrote the bulk of it himself.

In this lesson, you will learn a chord-melody version of Nardis played over a backing track and a solo over its chord changes.

 

 

Recommended listening:

• Julian “Cannonball” Adderley Quintet – Portrait of Cannonball (1958)
• Bill Evans Trio – Explorations (1961)
• Jimmy Raney & Doug Raney – Nardis (1983)
• Chet Baker – Candy (1985)
• Charlie Haden – The Private Collection (1985)
• The Jack Wilkins Trio – Call Him Reckless (1989)
• Philip Catherine Trio (with Chet Baker) – I Remember You (1991)
• Mike Stern – Standards (And Other Songs) (1992)
• Jacky Terrasson – Smile (2002)
• Doug Raney, Dave Stryker, Freddie Bryant – Jam Sessions Vol. 10 (2004)
• John Abercrombie Quartet – Up and Coming (2017)

 

JGO+ members can download the PDF, Guitar Pro file, audio, and backing track from the download page.

 

Nardis -Video

 

Nardis – Melody

The melody of Nardis draws from the E double harmonic major scale (measures 2 and 6-8).

This scale is the source of the tune’s “Middle Eastern” color: a major scale with a b2 and b6, creating two augmented seconds.

This scale is also known as Gypsy major, Byzantine, Hijaz Kar, and it appears in some Indian ragas (Mayamalavagowla raga, Bhairav raga) as well.

 

E Double Harmonic Major Scale	E	F	G#	A	B	C	D#
	1	b2	3	4	5	b6	7

 

 

Backing Track

Listen & Play-Along

Nardis – Guitar Solo

Form: AABA (32 bars)
Key: E minor

There’s an ongoing debate about whether Nardis should be considered a modal tune. It was written during Miles Davis’s modal period, the same era that produced Milestones and Kind of Blue.

The A-sections center around E minor, with a short modulation to E major in bar 8 of the form.

The B-section moves to C major,  using more traditional harmonic movement before returning to the modal E minor sound.

I open the solo with the well-known jazz pattern often referred to as The Lick.

For most of the solo, I use the E minor pentatonic and E minor blues scale, combined with arpeggios to outline the chord tones where the harmony shifts.

 

Listen & Play-Along

 

 

 

More Miles Davis Lessons:

• Four
• Solar
• So What
• Miles Davis for Guitar