Coltrane's Giant Steps Patterns
This transcription analysis decodes John Coltrane’s solo over “Giant Steps” to identify the most common patterns he uses to outline the changes as well as to to determine other insights from his improvised solo. Mastering John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” is a rite of passage for jazz improvisers, featuring a fast tempo, fast harmonic rhythm (the rate at which chords change), and a structure which rotates around three main key centers. I have read that the key to improvising over the tune is to outline each individual chord using arpeggios and simple patterns, such as 1235, 3135, etc. This is a sensible approach, given that the underlying harmony (called “Coltrane Changes,” which I will describe in a future post) is the main feature of the tune, so playing mostly chord tones or simple scalar lines best showcases the underlying harmony. I thought it would be a good exercise to decode Coltrane’s solo over “Giant Steps” and determine every patt...