Giant Steps
A bebop jazz standard written by John Coltrane in 1959. It's characterized by an uncommon, complex and rapidly changing chord progression, with the tone center constantly shifting between B, G, and Eb. making improvising over it a real challenge.
#----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE---------------------------------# #This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the # #song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research. # #------------------------------------------------------------------------------## From: parker_b%aplvax.span AT Fedex.Msfc.Nasa.Gov Here's a chord-melody arrangement of the head to ``Giant Steps'' by John Coltrane. Most of the [[chord voicing|chord voicings]] have been opened to mostly fourth, tritone, and fifth intervals (so-called ``quartal harmony''), giving a very nice ambiguous sound. These voicings are easy to finger on the guitar and sound good. I give the chord names in two forms: a name for a simple ``closed'' voicing, (top) and a name for the more open or extended voicing (bottom). Giant Steps by John Coltrane harm. by Bo Parker (parker_b%aplvax.span@fedex.msfc.nasa.gov) Bmaj7 D7 Gmaj7 Bb7 Ebmaj7 Am7 D7 B6/9 D6/9 Gmaj7 Bb13 Eb6/9 Am9 D6/9 E--14---10----7----------6-------7----5---| B--14---10----7-----8----6-------5----5---| G--13----9----7-----7----5-------5----4---| D--13----9----5-----6----5-------5----4---| A-----------------------------------------| E-----------------------------------------| Gmaj7 Bb7 Ebmaj7 F#7 Bmaj7 Fm7 Bb7 G6/9 Bb6/9 Ebmaj7 F#13 B6/9 Fm9 Bb9 E--10----6-----3-----------2------3----1--| B--10----6-----3------4----2------1----1--| G---9----5-----3------3----1------1----1--| D---9----5-----1------2----1------1----0--| A-----------------------------------------| E-----------------------------------------| Ebmaj7 Am7 D7 Gmaj7 C#m7 F#7 Bmaj7 Eb6/9 Am9 D6/9 G6/9 C#m9 F#9 B6/9 E--6------7---5----10----11---9-----14---| B--6------5---5----10-----9---9-----14---| G--5------5---4-----9-----9---9-----13---| D--5------5---4-----9-----9---8-----13---| A----------------------------------------| E----------------------------------------| Fm7 Bb7 Ebmaj7 C#m7 F#7 Fm9 Bb13b9 Eb6/9 C#m11 F#13 repeat from beginning E--15---15-----18-----14----14---| B--13---12-----18-----16----16---| G--13---13-----17-----16----15---| D--13---12-----17-----14----14---| A--------------------------------| E--------------------------------| To tie in with the discussion of picking technique, I pick these as block chords using either all four fingers or the first three fingers (no thumb, no arpeggiation). When I pick stuff like this, I do not anchor my right hand at all, and I play over the sound hole. I can't really solo over these changes(!), but it's fun just to play the head. Enjoy
From: tgannon AT charlie.usd.edu (spideir) GIANT STEPS (John Coltrane): melody chords to "Head" chorus --guitar arrangement: tcg, 1987 --4/4 // BM // Allegro (pretty quick) --head so "jagged" and wide in its range, melody at times had to be transposed up/down an octave. . . . --fingerstyle or pick-&-3-fingers easiest; plectrum strums'll work if yu' deaden "x" strings with sides of adjacent fingers. . . . --note durations: / quarter note /- eighth note /-. dotted eighth /= sixteenth note /_/_/_/ tied notes [hey, _I_ understand it!--I think. . . .] BM7 D7 GM7 Bb[7/]6 Eb[M7] Am9 D9 x_x___ x____x _x__xx x__oxx _x__xx xx____ xx____ 2 |o|||o 3 ||||o| 3 o||||| 1 |o|||| 1 ||o||| 5 ||ooo| 4 ||o||| |||o|| ||o||| ||oo|| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||ooo ||||o| |o|o|| |||||| ||o||| o||o|| |||||o |||||| / / / /-. /=_/_/ / / GM7 Bb7/6 EbM7 F#7/6 BM7 Fm9 Bb7 x_x___ xx____ x____x x____x x_x___ x____x x____x 10 |o|||o 6 ||o||o 6 |o|||| 2 ||o||| 2 |o|||o 6 ||o||| 6 ||o|o| |||o|| |||o|| |||o|| |||o|| |||o|| |||||| |||o|| ||||o| ||||o| ||o|o| |o||o| ||||o| |o|oo| |o|||| / / / /-. /=_/_/ / /-. EbM7 Am9 D9 GM7 C#m9 F#7/6 x_x___ xx____ xx____ x_x___ x____x x____x 6 |o|||o 5 ||ooo| 4 ||o||| 10 |o|||o 2 ||o||| 2 ||o||| |||o|| |||||| |||ooo |||o|| |||||| |||o|| ||||o| |||||o |||||| ||||o| |o|oo| |o||o| /=_/_/ / /-. /=_/_/ / /-. BM7 Fm9 Bb7/6 EbM7 F#7/6 x_x___ x____x xx____ x_x___ x____x 2 |o|||o 6 ||o||| 6 ||o||| 6 |o|||o 2 ||o||o |||o|| |||||| |||o|| |||o|| |||o|| D.C. ||||o| |o|oo| |o||o| ||||o| ||||o| /=_/_/ / /-. /=_/_/ / / *===*===*===*===*===*===*===*===*===*===*===*===*===*===*===*===*===*===* | Thomas C. Gannon | tgannon AT charlie.usd.edu | U of SoDak (Vermillion) | * ------------------------------- _-^-_ ------------------------------- * | "--If I decide to practice a / o )=\ slight movement from right | * to left . . . or from left { /===} to right . . . it's * | nobody's business but my \ (=o=/ own." (_A_Day_for_Eeyore_) | *===*===*===*===*===*===*===*===* ^-_=^ *===*===*===*===*===*===*===*===*
Video
Dan Cohen's transcription movie of Coltranes Giant Steps
This is what John Coltrane's landmark tune and solo look like when they come to life on paper. Apologies to all the saxophonists out there who are annoyed to find that this is a transcription for piano. (more)
The Giant Steps animation by Michal Levy
External links
- The ‘Giant Steps’ Progression and Cycle Diagrams by Dan Adler. “The…Coltrane changes … is a musical cycle, and like all musical cycles is based on easy to memorize formulas … all the secrets of Jazz harmonic progressions and substitutions can be deduced from studying cycles … everything from II-V-I patterns to Tritone substitutions to Coltrane changes can all be deduced from a simple set of rules…”
- Iain Houstons website has a great flash animation that shows how the chord progression moves around three keys.
- Michal Levy's animation of Animation of "Giant Steps" - About the Project Giant Steps.
- Giant Steps (in minute detail). Article by David Luebbert at SongTrellis, that explaines in detail what happens harmonically in “Giant Steps”.
- Listen to Andy Rothsteins take on Giant Steps arranged by Tony Senatore.
- Shai Cohen on Symmetric Harmony and "The Language Of Modern Jazz Music" - “In the recording of “Giant Steps” in 1960,John Coltrane introduced a new direction to the Language Of Modern Jazz. He broadened the strictness of the Bebop, and reassessed the tonal ways of making melodies. In view of the findings that each of the tonal idea can be played with different meanings…”