The Coltrane changes (or Coltrane Matrix) are a substitute harmonic progression popularized by jazz musician John Coltrane on his 1960 album Giant Steps, specifically in his compositions "Giant Steps" and "Countdown", the latter of which is a reharmonized version of Miles Davis's "Tune Up." A chord progression (also chord sequence and harmonic progression or sequence), as its name implies, is a series of chords played in order. ... A jazz musician is someone who plays or sings jazz music. ... Coltrane redirects here. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Giant Steps is a 1960 album by jazz musician John Coltrane. ... Giant Steps is the first track on the album of the same name by John Coltrane, and is 4 minutes and 49 seconds long. ... Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was an American jazz musician, widely considered to be one of the most influential of the 20th century. ...

The changes serve as a pattern of chord substitutions for the ii-V-I progression (supertonic-dominant-tonic) and are noted for the tonally unusual root movement down by major thirds (as opposed to the usual minor or major seconds, thus the "giant steps"). A chord substitution is the use of one chord in the place of another in a chord progression. ... ii-V-I is a very common chord progression used in a wide variety of music genres. ... In music or music theory, the supertonic is the second degree of the scale, it is the second note of a diatonic scale. ... The word dominant has several possible meanings: In music theory, the dominant or dominant note (second most important) of a key is that which is a perfect fifth above the tonic; in just intonation the note whose pitch is 1. ... The tonic is the first note of a musical scale, and in the tonal method of music composition it is extremely important. ... Tonality is a system of writing music according to certain hierarchical pitch relationships around a key center or tonic. ... A major third is the larger of two commonly occuring musical intervals that span three diatonic scale degrees. ...

Influences

David Demsey, professor and saxophonist, cites a number of influences leading toward's Coltrane's development of these changes. Miles Davis, who mentored Coltrane in many ways, was in the late 1950s moving toward the modal style of Kind of Blue. In playing that style, Coltrane found it "easy to apply the harmonic ideas I had... I started experimenting because I was striving for more individual development." He also played with pianist Thelonious Monk during this period, whose unusual harmonic and rhythmic innovations contributed greatly to Coltrane's musical development. Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was an American jazz musician, widely considered to be one of the most influential of the 20th century. ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Modal jazz is jazz played using musical modes rather than chord progressions. ... Kind of Blue is a jazz album by musician Miles Davis, released on August 17, 1959. ... Thelonious Sphere Monk (October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was a jazz pianist and composer. ...

Coltrane studied harmony at the Granoff School of Music in Philadelphia, exploring contemporary techniques and theory. He also spent much time studying the Thesaurus of Scale and Melodic Patterns by Nicolas Slonimsky (1947), which additionally served as practice material. This article needs to be wikified. ... Nicolas Slonimsky (April 27, 1894 - December 25, 1995) was a Russian-American composer, conductor, music critic, musician, and author. ...

It is also speculated that the bridge of the Rodgers and Hart song "Have You Met Miss Jones?", the only jazz standard to incorporate a major thirds cycle (shown by the *), may have inspired Coltrane's innovation. Rodgers and Hart was the songwriting team consisting of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. ... Have You Met Miss Jones? is a popular song. ... Jazz standard refers to a tune that is widely known, performed, and recorded among jazz musicians. ... A major third is the larger of two commonly occuring musical intervals that span three diatonic scale degrees. ...

 * * * * | BbM7 | Abm7 Db7 | GbM7 | Em7 A7 | DM7 | Abm7 Db7| GbM7 |Gm7 C7 | 

Play the chord progression for the "Have You Met Miss Jones?" bridge section

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The major thirds cycle

The standard Western chromatic scale has twelve semitones. When arranged according to the circle of fifths, it looks like this: The chromatic scale is a scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone or half step apart. ... In music theory, the circle of fifths (or cycle of fifths) is an imaginary geometrical space that depicts relationships among the 12 equal-tempered pitch classes comprising the familiar chromatic scale. ...

Image File history File links Fifths. ...

Looking above at the marked chords from "Have You Met Miss Jones?", D-Gb-Bb are spaced a major third apart. On the circle of fifths it appears as an equilateral triangle:

Image File history File links Diagram to demonstrate the thirds cycle; derived from Fifths. ...

By rotating the triangle, all of the thirds cycles can be shown. Note that there are only four unique thirds cycles. This approach can be generalized; different interval cycles will appear as different polygons on the diagram. In music, interval cycles, unfold a single recurrent interval in a series that closes with a return to the initial pitch class, and are notated by George Perle using the letter C, for cycle, with an interval class integer to distinguish the interval. ...

"Tune Up" and "Countdown"

 ii V I ii V I | Em7 | A7 | DM7 - | Dm7 | G7 | CM7 - | 

Play this "Tune Up" excerpt chord progression

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These are the first eight bars of the Miles Davis composition "Tune Up." The chord changes are relatively simple, a straightforward application of the ii-V-I progression, which is extremely common in jazz. ii-V-I is a very common chord progression used in a wide variety of music genres. ...

 ii * * I ii * * I | Em7 F7 | BbM7 Db7 | GbM7 A7 | DM7 | Dm7 Eb7 | AbM7 B7 | EM7 G7 | CM7 | 

Play this "Countdown" excerpt chord progression

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Coltrane modified it into "Countdown", which appears to be much more complex. The ii and I remain, but in between are placed the other two chords(*) from the major thirds cycle centered around each I . Preceding each chord from the major thirds cycle is its V chord.

An earlier Coltrane piece, Lazy Bird, also features, in its 'A' section, two tonal centres a major third apart. Lazy Bird is a composition by John Coltrane, first appearing on his 1957 album Blue Train. ...

The standard substitution

Although "Giant Steps" and "Countdown" are perhaps the most famous examples, both of these compositions use slight variants of the standard Coltrane changes (The first eight bars of "Giant Steps" use a shortened version that doesn't return to the "I" chord, and in "Countdown" the progression begins on the IIm7 each time.). The standard substitution can be found in the tune "26-2" (a re-harmonization of Charlie Parker's "Confirmation") and on Coltrane's arrangement of the standard "But Not for Me." weroifjwaoerifjowierjfowijfow;ijf;owiejf;owijf;owiejf;owaijefowaiejfwoaiejfwaoiejfweoaijfwaoeifjwaoeifjwoeifjwoeijfwoiejfwoiejfwoiejfwioejfwoiejfwioejfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff

See also

• Giant Steps (composition)

Giant Steps is the first track on the album of the same name by John Coltrane, and is 4 minutes and 49 seconds long. ...

Further reading

• Demsey, David (1996). John Coltrane Plays Giant Steps. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corp. ISBN 0-7935-6345-3.. 
• Weiskopf, Walt; Ramon Ricker (1991). Coltrane - A Player's Guide to His Harmony. New Albany, Indiana: Jamey Aebersold. 

External links

• The Giant Steps Progression and Cycle Diagrams (155 KB PDF) - Dan Adler
• "Countdown" formula - David Baker
• Giant Steps (in minute detail) - SongTrellis