A ‘Trane Back@sswards - The Cycle of Ascending Major Thirds
"Giant Steps, Giant Steps, Giant Steps"! How we love ya! As one of John Coltrane's best known originals, it's been an obstacle course as well as a right of passage for several generations of aspiring improvisers since its recorded inception in 1959.
Despite its notoriety, "Giant Steps" is but one of 9 known Coltrane originals in which he featured, in whole or in part, the Cycle of Descending Major 3rds, aka "Coltrane Changes ("Countdown", "Satellite" and "26-2" are some of the others).
Originally, 'Trane's intended use of this cycle was as a substitution for the more mundane ii-V7 harmonic movement as well as a device, which in his own words, "...would take me out of the ordinary path".
Since the Cycle of Major 3rds uses three key centers and divides the octave into 3 equal parts, regardless of direction (eg. B-G-Eb / descending or B-Eb-G / ascending), this poses a question: What's the difference in the quality and effect of a descending cycle (Coltrane Changes, aka Giant Steps Changes), as opposed to an ascending one?
To ponder this query, let's take a few giant steps back, so that we might get a more cosmic view of the larger picture. Shall we?
Despite its notoriety, "Giant Steps" is but one of 9 known Coltrane originals in which he featured, in whole or in part, the Cycle of Descending Major 3rds, aka "Coltrane Changes ("Countdown", "Satellite" and "26-2" are some of the others).
Originally, 'Trane's intended use of this cycle was as a substitution for the more mundane ii-V7 harmonic movement as well as a device, which in his own words, "...would take me out of the ordinary path".
Since the Cycle of Major 3rds uses three key centers and divides the octave into 3 equal parts, regardless of direction (eg. B-G-Eb / descending or B-Eb-G / ascending), this poses a question: What's the difference in the quality and effect of a descending cycle (Coltrane Changes, aka Giant Steps Changes), as opposed to an ascending one?
To ponder this query, let's take a few giant steps back, so that we might get a more cosmic view of the larger picture. Shall we?
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