How To ACTUALLY USE Coltrane Changes (other than over Giant Steps!)

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In this video we will be doing a brief overview of what the Coltrane cycle is and, more importantly, where you can use it in jazz standards that are not Giant Steps :)
These changes are fairly complicated but through a combination of knowledge of how to make the cycle combined with using triads and 1235 patterns, we can start to develop some usable language in our solos almost right away.
Let me know if you have any questions!
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[@Flewti2]

Friends, For melodic variety, play the prime notes (three chord tones in a series with the second note as a passing tone), reverse the notes (retrograde), invert the notes, and reverse the inversions (retrograde inversions). J.S. Bach wrote thousands of notes in hundreds of pieces using those patterns. Good luck.

[@ValirAmaril]

interesting. second note as a passing tone how?

[@CarapuceShiney]

Please explain this like I was 5 (I am french)

[@RaptorT1V]

++@@CarapuceShiney

[@mysund]

I guess thats why he didnt get to release any records...

[@TheAffluenza]

Amazing lesson. I have a sneaking suspicion that you could play just about any notes over a 2-5-1 as long as you play confidently and with great articulation and phrasing, but exercises like this are a great jumping-off point for creative choices.

[@Flewti2]

There is a "code" about where to place certain notes in relation to particular downbeats in the measure.

[@emmaclarkcomposer8251]

This is so helpful! I’m a classical musician but find this knowledge so useful and very well-explained.

[@nickmainella]

Glad it was helpful!

[@hakonosatowakugai7256]

This is the clearest way I have heard it explained. Thank you!

[@guitareimprovisation]

Thanks Nick, great video !!

[@Vanolo999]

Great video and awesome breakdown!

[@tylerheintzen722]

Amazing! Gonna shed this today. Thanks man.

[@widonaegele9465]

Nice Progression! Thank you!

[@bubbadoes6225]

One of the best Coltrane change videos :)

[@brokensemitone]

This lesson makes total sense. Thanks Nick!

[@nickmainella]

Glad it was helpful!

[@BassAtoZ]

Sensacional a explicação e a aplicação. Vou começar já meus estudos!!! Muito Obrigado! Absss

[@esharp13]

This is gold!!!⭐️👍

[@jovinl283]

Pretty clear, there are not a lot of people talking about coltrance changes application

[@jaimejones7473]

great! super understandable and easy to start applying!

[@nickmainella]

Glad it was helpful!

[@unready56]

great stuff!

[@haikel527]

great lesson

[@marianocharroqui8129]

thank you!! very cool

[@artofbrass]

Very good...Coltrane change...

[@ricknelsteel]

Very helpful thanks.

[@nickmainella]

Glad it was helpful!

[@jackwilloughby239]

While I was watching this I got the idea to switch out the Quality of the chords in Coltrane Changes, like starting with a B Diminished to a D7. I can't really hear that in my head, but it's intriguing.

[@dragolov]

Thank you!

[@visco09]

thank you so much

[@RenatoLotfi]

Pretty cool thanks

[@franciscofuchs490]

Nice! Thank you!

[@nickmainella]

Any time!

[@lighterwaves5659]

explained it in 2 seconds 🔥🔥🔥🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾

[@BauKim]

This has been the clearest video explanation of the changes with great audio and visual support! I am subscribing in hopes of learning more. Thank you very much sir!

[@tangoboy4jc]

Very explanatory indeed!

[@OM-md6ki]

Make more lessons bro this was too good

[@chrisspeksnijder1717]

again, thanks

[@luiselguera7056]

Nick, you are a genius on jazz theory conception.

[@nickmainella]

Thanks so much!

[@KANELASAO]

gracias

[@nickmainella]

de nada 😁

[@Lubawaandme]

HI YOU NICE & CLEVER

[@TheLuigigi]

Molto molto bene

[@KhojTheband]

Cool! Is this practically applied to minor 2-5-1s too in actual songs?

[@nickmainella]

Sure. Test it out and see if you like the sound. That's what it comes down to really 👍

[@henndawg42069]

Does anyone know the actual notes being played at 2:35? My voicings aren't nearly as good as this.

[@bobblues1158]

A good understanding of Nicholas Slonimsky´s " Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns" would be invaluable.As this was Coltrane`s source for for Giant Steps. The Ditone progression. Also I would recommend studying "The Joseph Schillinger System". This system was codified with Slonimsky. It is based on mathematics of Rhythm, Harmony and Melody. Was made for Hollywood Film Composers as a tool for creating good ,concrete film music on demand-this is back in the day when there were huge demands for film scores in a hurry. Nick, this lesson is spot on, and i am only recommending the source material for people interested in the mathematical reasoning behind the beautiful sounds resulting from it. Best Vibes, Bob

[@nickmainella]

Awesome info! Thanks, Bob!

[@OM-md6ki]

Thanks

[@gernblenstein1541]

Nice breakdown. Unfortunately I can't read or theory and I have no idea what you're talking about, but I can play and I have the ear. I loved the musical examples in this video because that's how I learn. I've also been committing Slonimsky's patterns to memory over the years, and as someone else mentioned, some of the greats obviously did the same.

[@ProdJamesCultz]

I’d recommend learning all your major n minor chords before learning this

[@jacktomchang9892]

Glen, if you have the ear, you don't need theory or reading. Many jazz greats learned it all by ear: Wes Montgomery, Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian, among others. Theory is for those of us that don't have the ear. I myself am musically speaking "color blind." So, I rely on transcriptions. Theory hasn't helped much because to me it is just a bunch of names.

[@ProdJamesCultz]

@@jacktomchang9892 yes you do need theory because if I ask you to play random different chords then what ? U can’t read off the paper all the time it’s not hard to learn music theory I did it in 4 years well more like 3

[@jacktomchang9892]

@@ProdJamesCultz I don't play with people that ask me to play random different chords. Do you think Miles wrote out all those tunes for his quintets? Nope. I've been doing this for 40 years and I learned all the theory and it has been very little help. It's just something Teachers do, because the hard stuff is too hard. Knowing (and I mean being able to "Hear") what inversion of a chord is being played is more important than knowing its name or its relationship to either a key or the chords before and after. When Duke Ellington asked Bud Powell to play Satin Doll on a recording, Bud didn't know the tune. He asked duke to whistle it for him. No sheet, no chords. If Theory worked, we would have been seeing the benefits since the 70's. They haven't materialized.

[@gernblenstein1541]

@@jacktomchang9892 Appreciate that, brother. I am finally working with a great teacher who understands dyslexia and is helping me add the theory and nomenclature that I need to be able to talk about music. eta: I'll finally be able to shout out the key changes to the audience!

[@AsmundKjus-yx3zk]

Hya. I missed why you start playing B over F? Was that part of the major third thing? What did i miss? (:

[@handledav]

col

[@ballefranz7059]

2:20 7:10

[@haley8004]

I don’t understand why would we superimpose Coltrane changes over a 251. What is the harmonic basis?

[@nickmainella]

To create tension and release and interesting new lines 👍

[@haley8004]

@@nickmainella I’m sure there is some reason why this in particular. Delving into this should be the interesting part afaict.

[@TravisMcInroy]

I still don't get it. How do I do this in B Major, using C#m, E and B as the ii-v-i chords?

[@Flewti2]

Travis, You will not be in the key of B Major. You will be in the key of Eb Major. Never mind the first chord is B Major. The tonal center or key of a piece does not always begin with the tonic or first chord of the scale. In the instance of the video example, the progression resolves to Eb Major, as the tonic or key center chord. Listen. You will hear it. Now let's go for the Coltrane progression. The first chord is B Major, followed by G Major, and resolving to Eb Major. Got it? Think about it. Here is your problem, now. It is an exercise in modulation. Take your instrument and play your scale of B Major, G Major, and Eb Major. Play those over and over again. Get your finger memory going. Your work isn't finished as yet. Go back to the video. Do you see the "passing chords" D7 and Bb7? Play those scales, too. Now you have five scales to practice play. Here is the big "bad" news. You will be required to play ALL of those scales OVER the ii, V7, I of the key of Eb Major. ii is Fmin7, V7 is Bb7, and Eb Major(7) is I(7). Don't worry about those. The keyboard and the rest of the band will be playing those. After all, you have five chord melodies to play over that ii, V7, I Major(7), already. You are busy changing keys. This key changing is a factor that challenges musicians trying to play Coltrane's "Giant Steps" piece. There will be different tonal centers going on, at the same time ("change keys"). Your melody will be played over the Coltrane changes in the video, But those melodies are modulating (changing keys) because the chord changes are DEFINING the melody. The melody is known as a chord scale melody.

[@seanonel]

@@Flewti2 I'm not Travis, but thanks for taking the time to write this...

[@josefmoveyourself7234]

😎👌🏻🎷

[@nyambe]

These patters do not sound like that when I play them lol