How To Make Beautiful Lines on Giant Steps

[@JensLarsen]

I am in a Coltrane mood with the videos these days :) The video Monday is also at least Coltrane related! 🙂 Do you play Giant Steps?

[@PH-ht9ml]

I personally don't - Giant Steps for me feels like Moment's Notice or Pannonica... I still have a feeling that "naaaah, not yet" and so far stick with 'easier' pieces like Solar or Tune Up. But maybe I'm wrong here? What is you approach on tackling such rapidly changing progressions while people find simpler tunes still challenging? But anyway - thanks for the video!! I think it's really valueable to see how your breaking things down (making all stuff look so simple : >), and your tips go way beyond the tune itself :)

[@JensLarsen]

Moments Notice is not that difficult if you have your II V vocabulary down. You should probably check out rhythm changes and go from those turnarounds into stuff like Giant Steps. That is an easy transition and you can never know your turnarounds too well!

[@DojoOfCool]

Been working on Giant Steps lately one of those tunes you can make as hard as you want. I've been using your lesson on soloing on one string (great video) maybe I'll try soloing on GS on one string, that will be quite a mental challenge whether I look at it as chords or cadences.

[@JensLarsen]

It certainly is, but also worth the work :)

[@FriedMetroid]

PH you didn't ask for my opinion but I've actually found Giant Steps easier than some other songs that might normally be considered simpler. Reason being, the changes go by so fast that they kind of tell you what to play , you don't have to really think that much. You just have to keep up. I find Tunes with more space more difficult

[@tohlfer]

Thanks Jens! Your strategies involving pentatonic scales have been particularly helpful.

[@JensLarsen]

That's great to hear! Glad you can put it to use!

[@blacklonggadogg]

Awesome method, Maestro Jens. As always, you have ways of simplifying intricate materials for us to use and incorporate into our own playing. We are blessed to have you.

[@JensLarsen]

You're very welcome! I am glad you like it! 🙂

[@jammerbirdi]

So this is great. All of your lessons are great and eye and ear opening for me even though I've been playing for 55 years and attended Berklee ages ago. I'm actually just getting around to Giant Steps. To be perfectly frank, I've only in the last year began to grasp and make progress at the principle problem of jazz. That of playing very specifically through changes. I've had many years when I could play some jazz, but life and not playing music for a living any more makes hanging onto progress a very slippery slope. I also, however, blame just how long it has taken for the language and analysis to catch up to that central challenge that jazz represents of playing through changes. I would recommend Bert Ligon's book on Linear Harmony and Hal Galper's Forward Motion. Also, just for approaches to jazz guitar I would suggest Garrison Fewell's Melodic Approach to Jazz Guitar and the Charles Chapman book called Drop Two Voicing for Guitar. One more is Martin Taylor's Beyond Chord Melody which I would retitle as just How to Play the Dang Guitar. I'm not a real theoretical musician. I really just don't have the mind for that. So I've had to think in a different way. One thing I think is essential to playing Giant Steps is just a basic fluidity at playing 2-5s or 5-1s or 2-5-1s or whatever you want to call them. At Berklee we called them two-fives. Anyway. But one of those two-fives is a little different. It suggests that there is a home key to this song at that would be 'B'. Starts and turns around to 'B' and there are more 'B' two-fives (by my math) than 'G' and 'Eb' two-fives. So one thing that you can do to create a musicality to your solos over Giant Steps is make a slight musical distinction between the 'B' two-fives and the others. One way would be to play 'pretty' on the two-fives resolving to B and choppier bebop lines on the G and Eb two-fives. Another thing, related, that people starting out with Giant Steps might do is this, remembering that Giant Steps really is at this point, above all, a study for all of us jazz heads. Isolate the 2nd section with the 2-bar two-five-ones and just play over that for a while. START, and this is important, on the last bar, the C#-7 - F#7 that leads to the B in bar seven. That really is the Escher stair drawing part of the tune and it allows you to create a nice practice pad for two-fives. Anyway. Always great videos, Jens. Thanks for this opportunity to share my own thoughts. db As far as

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you! Glad you like the videos, especially since you have checked out so much material. I actually more hear Eb as the tonal center of Giant Steps, but that is a bit subjective. I find that the melody ends there 🙂

[@jammerbirdi]

Jens Larsen lol. Too late and too many beers. Thank you for clarifying the key the song is in. Can’t say it’s the first time I had that wrong. ‘B’ does work nicely for the last ten bars though. ;-)

[@phish1]

Now that was a great lesson. Easy to understand and gives me clear and direct excercises to work on the get through the changes. Thanks!

[@JensLarsen]

You're very welcome! Great you like it! 🙂 If you are on Facebook you should Join us in the Facebook Jazz Guitar Group Community: bit.ly/InsidersFBGroup

[@zenncatt]

Hi Jens, I'm glad you delved a little deeper in this video regarding Giant Steps. While not a tune that I often play/improvise over, I did, when I first started studying it, and in my simplified way of thinking, try to reduce all the chords into their respective parent key centers. Maybe it's just a cop out, but it's a good way for me to wrap my mind around the complex changes. I also try to impose the Coltrane Cycle over a cadence that doesn't modulate. I just keep in mind that the three keys centers are based on a Major Augmented interval. Thank you for all you do. Have a great weekend.

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you like it! Have a great weekend too! :)

[@CarlosNaranjoMUSICCHANNEL]

'Giant steps' it has been almost a nightmare for me to play! Despite I'm intermediate in jazz so I should wait being more experienced, I've to say that because your advices now I see the tree into the forest :). Didn't know about the pentatonic applied in that way so I exported it to my playing in 'I love you Porgy' and it sounds delightful!. Thank SO MUCH Mr. Larsen, you made my day :)

[@joehernandez5600]

Jens, great lesson. I have worked on GS on and off for 20 years. This lesson is one of the single most helpful I have ever seen. The simple change in the chords really helped me see the layout on the fretboard much better. Thanks.

[@JensLarsen]

That's really great to hear Joe! Glad you find it useful!! 🙂

[@timrush1315]

hell ya Joe!!!

[@tobychups6897]

Thanks Jens, it's a great video full of useful ideas!

[@JensLarsen]

Glad it was helpful!

[@omcho89]

Fantastic lesson! I am glad you are encouraging basic arpeggios as proven method for improvization, because that basically sums up what many of us can do at all, besides scale noodling :D. Keep up with good work!

[@JensLarsen]

Thanks Omar! Keeping it simple is certainly where it is at! 🙂

[@sibusisogumede]

Tis is oe of the best video,well explained,very clear.thanks sir l have been looking for such a video for a long time!.

[@JensLarsen]

You're very welcome! I am glad you like it! 🙂

[@FlorisV82]

Great video!

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you 🙂

[@Chris_music_channel]

Another great video. I attempted playing these changes a long time ago as a study with drop two voicings - 5th string sets, and 4th string sets. Those 4th string drop two sets were tricky since they incorporated some quartal harmony in there. Amazing how many ways this can be reharmonized.

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you! It's true there are a lot of ways to understand and harmonize this! Probably that is also what makes it interesting?

[@jkdsonly6233]

I woke up thinking about Giant steps and now here I am!

[@JensLarsen]

Go for it 🙂

[@pavelmirga3362]

Thank you for great video, Jens! :)

[@JensLarsen]

You're very welcome Pavel!

[@dkuntz2155]

Thank you Jens! Great lesson!

[@JensLarsen]

You're very welcome Duane! I am glad you found it useful 👍🙂

[@dkuntz2155]

Your lesson was very clearly explained. It made this legendary set of changes easier to actually start working on. I've only played simple blues and rock until now. I've always admired the chord structure and sound of jazz. Demonstrating the use of arpeggios made this and a lot of other things I've had trouble with more approachable. Can I use a sixth tone (13th) over a maj 7th or dominant 7th routinely or does that need special treatment?

[@JensLarsen]

@@dkuntz2155 Thanks Duane! You can use the 13th (or 6th) over a dom7th, that's no problem!

[@franckcebret4021]

Great lesson.. ! I saw an other way : make all the progression turn in different ii V I..quite easy to apply. Thanks Jens

[@JensLarsen]

Thanks Franck! Do you mean turn the Bmaj7 D7 Gmaj7 Bb7 Ebmaj7 into Ebm7 Ab7alt Bm7 E7alt Ebmaj7? I know that is possible, but it isn't that strong 🙂

[@franckcebret4021]

Yes, I was talking of this substitution:)

[@deyolouadeyinka7575]

Thanks jens

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you deyolou adeyinka I am glad you found it useful! 👍

[@michaelklunk9715]

love this! keep on rockin!

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you Michael! I am glad you found it useful! 👍

[@jorgeagustincastrosuarez3048]

Great Jens

[@josemolina959]

Cool Jens! 👍🏼🎼

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you José 🙂

[@christiankurtboutot5658]

Thanks again Jens...I m making "baby steps " and not yet "Giant steps" !!!!! lol but...one day...I might walk softly and creativly...

[@rillloudmother]

For me, the key to giant steps is to anticipate the cord changes by an 8th or 4trr almost every time. In the rest of the changes you start on the and of 1 or later.

[@JensLarsen]

I don't really hear that very often when I check out solos over those changes.

[@antsonc]

This is brilliant! I mainly use the first approach. I sometime use the second approach and I should check soon the third approach You suggest here. I don't use pentatonics too much because I'm not confident with playing 2 notes per string.

[@JensLarsen]

Cool! You should check out Pentatonics for that modern jazz sound that somehow comes from that :)

[@talmichles3260]

There is a great book by Joe Diario with 10 studies on Giant Steps. Covers pentatonics, bebop lines, etc...

[@JensLarsen]

Thanks Tal! I have heard of it but never checked it out :)

[@chrrev1]

Great, I would just add that the BM7 really is part of the C#m7/F#7/BM7 turnaround, in fact the Coltrane impro starts on the IIm...This way you get a better feel for the II/V/I and V/I blocks that make up these changes... At that point, you start thinking 2 or 3 chords at a time instead of chord by chord... It becomes much easier to hear articulations. Then sit down and decipher the Coltrane solo.

[@BrianHannah781]

Regarding the pentatonic scale approach, are there rules for which pentatonic to play over each chord? For instance, in a major scale, I see you play the iii pentatonic over the root (I), and over the dominant (V7), you play ii pentatonic. How do you may up the pentatonic scales with the other diatonic chords in a scale? Is there a pattern?

[@JensLarsen]

It is very context sensitive, but I guess you look at how much the pentatonic scale has in common with the chord. As with most other things in music: Simple rules will fail you if you apply them without thinking :)

[@545parsa]

Hey Jens, just wanted to take a moment to thank you for all your videos and all the information and teaching you've been giving. 2 years ago when I was just getting into jazz I was so confused about everything in the genre, but with your videos I was able to improve and grow as a jazz guitarist. Because of your help, I was able to get into my top music schools I was hoping to get into (San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Berklee College of Music) and grow to love jazz even more. I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for your videos and information you give.

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you Parsa! Congratulations on getting into the schools! It's great that you really put it to use! Keep working hard and keep at it 🙂

[@545parsa]

Thanks Jens, I'll make sure!

[@arvh1952]

superb lesson Jens. After watching a few of your videos its clear to me that its Arpeggios (and their variations and tensions associated with them) thats going to get me the correct sound. Let me ask you another question if I may.. whats the best way to grow muscle memory to get down the arpeggios in my head so i can truly improvise on the fly. TO be clear is there a particlular way to practice.. i.e start with dominants, then move to major 7 etc. for example? thank you sir.

[@JensLarsen]

I don't rely too much on muscle memory I think? But I mostly practiced diatonic arpeggios in the scales. There are several examples of it in these videos: kzbin.info/aero/PLWYuNvZPqqcHBi6TAQA8f7gWiLmk7Xv-d For me it was more about practicing the arpeggios in the context of the scale and trying to play a lot of different variations or sequences 🙂

[@arvh1952]

and I like this one too www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/soloing/diatonic_arpeggios_-_how_to_use_and_practice_them_with_jens_larsen.html :-)

[@JensLarsen]

A really old one 😄

[@bunchaasakit6797]

Thank you

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you like it! 👍

[@ethanmartin4015]

Great video Jens! I loved how you elaborated on interpreting the progressions so that you can get different scales and arpeggios based on the harmonic context (Did I say that right?) If you had a simple I-ii progression or a I-IV just on repeat, how would find ways to make your lines harmonically interesting, because it's hard for me to think of those chords in terms of moving anywhere, so I wouldn't really know any other way to interpret them. Would you just use arpeggios from the third or like the minor pentatonic from the 6th. Just looking for any way to spice up my lines on a simple progression :) Thanks for your excellent teaching Jens!

[@JensLarsen]

Thanks Ethan! Yes, you did say that right! 🙂 For a I-II progression there isn't as much happening, so you will quickly start adding extra chords or changning the sound of the chord to create more movement. To be honest I would probably prefer to work on making melodies with more basic things, so If we say: Cmaj7 to Dm7. Cmaj7: arps: Cmaj7, Em7, Am7 and Pentatonics: Em7 Am7 Dm7: Dm7,Fmaj7,Am7 and Dm and Am pentatonic Try to explore quartal and sus4 sounds? If you change it to Cmaj7#11 to Dm7 you have Bm and Dm penta or Bsus4 to Csus4. You can look for connections like that as well Hope that helps a bit?

[@ethanmartin4015]

Yes! This does help. I've also been watching a lot of your videos and been getting ideas from there. For me, I think it's just a matter of maintaining creativity on the spot when I don't have the chance to sit down and figure it out. Thanks again!

[@JensLarsen]

That's great! Just keep at it! 👍

[@samkirby3775]

I haven't heard too many legendary Guitarists play Giant steps so i don't know if that makes you a real Jazz Guitarist. I would say it is the most difficult thing to play though, or maybe Tal farlow playing Cherokee.

[@akbarhasan7824]

Thank you jens ☕️☕️

[@JensLarsen]

You're very welcome! I am glad you like it! 🙂

[@bunchaasakit6797]

How To use Tetrachord solo on ii V I in Major and minor Key .................. Thank a lot

[@JensLarsen]

Is that a question? 🙂

[@wobamusic]

First of all, thanx for another inspiring vid (all thumbs up!). I'm wondering if you don't mind using the minor pentatonics from the fifth over Dom. chords concerning the fourths (note G over D7, note Eb over Bb7). I'm always a little afraid of clashing with the thirds in these chords. Wouldn't it be nicer to create Alt.-Dom sounds ( Minor-P. from the b3 of each Dom.-Chord ) instead? Regards from Germany...

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you! In a progression like this the 4th interval is not so important, also because the harmonic rhythm is very fast. And actually the fast moving harmony makes altered dominants very in effective and unclear, remember that the point of an altered dominant is to sound out of place, but the original dominant is already out of place here. 🙂

[@NumHeavymetallic]

Thanks for uploading! I want to ask you some questions.I am trying to transcribe some Coltrane’s solo. Does this really help me ?

[@JensLarsen]

You're very welcome! Transcribing the solo won't teach you to improvise over the song, only improvising over the song will do that. But there is still stuff to be learned by checking out the solo.

[@crazyb3fan]

Your point is really well taken that it's not about soloing on Giant Steps here so much as the approach to getting this stuff under the fingers more seamlessly by applying the method to anything. I'm down to 80 then 100 then 120 bpm on Giant Steps to play that run you showed and I'm fine. But I'm never going to play that at pace. I'm not good enough. I'm now going to apply concept this to several other tunes I'm working on right now...Moonglow for example; which is a far easier progression. Thanks for an excellent lesson Jens.

[@JensLarsen]

Thanks Mike! You're completely right! Actually I would take some of these concepts and try to move them to more common progressions than what you have in Moonglow (beautiful tune btw..) If you work on this with turnarounds etc you will have stuff that you can easily use on many tunes

[@daniel09dailey]

This was nutrient rich!!

[@JensLarsen]

Great! That's what I go for!

[@Shuzies]

OK ...Out of the Park on this one.... When making all the chords Maj you change a five cord to a four chord. Is this just for the soloest. Or do you comp like this to? Thank you...ron

[@JensLarsen]

Well, it is mostly for the soloist, but if you comp like that it is the equivalent of playing sus4 chords on the dom7th chords so it is not that far out :)

[@Shuzies]

When you change to all Maj chords does the bass player follow you or does it work if the bass plays any 1,3,5,7 of the chords?

[@JensLarsen]

Probably it sounds better if the bass player sticks with the original roots, but half the time the bass player will play other chord tones on this progression because that makes for more melodic bass lines

[@Shuzies]

great thanks

[@daniel09dailey]

Proper!!

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you! :)

[@josiecrotwell8627]

thanks man, this tune is easy to comp over but soloing is very intimidating, it usually is moving by so quickly that all you can do is react, much less come up with coherent lines. I just re-wrote the changes using min7ths instead of dominants, and suddenly the neck is opening up - why didn't I think of this sooner? I know to substitute the min7 over dominant chords, but never thought of doing it on giant steps but it works beautifully. thanks as always great content!

[@JensLarsen]

Really happy you can use it Ted! 🙂

[@davestarns]

I’m enjoying playing through these concepts in practice with play-along tracks. Unfortunately, I can’t talk anyone I gig with into tackling Giant Steps on a gig...

[@JensLarsen]

Well, it will help with a lot of other songs to know this too :)

[@alexpavchinski]

Great video, thanks! What do you think about this approach: for the Bmaj7, take the iiim7 or Ebm7, and the tritone sub of D7, or Ab7, giving you a ii-V of Ebm7-Ab7. This converts the I and m3 up to Dominant for the target I Major 3rd below progression to a ii-V.

[@JensLarsen]

Ebm7 in a II V is not like Bmaj7 and the whole point of the D7 is to be clearly moving towards G, so in that respect I think you are missing the point of the harmony by doing that, but of course if you do that in one chorus then it is a nice effect.

[@alexpavchinski]

OK, thanks. I saw this concept on another video and just wanted your opinion on it.

[@christiankurtboutot5658]

14mn10 = greeeeaaat !!!!!

[@sakules]

yeah.. of course im practicing my giant steps... *grabs guitar*

[@JensLarsen]

Haha! Go for it! :)

[@svetlanajankovic5930]

sicko mode

[@foryou1324]

While it sounds good, I am really frustrated in understanding why.. Many of the notes aren't even on the same scale, what am I missing? Feels way too much to take in because jazz just seems to me (at the moment) like playing anything or any progression without any regard to the original scale.

[@JensLarsen]

Do you mean what I do or what GIant steps are? All my examples are just using the basic notes associated with the chords but looking at them in different subsets. I am curious, maybe I can help? 🙂

[@foryou1324]

For some reason it's really mind boggling for me to understand the concept of progressions that aren't diatonic. What makes these possible, why some sound good and some don't? Actually you've already helped, watched the first jazz learning video (under "How to begin with jazz guitar") and one of the first points you made is that jazz is about playing to moving chords. Which is different to playing under the same key. Thanks, today is probably the first day I'm actually trying to understand and get into it from scratch. I'm a classical guitar player with absolutely no useful musical theory knowledge, and it might be a big problem coming into jazz :p

[@JensLarsen]

Ok. I think you should just start learning some songs, then you will get the language into your ears and get more used to how these progressions work. Learning it from rules and explanations only is probably not a good idea 🙂

[@vincentparrella272]

So many player's not just guitar, who broke away from the norm,The Coltrane's,Parkers,Breckers and Montgomerys who gave new ideas to the musical spectrum. Awesome Lesson Jens!

[@marcush2461]

The elephant in the room here is of course speed.....

[@JensLarsen]

Not really. If you need to learn to play fast then Giant Steps is the wrong song to work on 🙂

[@rolfthrane9363]

the trick is how do you play Giant Steps alone with no other instruments or a second guitar - that is worth doing but not easy - I am tired of having the guitar dependent on other instruments

[@bernhardtmitdt2586]

watch Barry Harris' approach to Giant Steps ;-)