How to Reharmonize with Coltrane Changes | Jazz Piano Tutorial

Giant Steps" is a jazz composition by John Coltrane, featured as the opening track on his 1960 album of the same name. The piece is renowned for its complex harmonic structure, featuring rapid chord changes that cycle through three keys separated by major thirds, forming an augmented triad—later termed "Coltrane changes." Coltrane previously employed this technique in earlier works like "Moment's Notice" and "Lazy Bird" on the Blue Train album, and later expanded it in compositions such as "Countdown," "26 2," and "Fifth House," as well as reharmonizations of standards like "Body and Soul" and "Limehouse Blues." Similar harmonic concepts appear in "Naima" and "Like Sonny," and persisted into his modal period, notably in A Love Supreme, where "Giant Steps" cycles are applied over modal vamps to produce polytonal effects. The progression has influenced other jazz musicians, including Freddie Hubbard, who used it as the basis for "Dear John." Numerous artists have covered the piece, including Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, and Chaka Khan, who included it in a bebop medley. On the original recording, pianist Tommy Flanagan struggled improvising over the changes due to lack of rehearsal, resulting in a choppy solo; he later mastered the progression. Alternate takes feature Cedar Walton at piano, who declined to solo and played at a slower tempo.

John Coltrane's 'Giant Steps' (1959) exemplifies the Tritonic System, a harmonic approach where three tonal centers (Bb, G, and Eb) are connected by symmetric major third intervals, creating a mathematically coherent harmonic progression that moves through multiple tonalities while maintaining logical coherence. This system, derived from Javi's 'Missions,' uses Ionian scales for first-degree chords and Mixolydian for fifth-degree chords, with Coltrane's solo further simplifying to triads with ninths. The symmetric division of the scale ensures that despite rapid tonal changes, the music remains understandable because the brain recognizes the underlying mathematical pattern.

John Coltrane's 'Giant Steps' demonstrates how complex jazz chord progressions can be derived from simple geometric patterns on the circle of fifths, where dividing the 12 notes of Western music into 2, 3, 4, or 6 equal parts creates specific chord types (tritone, augmented, diminished seventh, whole tone) that form the basis of this nearly impossible-to-play jazz standard.

Shortly after recording 'Kind of Blue,' Coltrane recorded 'Giant Steps' as a leader for Atlantic Records, marking the pinnacle of his first career period. This album was like 'Blue Train' with steroids—many elements from 'Blue Train' were present but with much greater complexity. It featured the famous 'Coltrane Changes,' results of Coltrane's studies of Rimsky-Korsakov's treatises on melodic patterns. The book explains how an octave can be divided into equal parts: by tritone (two parts), by major thirds (four parts), by minor thirds (six parts), by semitones (twelve parts). Coltrane took the relationship of three equal parts by major thirds, where each part would establish a tonal center, and by adding the respective dominant chord in between, he created the famous 'Coltrane Changes.' The album also featured the 1-2-3-5 pattern, which became one of the greatest solos in jazz history.

John Coltrane's 1964 composition 'Crescent' and his 1959 'Giant Steps' are related through his process-driven compositional approach, where he explored the same musical ideas across different time periods; both compositions feature three equally weighted tonal centers (in Crescent: C minor, D minor, and E-flat minor; in Giant Steps: three major triads a major third apart), creating infinite-sounding chord sequences that evoke spiritual transcendence and demonstrate Coltrane's deep interest in the mystical implications of the number three, which he connected to religious symbolism like the Holy Trinity.

Coltrane changes are a jazz reharmonization technique that replaces a simple two-five-one progression by moving through key centers a major third apart (e.g., C to A♭ to E♭ to C), creating a more complex harmonic progression; however, this technique requires significant melody alteration and is not suitable for reharmonizing existing melodies, though it works well for original compositions like Giant Steps and Have You Met Miss Jones.

Coltrane Changes is a harmonic substitution technique developed by John Coltrane, characterized by three modulations separated by major thirds (such as C major, F major, and Bb major), which create a distinctive 'triangle of Coltrane' that divides the circle of fifths into an equilateral triangle; this technique can be applied to jazz standards by substituting traditional ii-V-I progressions with these three-tone modulations, requiring musicians to adapt the melody to match the new harmonic structure, as demonstrated in Coltrane's reinterpretations of 'Body and Soul' and 'Countdown' (a variation of 'Tune Up').

Have You Met Miss Jones is in F and contains major third cycles predating Coltrane's Giant Steps. The A section uses I - V of II - V - I pattern (Fmaj7 - Am7 - D7 - Gm7 - C7 - Fmaj7). The bridge uses a dominant cycle going down major thirds: Bb7 - Eb7 - Ab7 - Db7 - Gb7 - Bb7 - Eb7 - Ab7 - Db7 - Gb7 - Bb7.

'Giant Steps' (1960) represents Coltrane's revolutionary harmonic approach using pentatonic patterns (scale degrees 1, 2, 3, 5) practiced extensively to negotiate at blistering speeds. Coltrane referenced similar chord progressions in 'Have You Met Miss Jones' and Tad Dameron's 'Ladybird' when developing his reharmonization techniques. While not invented by Coltrane (it has African origins), he found a new way to incorporate it with raw emotional expression. This systematic approach became teachable, leading jazz education programs at universities like University of North Texas, Berkeley, Indiana State, and Miami University to develop curricula based on this method, revolutionizing jazz pedagogy.

The diminished scale connects naturally to tritone substitution in jazz. When substituting a C7 chord with Gb7 (a tritone away), the top halves of both chords form the complete diminished scale. This relationship explains why the scale works effectively over dominant 7ths and their tritone subs. The scale contains symmetrical shapes that can be transposed up or down in minor thirds while remaining valid. For example, combining an A major triad with an A minor triad creates a four-note shape that fits the diminished scale. These shapes enable endless melodic possibilities through rhythmic variation and transposition.

The tritone substitution (Db7) has the same tritone as G7 but exchanges root and fifth. It can resolve to C major, A minor, or E minor. The four chord for Db7 is Db major (whole step down), and the two chord is Bb minor (perfect fifth above). The complete substitution system includes: home chords (one, six, three), movement chords (major chord a whole step down, minor chord a perfect fifth above), and tension chords (moving in minor thirds). All tension chords resolve to any home chord, and movement chords substitute for each other.

Extended tonality, practiced by Debussy, Stravinsky, Bartók, and others, maintains tonal intuitions while moving away from traditional structures. The tonic-dominant polarity weakened as composers prolonged passages in mediant and submediant. The chromatic octave (12 semitones) can be divided symmetrically: 6 parts create whole-tone scale, 4 parts create diminished seventh chord, 3 parts create augmented triad. The tritone (6 semitones) uniquely divides the octave in multiple ways. These symmetrical divisions began explicit use in the late 19th century.

This segment explores tritone substitution and diminished chord voicings in jazz harmony. Tritone substitution replaces a dominant chord with another dominant chord a tritone away, creating smooth voice-leading paths. In 'Solitude', the D flat major to D flat 7 progression can be approached with G flat major 7 with major 6/9 voicings. The lesson covers fully diminished chords (1-3-5-b7) as transitional elements, demonstrating the diminished cycle where chords move through minor thirds. A G fully diminished chord can be used as a transitional element, with the shape shifted up and down in minor thirds to create movement. Rootless voicings (without the root) are introduced, with a classic voicing used over diminished chords involving the diminished triad plus a major 7th, which resolves chromatically to a major 7th chord.

Diminished chords are often oversimplified as dominant substitutions, but they represent a complete harmonic approach. A diminished triad contains a minor third and diminished fifth (two stacked minor thirds). Adding another minor third creates the diminished seventh chord, which divides the octave into four equal intervals, making any note potentially the root. This symmetry means Cdim7, E♭dim7, F♯dim7, and Adim7 are the same chord. The tritone appears twice in diminished seventh chords and enables circle-of-fifths resolution to the tonic. Barry Harris's sixth diminished scale combines a major 6th chord and diminished seventh chord into an eight-note scale. He coined 'brother chords' for the four dominant seventh chords a diminished seventh can substitute for: 5 dominant 7, 3 dominant 7, ♭2 dominant 7, and ♭7 dominant 7. The ♭2 dominant 7 is a tritone substitution for the 5 dominant 7, and the ♭7 dominant 7 is the tritone substitution for the 3 dominant 7. The ♭7 dominant 7 to 1 change is the backdoor progression, using chords diatonic to the parallel minor key.