Debussy's genius was to divide the octave into 2 equal parts (2 tritones). Coltrane divided it into 3 equal parts (3 major triads). Both saw what nobody else did, though it was in plain sight. Well, maybe others saw it but didn't see the beauty hidden within. That's a pretty good definition of genius as far as I can tell.
I feel proud that I am able to understand this. I have learnt all through RU-vid and Instagram. Basically teaching myself. I want to learn more about music. It is so much fun.
This is one of the most instructive videos on this subject i've ever seen. Just brilliant. Understanding this piece should be a goal for any aspiring guitar player for the practice and theoretical instruction opportunities. Very well done, Mr. Beato!
This is amGREAT idea for any song. Joe Pass said he played off of chord forms... another good exercise is to run appropriate scales up and down in a limited, predetermined range, switching to the closest available at the change of direction. Choose different ranges. Harder than it sounds.
I learned Giant Steps by starting off at a very slow tempo....than gradually speeding up....although even at slow tempos or as a bossa beat it still sounds really good !!!
The incredible thing about Giant Step is also that it is played at 290 BPM. For guitar players, my favorite version has to be the one by Pat Martino...trying to replicate his solo is an art by itself; he is be-bopping all over the neck.
this shows how difficult this song is...37 minutes 11 seconds for the combined tutorials....an unique chordal permutation with attendant nightmarish possibilities for improvisers. flowering it up there with the triads...i suspect that Coltrane was being economical for the sake of musicality...the genius of this song is in the juxtaposition of a crazy chord progression and the "hack licks" used by Coltrane all while sounding musical...wow!
First thing to do is listen over and over again to the Coltrane recording. Then transcribe and learn his solo. Then start playing your own thing over it.
After watching your video about Sergio Mendes' Never Gonna Let You Go, I remembered I had seen a video about "the most feared song in jazz", so I looked it up, and of course you also did a video about that song. This one.
Barry Harris has a simpler approach. Instead of hitting every chord he goes down in whole steps. B Maj, A min G Maj F min Eb Maj. Then G Maj, F min, Eb Maj , Db min B Maj. very simple. Michael Wolf did it even simpler, for the first part B Maj, D 7 G Maj Bb7 Eb Maj 7 for all those chords just use Bb Diminished scale to Eb Maj 7, the for the next part use F# dim scale to B Maj 7. Then just play ii Vs.
Thank you for these videos. They really help to inform my practicing in ways I don't always think about. And I appreciate the slower and thoughtful approach you have in these tutorials
Most in depth video, and best inspirational video on Giant Steps and it's voicings, Substitutes and so on. You covered the whole thing in a very educative way! Thx man
There was a line i learned from my brother that i kept wondering where it fit and i found out it fits over Giant Steps. Its a Woody Shaw/ Jackie Mclean lick. if you play(ill use concert for anyone not playin guitar) off of the ninth of the first chord b major and play a whole tone descending then a fourth then another whole tone and keep repeating, it could be used over the difficult parts of the song9i hate calling it a tune). So, D-C-F#-E. then move down to the whole note and play, B-A-E-D then, A-G-D-C then the last is G-F-C-B flat, then resolve it to E flat major. if i've messed up, play from the ninth of b major a whole tone- a fourth down then another whole tone from there, then repeat starting again a whole tone from where you started.
Great contact Rick as usual thank you so much for all you do for the young up-and-coming players and I sold has-beens I can’t play anymore it’s inspiring to know that you’re helping so many people find jazz and find Coltrane you’re very much appreciated
Rick,There are some Great players out there,But not a lot that can Articulate quit the way you do,Your a Stud,thanks for sharing your great playing and great knoledge.Peace and Blessings Brother.
Great video Rick. I like how you talk about triads and especially inversions and substitutions. When I first tried working through this over ten years ago, I thought "what could be done with this in a slow funk and R&B style while staying within a jazz tradition?" The end result was quite a bit of simplification, slower tempo and heavy use of inversions (both chordal and melodically) and many subs, like minor 7th's for major 7th's. So it had more of a minor bluesy feel. Passing tones were essential to connect melodic lines and general phrases in a more natural way as well. That said, I think that you mention excellent points about the essentials of this classic recording.
You can also use wholtone scale off of the five or dominant of E flat major. Also symmetrical dimminished but you get a major over the domminant chords youll have to flatten the seventh degree. also Sheryl baily uses the Augmeted scale.i havent check that yet. check them and get back to me. Thanks for checking.
Thanks Rick , Yes ,I am a Sax player . I knew there is some mathematical formula to play this tricky tune . I will study your video ,and hopefully accomplish being "comfortable" playing this bear of a song !
The thing is that to apply this, you need expert knowledge of all chords and voicings all over the neck. This is many years' gruelling work for most people.
Giant steps is more than a standard for me. Is a 'baptism of fire' to anyone who claims to be a jazz musician. But also it forces you to look yourself at the mirror and see that you're: a guitarist who only see patterns, scales, frets or a musician who see and understand the music and it's true objectives. Despite the tricks & resources (I've seen too many and all they're good because are based in the music itself) the point here is to do as whatever the standard or situation in music: learn the chords and the melody line, just LEARN the song itself! Then you could apply whatever a 'trick' u want but with the knowledge about that you're trying to do in it's very context
Great vid, thx. These days for me it's all about the chords, having them down cold, ice cold. If I have the chord loop in my mind it's easy to solo because I always know where Im supposed to be and then play where I'm not because I know where I am. I am going to spend at least a month on this tune. If anyone plays jazz and can't play GS well, whats the point
I would love if you could analyse The Mummy ost specifically the rebirth track considering as it has multiple themes in the one track or if not the main theme. On a side note maybe you could talk about Jerry Goldsmith in a specific video like you have done with John Williams. Fingers crossed you have enough time to create the video, keep up the great work!
Great stuff! I've been practicing the triad approach on the string sets for a while and it's really helped open up the song at faster tempos. Going to try out all those new inversions now!
Can someone explain how he chose the additional notes for walking the bass? Do you reference the scale from the existing chord? or the next chord you are moving to in order to select the correct connecting bass notes? Thanks ..Jazz noob ...but I think I can start with this lesson.
from the last chord (but then you can add lots of half steps if you have too much time left) (or skip notes if you wont make it to the root in time) just make sure you land on the root on the 1 beat
@@broor Perfect. That's what i suspected but wanted to make sure before I jump into this.. I'm sure my ear would have given me the correct answer but it certainly hekps to have a bit of a framework. This will be confusing enough as it is! ;- ) Thanks Brorsan!
rick, sorry if it is a dumb question, what is the best resource I could get for memorizing all those kinds of chord voicings until they become second nature and actually know when to use them? I mean, I understand all the theory behind but when playing I'm stuck with the basic shapes with the root on one of the last three strings. Nice vid!
I know this is a long time ago, but you gotta study your drop 3 voicings on the 6 432 strings, and I’d also do the drop 2 voicings on the 4 highest strings. I’m still trying to digest them myself when I get enough time to practice. The more consistent you are the more your learning will snowball!
Likewise. Maybe it got copyright struck, maybe he never made it, or maybe he kept it for patreons or his own site. Can't expect a reply rly so your gues is as good as mine. A shame all the same, wherever one places the blame.
It means which note is on the lowest octave. The notes of Am7 are A B E Gb. A 1st inversion would make the B the lowest sounding note instead of the A.
@@camdencaudillo342 thank you. I got it. But, is it relevant where root note is ? 7th chords are with 1 3 5 and 7. First inv.would be if 3 is lowest, second when 5... But is it relevant in what order are other 3 notes ? root note ? ( Long ago I was confused that with what you just explained above , and it stayed hazy until now. )
@@brankostanojevic7421 no the order of the other notes don't matter. All that matters with chord inversions is that the right note is lowest for whatever inversion you are using.
Branko Stanojevic : The (close) inversions of triads are 1-3-5 , 3-5-1, and 5-1-3 but you could play those 3 notes in any order and it would be an inversion (or chord voucing). For 7th chords, the (close) inversions are 1-3-5-7, 3-5-7-1, 5-7-1-3, and 7-1-3-5. Those inversions are easy enough on piano but many (not all) are difficult, if not impossible, on guitar. So in Jazz college, we had to learn about "drop-2 chords". You take each of those close inversions and drop the second note from the top to the bottom of the chord. Here's what you now get: 5-1-3-7, 7-3-5-1, 1-5-7-3, and 3-7-1-5. Learn how to play these 5 seventh chords (Jazz is a 60-chord system meaning these 5 chord qualities/types multiplied by 12 keys). Learn to play all of these 5 chords in the 4 drop-2 voicings on 3 sets of 4 strings on the guitar, sets of strings 1-2-3-4, 2-3-4-5 and 3-4-5-6. So in total that's 5 types x 4 voicings x 3 sets of strings = 60 different chord shapes. Get some paper and graph them all out. It's work but, once it's done and memorized, you will be the master of these chords. Next step? 9ths, 11ths, 13ths, and altered 5ths. Also drop-3 voicings so instead of 1-3-5-7 becoming 5-1-3-7 (drop-2), it becomes 3-1-5-7. Save learning those for later. * "Because there is a string skip in every shape, drop 3 chords are ideal for solo guitar playing, as they keep the bass notes involved in your voicings, but separate them from the rest of the chord, allowing the melody line to stand out at the same time."
Im probably 10 lights years from this..So far i know about 10.major chords..And fighting with barrs.Sometimes i wonder why i picked up a guitar truth be told..
