John Coltrane, one of jazz’s most revered saxophonists, released “Giant Steps” in 1959. The chord progression that makes up the entirety of the song came to be called the “Coltrane changes”; it’s known across the musical world as one of the most challenging chord progressions to improvise over.
It’s tough for two reasons: The chord progressions are played fast, and they’re in three keys. “Giant Steps” is so challenging that Tommy Flanagan, the pianist on the original recording, could barely get through his solo before Coltrane took over.
While this song is one of the most complicated in jazz, it’s also the perfect tool to learn a few basic music theory principles that drive Western harmony.
Jazz musician Braxton Cook and music YouTuber Adam Neely gave me a crash course in Western music theory to help me understand this notoriously difficult song, and I bring you along for the ride in the video above. Even if you don’t understand a lick of music theory, you’ll likely walk away with an appreciation for this musical puzzle.
By the way, later in Flanagan’s career, he made up for his shaky performance by recording a near-flawless improvisation:
Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?
Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:
First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.
Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.
So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)
If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.
Yes, I'll give $5/month
Yes, I'll give $5/month
We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and
Google Pay. You can also contribute via