Coltrane changes and C6 - for the adventurous

Bob Markison · Post by **Bob Markison** » 9 Sep 2004 9:21 am

Hi Folks - Just found a nice guitar site that inpired me in some exploration of the Coltrane changes on my 8 string lap steel. Just thought I'd share the url for the adventurous. The single noting of Giant Steps, for example, sits very well on the C6 tuning, and the block chording can be kind of exhilarating in its own way. This site is a very generous offering, including a fine .pdf about the math of Trane's changes; plus some nice chord boxes for guitar. It's not a steel site, but the info is great.
http://www.angelfire.com/fl4/moneychords/coltrain.html

Anita Merritt · Post by **Anita Merritt** » 9 Sep 2004 12:32 pm

Great resource! Thanks.

Ron Bednar · Post by **Ron Bednar** » 10 Sep 2004 8:40 am

That's terrific, great resource and interesting site. Thanks for posting it Bob!

Paul Arntson · Post by **Paul Arntson** » 12 Sep 2004 10:01 pm

Wow! Thanks, Bob!
How could you be reading my mind?
(Answer: probably not too much of a challenge - it reads at a basic level)

I was on vacation this week, and I was thinking exactly about what if you could do Giant Steps on the steel? What a coincidence.
-paul

Chuck Fisher · Post by **Chuck Fisher** » 12 Sep 2004 11:23 pm

looks a bit challanging, I gotta see if E13 will fit this tune... this site is great reading, i concur - thanks.

Bob Markison · Post by **Bob Markison** » 13 Sep 2004 12:58 pm

Few know that Trane and Elvin Jones both enjoyed playing the guitar (not steel - acoustic 6 string - Lewis Porter's incredible Coltrane biography). Elvin Jones introduced one of the tunes on "Heavy Sounds" (1969: Art Davis (fresh from Love Supreme) and Elvin Jones - extraordinary drum and bass work) with an acoustic blues guitar solo - spare and really touching. Anyway, my 8 string is bottom to top ACEGACEG, and little zig zags on the bottom 4 strings easily spell out the melody of Giant Steps, and some creative cheating will get you through the chord changes over a handful of frets. This would be something for John McGann to write out far better than could I. There are also some fun diagonal single noting things to be done on the middle strings with melody and soloing over the changes. I burned the powder off my tapered Black Phoenix by Red Rajah by working over the tune. Very hypnotic - that's why Trane kept using the progression.