The Guitar Player's Resource
John Coltrane is one of jazz music's foremost innovators as a soloist, as well as a composer. The chord changes to "Giant Steps" are very angular in the first half of the tune. There is not enough time to linger on one scale for very long. Therefore, in the following original solo over the changes, you will observe the use of chord tones to "outline" or "define" the jarring movement of the harmonies, a Coltrane trademark.
The second half of the tune is a series of II-V-I progressions. You might borrow some of the "riffs" from the II-V lessons for these, adjusting them to fit the tonal centers of the chords.
For a printable PDF version of the music, please click for Page 1 and Page 2.
Rick Del Savio is a jazz guitarist who pours his influences (including R&B music in general and Stevie Wonder) into his recordings.
His latest CD is entitled Evolution.
