"Giant Steps"

[dabass]

A difficult task? Just wondering if I should give it a shot on my 5 string! Some say beware, difficult changes and tempo!! I got my hands on BP mag's Aug and Sept issues for help. Could someone give additional advice or insight? What say you??? Any other artists you recommend that did a recording of "Giant Steps"? I like to listen to as many versions as possible. Of course Coltrane's will be the "standard version".

[Snarf]

Check out the Giant Steps a bunch of my acquaintences did: http://www.myspace.com/danplatzman

edit: Oh yeah, Giant Steps isn't as hard as you think.

[Mark Wilson]

I've got the chord chart if you want.

[MD]

Rahsaand Roland Kirk - Return of the 5000lb Man (I don't think you'll find it in print, but it's on itunes). My first exposure to GS, and Buster Williams too.

M.

[Mike Flynn]

The changes are:

Bmaj D7, Gmaj Bb7, Ebmaj7

Amin D7, Gmaj Bb7, Eb7 F#, Bmaj7

Fmin, Bb7, Ebmaj7

Amin, D7, Gmaj7

C#min, F#7, Bmaj7

Fmin, Bb7, Ebmaj7

C#min, F#7

It's not as hard as it looks or that other people say it just takes practice - I'm working on some Wayne Shorter tunes and I think they are much harder - anyway it's a jazz 'blowing' classic - try transposing it into other keys - moving around in minor thirds is a great thing to learn in jazz.

Cheers

Mike

PS - feel free to correct any of my chords above!

M

[rkfromChi]

Mike.

What Wayne Shorter tunes are you working on? Can you post anything?


"I'm working on some Wayne Shorter tunes and I think they are much harder"

[Mike Flynn]

Originally Posted by rkfromChi

Mike.

What Wayne Shorter tunes are you working on? Can you post anything?


"I'm working on some Wayne Shorter tunes and I think they are much harder"

Hi dude - well the other thread here was this very simple WS tune 'Footprints' I made a video of:

'Footprints' - Fretless Video

But I've been looking at stuff like ESP and Wild Flower - especially ESP. Not ony is that tune fast but the chords move around in all kind of weird ways i.e. chormatically, in tones and minor thirds, with a couple of slightly twisted turn arounds, with a strange 'form' as well - all adding up to a pretty nasty set of changes to interpret and play something meaningful and tasteful over - I just got the Miles Davis version with Wayne, Ron, Tony and Herbie on - so I'm going to learnt the head and work on the changes.

I'm not saying Giant Steps is easy by any means - I think it's quite hard to make it sound interesting is all - I actually struggle to really 'say something' when I play it - but if you slow it down and get familiar with the changes then it's not as complex as all the people who go "Oooo, Giant Steps, that's hard!" imply.

I discovered a really tasteless, but quite impressive, version of this tune by a guitarist who plays with Carl Palmer (of Emmerson, Lake and Palmer) at the moment - this is just a chops 'showcase' and unfortunately reflects what most people tend to do with Giant Steps.

Listen to the first tune here...
http://www.myspace.com/paulbielatowicz

[Bruce Lindfield]

There's a nice piano trio version of Giant Steps on Clark Tracey's album :



http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stability-Cl...UTF8&s=gateway

Arnie Somogyi is one of my favourite bassists and a really nice guy - he's so enthusiastic!!

[PS Laurence Cottle also plays on some tracks on that album]

[Bruce Lindfield]

As to difficulty - the whole tune is really only V-I and II-V-I progressions in 3 key centres a major third apart - B,G and Eb.

[Mike Flynn]

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

As to difficulty - the whole tune is really only V-I and II-V-I progressions in 3 key centres a major third apart - B,G and Eb.

That's true Bruce but it's the first two parts where it shifts from B - D - G - Bb - Eb etc that people find the trickiest to master - this kind of chord movement can be placed over II V I progressions all over the place as well - and Giant Steps was originally written by Trane as a means of showcasing this new may of moving around non-diatonic sequences that he'd conceived - basing some parts of the tune on it, as opposed to sneaking it in just in his solos.

But the rest of it just moves around those key centres - so if you know those three major scales - B, G and Eb - then you've just got to work on the sequence that moves in minor and major thirds at the start. It's also the short form that makes this so relentless when eiether comping or soloing - you don't feel like you have much time to think...

Cheers

Mike

[getonthafloor]

Countdown may be considered heavier being the first 4 bars of 'steps' but extended over 16 bars and 26 -2 is tricky especially the head. Its just constant woodshedding and eventually muscle memory that gets me through, walking lines anyway.

[Clay_Bass]

Originally Posted by getonthafloor

Countdown may be considered heavier being the first 4 bars of 'steps' but extended over 16 bars and 26 -2 is tricky especially the head. Its just constant woodshedding and eventually muscle memory that gets me through, walking lines anyway.

+1 26-2 is IMO the hardest trane song to play the head, solo, comp, walk wahtever on.

[peteroberts]

Pat Metheny did a slower, pretty version of Giant Steps on Trio '99->'00

[PhatBasstard]

Originally Posted by mb1

There's also a short Woodshed piece on this, pages 89-90, in the Aug 2006 issue of Bass Player magazine (the one with Les Claypool on the cover)

That's in John Goldsby's column and is only part one.
Part two is in this month's issue with Richard Bona on the cover.

[wisemonkey]

check out Kenny Garrett playing Giant steps on his album triology. The trio is d.bass, drums and sax, so the bass player gets a lot of space to play.

I'd recomend working out some licks that you can play over certain changes, like the first four bars, where it's quite difficult to 'spell out' the changes. There's also a lot you can do with 4/5 note groupings, finding the notes common to both chords in the bar. There's a good trick you can do if you want to play more modally, not spelling out the changes as rigidly. Play around a modal centre for 1 bar, then go down a semitone, then up fourth, down a semitone, up a fourth etc etc This pattern holds until the last 2,5 at the and of the form

[Clay_Bass]

Originally Posted by peteroberts

Pat Metheny did a slower, pretty version of Giant Steps on Trio '99->'00

Yeah I love that CD. Larry Grenadier has some great lines on that. If you transcribed his lines and figured out some coltrane changes and lines youd probably be able to put together a pretty kickin solo.