Augumented Triad Cycle PDFs & Audio
For Educational Purposes Only
Giant Steps
| giant_steps.pdf |
Giant Steps Audio Sample:
I recorded the Giant Steps audio clip myself informally using Aebersold’s Coltrane play-along cd. The unconventional but logical cycle/progression is an exhilarating challenge for the improviser and the possibilities are endless. It’s a musical roller-coaster ride and well worth the effort to get to know!
I recorded the Giant Steps audio clip myself informally using Aebersold’s Coltrane play-along cd. The unconventional but logical cycle/progression is an exhilarating challenge for the improviser and the possibilities are endless. It’s a musical roller-coaster ride and well worth the effort to get to know!
Countdown
| countdown.pdf |
Countdown Audio Sample:
Countdown Audio Sample: I recorded the improvisation sample at home using Jamie Aebersold's Coltrane play-along CD [go to www.jazzbooks.com/ for a full collection of these excellent play-alongs and other jazz related materials]. The samples are not studio quality but I just wanted to provide some impromptu examples of improvising over this challenging chord progression. Unlike the situation where the improvisor superimposes the changes over a modal, single chord or basic ii - V7 progression, here Coltrane revised the original ii - V7 progression of the jazz standard "Tune Up" with the augmented cycle changes and so the rhythm section is actually playing the augmented cycles - this presents a different challenge for the improvisor as you do not have the liberty to manipulate the cycle as you wish. Thanks to YouTube, you can hear father and son Coltrane recordings of Countdown!
John Coltrane recording 1960
Ravi Coltrane recording 1997
John Coltrane recording 1960
Ravi Coltrane recording 1997
Other Uses of the Cycle
The cycle can also be used to add harmonic interest - tension, dissonance, musical spice to various types of chord progressions.
Solar
| solar.pdf |
Solar Audio Samples In these examples, I did not play the melody of the tune but rather launched directly into improvisation using the augmented triad substitutions. If you follow along with the pdf you can see how I am navigating through the changes. The interesting thing about it is that from a listener’s point of view the solo does not go where you think it is going to go and so is full of quirky twists and turns and aural surprises.
| steppin_up-pdf.pdf |
| cycle_madness-pdf.pdf |