Animated Sheet Music: “Giant Steps” by John Coltrane


This is what John Coltrane’s landmark tune and solo look like when they come to life on paper. If you try to play along, you may notice that the transcription for the head is transposed for C and the solo’s in Bb. Weird, I know, but the transcription book that I based this animation on was in concert. You can buy the sheet music here: www.amazon.com

25 Comments on “Animated Sheet Music: “Giant Steps” by John Coltrane”

  1. 1: oumo said at 12:55 am on October 26th, 2011:

    @TheRyanK2 lool if that’s what you think… then you don’t know coltrane

    I can’t tell you how he did, but I’m sure it’s some complex stuff…
    Lydian chromatic concept of tonal organization maybe?

  2. 2: WHIT3CAPS said at 1:12 am on October 26th, 2011:

    this is my first time seeing animated sheet music, and under the influence of marijuana and this song it cracked me up. dont know why but i look at the chords and giggle.

  3. 3: TheRyanK2 said at 2:05 am on October 26th, 2011:

    @themanimal07 By listening to his heart.

  4. 4: themanimal07 said at 2:08 am on October 26th, 2011:

    How did he choose the chords for this song?

  5. 5: jzkeyboards said at 2:53 am on October 26th, 2011:

    aaahahahahahahahahaha that is sooo funn to watch!

  6. 6: P5etra said at 3:07 am on October 26th, 2011:

    my eyes are singing. :D

  7. 7: nish147 said at 3:55 am on October 26th, 2011:

    Just spare a thought for the bassist, the drummer and the piano….they did an equally outstanding job….

  8. 8: rickariche said at 4:40 am on October 26th, 2011:

    @TheSocialistsParty same here! but hey, it’s a start.

  9. 9: MrZboy44 said at 5:05 am on October 26th, 2011:

    holy crap it loox like a train. maybe ill just play the first 36 seconds

  10. 10: TheSocialistsParty said at 5:54 am on October 26th, 2011:

    @Redeye1524 Yep. I COULD learn it note for note, but that still doesn’t mean that I would have the same understanding of the music. Just a talented parrot.

  11. 11: Javomarquez said at 6:39 am on October 26th, 2011:

    Killer animation for the piano solo!
    J/K
    I love this video.
    So much fun to watch.
    I really like how the rests are also animated rhythmically.
    Pretty cool!

  12. 12: alexbarmann said at 6:40 am on October 26th, 2011:

    -I like the concept of reading the notes appearing while you hear them.
    -Giant Steps is one of Coltrane’s classics.
    -Without Coltrane, my world of saxophone playing had been a different one.

  13. 13: TheLagunaSunrise said at 6:52 am on October 26th, 2011:

    @defaultoasis If it doesn’t ‘sound’ good, it’s not good. Simple. I couldn’t care less how good he could play the piano. If the music he’s playing doesn’t sound good, he could be the greatest pianist ever, it wouldn’t mean anything. Understand?

  14. 14: defaultoasis said at 7:50 am on October 26th, 2011:

    @TheLagunaSunrise the reason why i refer to vladimir horowitz is because he might happen to be one of the best pianists around, ever. art tatum plays similar stuff by piano, lots of notes that u cant just “explain” which ones got a point. why have a point? why not liberate from those point oriented stuff? thats what 20th century music is all about whether it was john cage or talk talk.

  15. 15: defaultoasis said at 7:50 am on October 26th, 2011:

    @TheLagunaSunrise poise! this eager to match ur taste & class? this has no meaning if baroque has no meaning. keyword being virtuoso vs surplus. and if u take a historical perspective, these ‘shit’ wouldve meant nothing if it werent hard bop, fusion, etc afterwards, and swing, cool beforehand. just like baroque wouldnt have meant anything historically if its not preceded by sacred music or followed by the vienna scene. those prove the influence

  16. 16: TheLagunaSunrise said at 8:00 am on October 26th, 2011:

    @defaultoasis I couldn’t give a shit about what ‘Vladimir Horowitz’ was stunned by. Like that has ANY relevance to this. lol… what the fuck has Classical’s lack of influence on today’s shitty music got to do with anything? Stop babbling on about nothing. Bottom line – this ‘music’ is S H I T. It has NO meaning. NO wisdom. NO feeling. NOTHING. Twist it any way you like, I’m just speaking the FACTS.

  17. 17: defaultoasis said at 8:23 am on October 26th, 2011:

    @TheLagunaSunrise right…’explain’…why vladimir horowitz got stunned by art tatum’s performance? how about u explain the influence(or non-existant influence) of classical music on 2day’s crap? why is it still crap if it got ur classical stuff involved? and if not how come it died down?….how about, before questioning & explaining, listen more? and mind u boasting urselve’s got taste is like being a critic on urself’s work and giving it a thumb up:’absolutely breathtaking. 5 stars”

  18. 18: Harris91 said at 9:04 am on October 26th, 2011:

    “Playing at Iridium Jazz Club, New York on Nov 13, 2011″
    wut?

  19. 19: MichaelSchwartzJazz said at 9:17 am on October 26th, 2011:

    Ah… Middle school kids, teasing me, making fun of me for liking jazz. They will never get it.

  20. 20: donnellobrien said at 10:07 am on October 26th, 2011:

    @lexo30 : Aebersold is a good tool. Nothing stupid about it. Keep me posted – I’d like to hear what you come up with.

  21. 21: TakaHiro299793 said at 10:27 am on October 26th, 2011:

    ?????????????????????????

  22. 22: biggestplanefan said at 10:52 am on October 26th, 2011:

    Alot of Chord Progressions!

  23. 23: lexo30 said at 11:26 am on October 26th, 2011:

    @donnellobrien Good idea. I actually have the Aebersold book about learning Giant Steps (I know that applying the Aebersold method to Coltrane is a bit stupid but what can I say, I don’t have any other access to tuition) so I already know the chords. But I might just have a go at transcribing it into Sibelius. Thanks for the tip.

  24. 24: MrCrazyguy814 said at 11:42 am on October 26th, 2011:

    ColeTrain! Baby! WHOOOO! anybody play gears of war 3 yet

  25. 25: RobBrooksMusic said at 12:19 pm on October 26th, 2011:

    @RobBrooksMusic I know but you said what does he mean, I guess before I liked listening to this kind of music it did sound like a load of nonsense being randomly played

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