How to Play and Use Coltrane Patterns - Easy and Useful

Coltrane Patterns are amazing melodic patterns to have in your vocabulary. They are probably mostly connected to the Giant Steps solos on that Coltrane Album, but are actually very common melodies.

The fact that they are easy to play and map onto a major scale makes them ideal for adding to your vocabulary as useful and flexible melodic fragments.

This video will cover how you construct a major and a minor Coltrane Pattern. How you can make diatonic versions. Different ways of playing them using different techniques. I will also discuss how you can choose different Coltrane Patterns for chords.

Finally I also have two examples of how you use them for superimposing strong melodies on top of other chords like altered dominants.

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Content:

0:00 Intro - Coltrane Patterns
0:35 Solo with Coltrane Patterns
0:45 The Giant Steps connection and why they are great
1:07 What is a Coltrane Pattern, Major and Minor versions
1:22 Major Variation
1:40 Minor Variation
2:18 Three ways to play the Coltrane Pattern in several octaves
2:41 2-2 version
2:44 3-1 version
3:02 1-2-1 version
3:32 Simple ways of making melodies with the notes
3:46 Combining this with a major scale - Diatonic to each step in the scale
5:05 Applying the Patterns to a II V I in G major
5:20 Which pattern for which chord
5:50 Example Lick with an Am7 using Em Coltrane Pattern
6:02 Example Lick with an Am Coltrane Pattern on a D7
6:43 How it isn't really a "Coltrane" Pattern
7:06 Super-imposing Coltrane Patterns
7:32 Lydian Augmented example
8:00 Short solo example on a Cmaj7 Shell-voicing
8:13 Altered Dominant example
8:42 Ab7alt line with an E Coltrane Pattern
9:17 How do you use or practice Coltrane Patterns?
9:58 Like the video? Check out my Patreon Page!

My Gear:

[JensLarsen]

I am a bit curious if you use the same definition of a Coltrane Pattern as me with a Major/minor version or you use 1 2 3 5 in both major and minor? Just realized there are two versions of this 🙂

[voronOsphere]

I found a cool video about the "John Coltrane Pentatonic" (root, 2nd, minor 3rd, 5th, and major 6th- easy ex. D, E, F, A, B) by a sax player on YouTube and decided to revisit your excellent Coltrane video here for a one two Coltrane Punch! Thanks, Jens!

[Mosianit]

I want to thank you for being the catalyst that sparked the recent growth of jazz knowledge I have had. I was stuck for months playing the same boring pentatonics every time I picked up guitar and couldn't translate my love of jazz to my fingers until now.

[freddecker]

Jens presents his ideas with both knowledge of his subject and with clear presentation. Good work!

[peti]

Jens, incredibly useful lesson. Thanks, it has immediate application to blues rock tunes that I play.

[nlmal]

Feel like I’m learning guitar all over again, so much good Thank you again.

[giovannisoave]

Just getting into jazz. Your videos provide so much information; great! Thank you

[udo]

Vielen Dank für das Video. Es macht wirklich viel Spaß die vielen Anregungen von dir zu sehen

[jumemowery]

Thanks Jens!!! I love to grab my guitar and try to keep up. Thank God for the pause button

[vincentparrella]

Really nice concepts Jen's, your obviously a top notch player, I really enjoyed this, Thanks my friend.

[MastanehNazarian]

Yes, comment section is fantastic! Makes up for past 14 lost guitar years; too much mothering and not enough pattern integration LOL.
But seriously, what a fantastic way you present to just get the musical ear tuned up. This video reminds me that working the Thesauruses of Scales and Melodic Patterns is made more practical though study of improvisation language.

[peteandrews]

Great lesson Jens, really clearly explains what Coltrane patterns are, and relly nice ways to use them. Thank you!

[steelplayer]

Jen, You're welcome. Thank s again.

[andresurya]

oh God..this is what i'm looking for..thanks jen for sharing..

[sylvest]

super gode videoer du laver Jens. en af de bedste youtube jazz guitar lesson kanaler :)

[nairanvac]

Thank you so much for making your videos. I love watching them. I wish you much success. Your playing is wonderfully tasteful, your ideas are interesting, and your explanations are concise and clear. Thank you again!

[phillipliberty]

As always, very helpful and very precise. Please continue your work in helping guitar enthusiasts.

[ronreis]

Some people call those tetrachords, but I think you explained them well. They are really just the first 4 notes of a pentatonic scales. I just started working on a way to explore all the mathematical patterns you can make from 4 notes. I really want to be able to phrase like a horn player.

[frvkmana]

Awesome, awesome, awesome lesson! You're the best Jens! Good day to you!

[WayneConnaughton]

Hi Jens.. would love to see a video on 'Naima' on how to solo on it and chord function. Or maybe if there is a certain way that you think about it when soloing on it. Thanks a lot. Wayne.