Reverse Engineering the John Coltrane Pentatonic

Today we take a detailed exploration - of what chord possibilities we can blend with the John Coltrane Pentatonic

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[TheRmoroni]

i think you are my favorite channel!you give a fresh perspective on concepts that people suspected were out there but no one could exhibit like you do thank you!

[elrondsch]

At about 5.10 you say that A#(Bb) is the Root ... but in fact it is the major 3rd of the F#7 chord

[billjazznblues]

These are great exercises, particularly if you buy the PDF (about the price of a good cup of coffee, if you can find such a thing!) I found that it helps to think of the interval structure of the scale. Remember that Minor pentatonic (or the relative major pentatonic) can be constructed as a sequence of fourths round the cycle. For example, D minor pentatonic starting from the A, is A, D, G, C, F - reordered becomes the familiar D, F, G, A, C i.e. 1, b3, 4, 5, b7. In this scale, each interval is a perfect fourth.

But what about the Coltrane pentatonic? If you take D minor Coltrane, the notes are D, E, F, A, B - starting from the F, the intervals are augmented fourth (tritone), then perfect fourths, i.e. F, B, E, A, D with a minor third D to F to return you to F. So what? Well this means that you can use your knowledge of the cycle of fourths to play in a Coltrane pentatonic, remembering that going up from F is a tritone (to B) and down from F is a minor third (to D). This interval structure remains the same in any key! If you look at some of the great patterns that Nick provides in his pdf, you can generate them by using this knowledge of fourths rather than trying to think of them as digital patterns, as many people have been taught. Just find the minor third in the key e.g. G in the key of E minor Pentatonic, then every other fourth interval is perfect except the movement from G. Descending patterns use cycle of fifths. Try it on a zig-zag pattern. This way instead of trying to memorise patterns, use your knowledge of intervals to generate multiple patterns, starting from the ones provided by Nick. And once again, this works in any key!


Happy improvising!

[deldia]

First. To the best music education channel on YouTube.

[voronOsphere]

Thanks, Jazz Duets! I LOVE this Sounds so otherworldly...

[DannyVDub]

Using this pentatonic on 'Round Midnight is a great way to get into the sounds. The song is a real melodic minor playground.

[JazzDuets]

Error! 5.06 I should have said say F# is the ROOT of F#7

[pablocastilla]

I didn’t know you’re in Argentina! Cool!

[TheFrankiejay]

Another great tutorial, loving this channel everyday...

[gabrielcostasax]

Gracias Nick, siempre estimulando el intelecto.

[cezzcuculic]

Bro! you are drinking Mate like me every morning practicing with your videos..greetings from Berlin from an Argentinian

[GuilhermeHoppe]

Great video! Your channel is helping me a lot!

[alejandrostarosielski]

Hola! Vivís en Córdoba, Argentina? Amo tus videos, muchas gracias !

[icymars]

What a great video and lesson, thx a lot!

[psunie]

Another one from Argentina here, but living in Los Angeles. It is good to see we all practice with a termo and mate on our side. Your videos are fantastic. May you explain more in detail how you find the different chords. I still do not understand how you arrive to the first group of chords on the Coltrane C minor Pentatonic

[joselekiwi]

Coltrane pentatonic is a japanese scale or even a Maj7#11 chord.
If you take the 6 grade as the root.

[donmilland]

A lot people hear this but really dont know where this fits in a real musical setting. One way to approach is to think in terms of re-harmonizing the dominant chord. In other words, the D minor pentatonic scale naturally fits over G7 (or G9 or G13). Since I play a chord instrument, I would often play a Dmi7, Bmi7b5 or Fma7b5, over the G7. These chords are relativistic because they contain the same notes. If you platy these chords in a particular sequence it gives movement to that basic dominant chord (G7). Again this is one example and a basic one at that. Play guitar I can visualize all this from playing chord forms an chord solos.. (Wes Montgomery is certainly one the great masters of this technique.)

[warningchimes]

Buenísimo el canal man, me gustó el video de las escalas menores y como aplicarlas. Saludos desde Pergamino.

[zqa]

Excelente 👍 video muy didáctico y educativo, gracias

[damianpieruccioni]

Quiero felicitarte por tus videos. Me parecen excelentes. En cuanto a la superposición de estructuras sobre diferentes situaciones armónicas me parece más simple pensarlo al revés, es decir dejar el bajo fijo, y mover la superestructura (en este caso la pentatonica de Coltrane). Eso facilita la comprensión de fórmulas para la utilización posterior del elemento. Por ej: para un Fmaj7, utilizamos la pentatonica en cuestión desde el VI grado. O para un Fm7b5 desde el bIII.
Saludos!