Turnarounds

Coltrane Turnaround (Giant Steps Pattern)

John Coltrane's famous major 3rds cycle. Advanced harmony.

Key
C
Level
expert
Where
Giant Steps, Countdown, modern jazz

The changes

  1. Cmaj7
  2. Eb7
  3. Abmaj7
  4. B7
  5. Emaj7
  6. G7

The hands

Left hand then right, as the source writes them. A pianist's voicing routinely carries a colour the chord symbol does not spell — a flat ninth over a dominant, a ninth on top of a seventh chord — so the notes printed under each keyboard are what is actually played, rather than what the symbol alone would predict.

Cmaj7

chord 1

LH C2 G2RH E4 B4 D5

Eb7

chord 2

LH Eb2 Bb2RH G4 Db5 F5

Abmaj7

chord 3

LH Ab2 Eb3RH C4 G4 Bb4

B7

chord 4

LH B2 F#3RH D#4 A4 C#5

Emaj7

chord 5

LH E2 B2RH G#4 D#5 F#5

G7

chord 6

LH G2 D3RH B3 F4 A4

Associated players