John Coltrane's Music & Geometry

Er is een Nederlandse versie beschikbaar op saxwereld.nl

Note: this article is a "work in progress". There is a lot more to

"figure out" about Coltrane's work, so the content of this article
might change.

In this article I will use and refer to the "Coltrane Tone circle". I
would suggest you read the Roel's World article "John
Coltrane's Tone Circle" (if you haven't done so already) before
you proceed with this article.
FOREWORD

I do like to mention that I am no"authority" or "expert" when it

comes to Coltrane's work, or the music theory behind it and the
compositions themselves. And as sax player, well, I'm still miles
away from even standing in the giant shadow he cast ... or to follow
in his giant steps. Anyway, as admirer of Coltrane's work I could
not resist to write this article. I wrote this article because I am
fascinated by his music and have an interest in the relationship
between music and math / geometry.
Thelonious Monk once said "All musicians are subconsciously
mathematicians". Musicians like John Coltrane though have been
very much aware of the mathematics of music and consciously
applied it to his works.

In this article I will write shortly about:

NOTE: All sheet music presented in this article are the Concert
Pitch (piano) versions.
(not only Tenor players love his work, right?

For an expert opinion on Coltrane you should listen to what

musicians who played with him or extensively studied his work
have/had to say about it.
"GIANT STEPS", "CENTRAL WEST PARK" & "EQUINOX"

I will not write about how to improviseon the Coltrane's

compositions mentioned in this article.

First of all, I do not consider myself developed enough as soloist to

"teach" others. I have still so much more to learn and master
myself that I don't feel it is appropriate to do so.

Secondly, the purpose of this article is to share something about

the geometry of some of Coltrane's work. Not to "teach" the reader
how to improvise, there are nice websites and blog articles
available online already about that.

COLTRANE CHANGES

3 TONIC SYSTEM - (MAJOR 3RDS CYCLE)

In jazz harmony, the "Coltrane changes" (Coltrane Matrix or

cycle, also known as chromatic third relations and Three Tonic
System) are a harmonic progression variation using (repeatedly)
modulating up or down a major third. With a 3 Tonic System there
are essentially 3 different tonal centers present in the cycle: Each
key center descends in Major 3rds.

3 "stacked" Major 3rds form an Augmented Triad, visualized

geometrically with a Trigon (triangle). With the Augmented Triad
you cycle the Tone Circle in 3 steps.

2 "stacked" Augmented Triads an Augmented Second or Minor

Third apart form an Augmented Scale or Whole Tone Scale.

Coltrane wasn't the first using a Three Tonic System descending in

Major 3rds in Jazz though. The bridge of the composition Have You
Met Miss Jones (1937) as written by Richard Rodgers:

The tonal centers in the bridge of this piece

are B♭Maj7, G♭Maj7 and DMaj7, all a Major Third apart from each
other. You can hear the chord progression in the J.R. Monterose
youtube below at 00:27 ...

So, maybe these changes should have been called "Rodgers

Changes" instead of "Coltrane Changes" ...

Of course without Coltrane's further explorations, development and

implementation of this tonic system (for his in 1960 released album
"Giant Steps", a real masterpiece and Jazz album "Must Have") it
might never have become as known and popular among Jazz
musicians and fans as it was and is. He was after all the first that
composed a complete piece based on it, not "just a bridge" (as far
as I know).

"GIANT STEPS"

Below a Concert Pitch (piano) sheet with the chord progression of

Giant Steps.
The tonal centers are colored Blue-Green.

The movement in Major 3rds down (B - G - E♭) isn't the only

movement in 3rds in this piece, there is also the I-Vrelationship
(B → D7, G → B♭7 and E♭ → F♯7), a Minor 3rd (3semitones)
movement.

And there are more "3's" in this piece. We also find the interval
movement of a "Tritone" (3 whole tones) in
bars 3, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 between the Tone Centers and
the II's of the II-V's to the next Tone Center. Here are the
first 4bars of this piece with it's movements:
Note: Coltrane did not list any minor tonalities in his Tone Circle. In
case you want to make the chord progressions of this piece match
the tones in the original Coltrane Tone Circle, or with a single row
(Major only) Circle of Fifths, then theoretically we could use C6, or
better C/A the relative Major/minor substitution for Am7 instead.
In that case this is what we get, a triadic reduction of a Coltrane
Cycle:

Naturally you could replace the other minor chords with their
relative Major/minor substitutes in this piece as well. This altered
version might look different 'on paper', but sounds the same.

Note: the geometric shapes created with the relative Major

substitute of the Minor chords will be different though.

To not over-complicate things, I will only use the original chords

(not these Major/minor substitutes) for this article. I have therefor
altered Coltrane's Tone Circle in this article, adding the Minor
chords used in the example compositions to it.
AUGMENTED TRIADS

All tonics of the chords used in Giant Steps can be found back at
the Circle of Fifths/Fourths within 3 of the 4 Augmented
triads within the octave.

The first Augmented Triad is formed by

tonics of the Tonal Centers of this piece: B - E♭ - G.

The second Augmented Triad is formed by the tonics of

the Dominant 7chords:
B, D and F♯ (G♭).

The 3rd Augmented Triad is formed by the tonics of the Minor 7th
chords: A - C♯ (D♭) - F.

When combining these Augmented triads we can form

several Hexatonic(6-tone) scales.

If you are familiar with (sacred) geometry you might have noticed
that the circle above does not only shows 3Trigons, but
a Hexagram as well if you merge the triangles of
the Minor 7thand Dominant 7th chords (the II's and V's). The
Hexagram can be seen as a 2D version of the 3D Star
Tetrahedron, also known as "Merkaba".
HEXAGRAM (GIANT STEPS) HEXAGRAM STAR TETRAHEDRON (MERKABA)

"Mer-ka-ba" means "light-spirit-body".

To create a (3D) Merkaba you have to

"merge" 2 (3D) Tetrahedrons. And to create a Tetrahedron you
need 4 (2D) Trigons. 1 Trigon is formed by the (3) tones of
an Augmented Triad.

The Merkaba represent the innermost law of the physical

world: the inseparable relationship between the two
complementary halves – the positive and negative, the manifest
and the unmanifest – which form a perfect equilibrium. In creation
they rule as two opposite laws: the law of spirit and the law of
matter.

The Merkaba is also been called the "divine light vehicle"

allegedly used by ascended masters to connect with and reach
those in tune with the higher realms, the spirit/body surrounded by
counter-rotating fields of light, (wheels within wheels).

If this is why Coltrane explored the 3Tonic System and applied

geometry to his compositions I don't know. His interest in spiritual
growth and for the occult could very well have been the reason,
some of the titles of his compositions ("Ascension", "Ascent", "Sun
Ship", "Cosmos", "Interstellar Space", "Spiritual", et cetera) do
suggest he did.

HEXATONIC SCALES

In music theory a Hexatonic Scale is

a scale with 6 pitches or notes per octave. The most commonly
used Hexatonic scales are the Whole Tone Scale, the Augmented
Scale and the Blues Scale (the Minor Pentatonic Scale plus
a ♭5th). Hexatonic scales can be divided in 3 x 2 "pitch pairs"
("dyad"), Augmented Scale example: (3 -1) - (3 -1) - (3-1).
THE AUGMENTED SCALE

The (symmetrical) Augmented Scales can be thought of as an

interlocking combination of two augmented triads an augmented
second or minor third apart and contains two interval types: the
Minor Third (m3) and the Semitone (s).
There are two modes:

Mode 1: "m3 - s - m3 - s - m3 - s" also written as "3 - 1 - 3 - 1 - 3 -

1"
Mode 2: "s - m3 - s - m3 - s - m3" also written as "1 - 3 - 1 - 3 - 1 -
3"

THE WHOLE TONE SCALE

Even though the Augmented Scales are related to the Augmented

relationships between all the chords types used in Giant Steps,
they do not "work" everywhere equally well. There is though
another Hexatonic scale that can be created with the tonics of the
chords of this composition. When you combine the Augmented
Triad of the tonics of the Dominant 7 Chords and the Minor 7th
Chords the Whole Tone Scale.

The Whole Tone (T) Scale is written as: "T - T - T - T - T - T" or "2 -
2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2".

Below you can see how the Augmented and Whole Tone Scales
relate to the Augmented Triads based on the Tonics of
the Chords used in Giant
Steps(B, E♭ , G / B♭7, D7, F♯7 / Am7, C♯m7, Fm7):
AUGMENTED SCALE AUGMENTED SCALE WHOLE TONE SCALE
 1: B - D - E♭ - G♭ - G - B♭- B 1: B♭ - C# - D - F - F♯ - A - B♭
A - B - C# - E♭ - F - G - A
2: D - E♭ - G♭ - G - B♭ - B - D 2: A - B♭ - C# - D - F - F♯ - A

CHORD PROGRESSION (HARMONIC MOVEMENT) "GIANT STEPS"

Below a "visualization" of the relationship between the chords used

in Giant Steps:
5TH ↓

TRITONE

4TH ↑

MINOR 3RD ↑

When looking at the circles above you might think that it is draw
wrong. A Tritone is normally drawn as a line
between opposite (180 degrees) tones and a 4th would be one
step (30degrees) counterclockwise (in the Circles above), as
the 5th is one step (30 degrees) clockwise.

Well, yes, that would be the case if the movements took place
between (the tonics of) two Major or two
Minortonalities/chords. Tritones between (the tonics of) one Major
and one Minor key are connected at a 90degree angle and
the 4th at 60degrees (instead of 30).

With other words, the angle between a Major and Minor

tonics/tonalities/chords is half or double the angle between two
Major or two Minor tonics/tonalities/chords.
3 - 1 PATTERN

Besides the Augmented Scales (that can be compiled by with the

Tonics of the chords used in Giant Steps) there is yet another 3 -
1 pattern embedded in bar 1-4 and bar 5-8. Not as scale tonesbut
in chord progressions. You can see this pattern appear when you
look at the geometric division of the Circle of Fourths. In this case
we are not going around the circle with a 3 Semitone - 1Semitone
sequence, but with a 3Fourths - 1 Fourth sequence (see "closed
cycle" below).

The chord progression of Giant Steps in Bar 1-4 starting at the 1st
Tone Center of B generates a 3 - 1 - 3 - 1pattern in bar 1-3.
Coltrane did not finish the full cycle (with the 3rd 3 - 1) though, but
changes direction via a II-V-I (A minor - D Dominant 7) to the 2nd
Tone Center G. This II-V-I pattern generates a Tritone (TT) - 1 -
1sequence instead.

What is interesting though is when you are using the alternate

version (earlier mentioned in this acticle) with the C6(relative
Major/Minor) substitute for Am7 (and skip the V - D7), another 3 -
1 sequence can be created to complete the 3 - 1 - 3 - 1 - 3 -
1 pattern:
CLOSED CYCLE CYCLE TO G (ORIGINAL) CYCLE TO G ALT.

B - D - G - B♭ - E♭ - G♭ - B B - D - G - B♭ - E♭ - A - D - G B - D - G - B♭ - E♭ - C - G

3-1-3-1-3-1 3 - 1 - 3 - 1- TT - 1 - 1 3-1-3-1-3-1

In Bar 5-8 the same pattern repeats, but then from Tone Center G:

CLOSED CYCLE CYCLE TO E♭(ORIGINAL) CYCLE TO E♭ ALT.

G - B♭ - E♭ - G♭ - B - D - G G - B♭ - E♭ - G♭ - B - F - B♭ - G G - B♭ - E♭ - G♭ - B - A♭ - E♭

3-1-3-1-3-1
3-1-3-1-3-1 3 - 1 - 3 - 1 - TT - 1 - 1

In bar 9-16 the 3 - 1 pattern / sequence does no longer appear,

Coltrane switches to standard II-V-Iprogressions passing the 3
Tone Centers.

4 TONIC SYSTEM - (MINOR 3RDS CYCLE)

Coltrane might have been most known for his implementation of

the Three Tonic System, but that wasn't the only geometric
system he used. For some pieces he used the Four Tonic
System. There are differences in the implementation of this
concept, but for this article I will use the method Coltrane used for
his piece "Central West Park".

There are essentially 4 different tonal centers present in this

composition. Each key center ascends or descends
in Minor 3rds or their Tritone Substitudes.

4 "stacked" Minor 3rds form an Diminished 7 Chord, visualized

geometrically with a Quadragon (Square). With the Diminished 7th
Chord you cycle the Tone Circle in 4 steps.

2 "merged" Diminished 7 Chords form a Diminished Scale.

"CENTRAL WEST PARK"

Below the first part of "Central West Park" (Concert Pitch - Piano -
sheet). The tonal centers are in Blue-Green.

Below the first 4 bars of this piece with the tonal centers and
their minor 3rd and tritone movements:

BMaj7→ DMaj7→ A♭Maj7→ FMaj7→ BMaj7:

Not only do the tonics of the 4 Major 7th Chords form a

Diminished 7 Chord, so do the rest of the chords. The tonics of
the Dominant 7th Chords form a Diminished 7 Chord, as do the
tonics of the Minor 7th Chords.
DIMINISHED 7 CHORDS

A Diminished Seventh Chord is a four note chord that comprises

a diminished triad plus the interval of a diminished
seventh (alternatively regarded enharmonically as a major sixth)
above the tonic. These tones are the 1st, ♭3rd, ♭5th and

7th (or enharmonically the 1st, ♭3rd, ♭5th and 6th) of any minor
scale.

Another way to look at this chord is to see it as 4 minor 3rds

"stacked" on top of each other. With the Diminished 7 Chord you
make one cycle around the Tone Circle in 4 steps.
A Diminished 7 Chord can be visualized geometrically by drawing
a Quadragon (square) between it's tones in the Circle of 5ths.

If we draw lines between the 4 tonal centers, as well as the other

chords, we get the following squares / Diminished 7 Chords:

B - D - F - A♭
C - E♭ - G♭ - A
C♯m - Em - Gm - B♭m

DIMINISCHED SCALES

The Diminished Scale (or Octatonic Scale) is an eight-note

symmetrical scale which the notes ascend (or decent) in alternating
intervals of a whole step and a half step.

Diminished Scales can be transposed by 3, 6, or 9 semitones (up

or down) without changing the tone "collection".

Octatonic Scales are the only Scales that can be "split"

into 4 "pitch pairs" (groups of 2 tones).

The twelve tones of the chromatic scale are covered by 3 disjoint

Diminished Seventh Chords. The notes from
exactly 2 Diminished 7th Chordscombination form an Octatonic
Scale. Because there are exactly 3 ways to select 2 from 3, there
are exactly 3Octatonic Scales in the 12-Tone system:

B - D - F - A♭ + C - E♭ - G♭ - A B - D - F - A♭ + B♭ - D♭ - E - G C - E♭ - G♭ - A + B♭ - D♭ - E - G
B - C - D - E♭ - F - G♭ - A♭ - A - B B - D♭ - D - E - F - G - A♭ - B♭ - B C - D♭ - E♭ - E - G♭ - G - A - B♭ - C

THE MODES:

The 1st begins its ascent with a whole step, while the 2nd begins
its ascent with a half step.
WHOLE-STEP/HALF-STEP EXAMPLES: HALF-STEP/WHOLE-STEP EXAMPLES:

B♭ - C - D♭ - E♭ - E - G♭ - G - A - B♭ B♭ - B - D♭ - D - E - F - G - A♭ - B♭
B - D♭ - D - E - F - G - A♭ - B♭ - B B - C - D - E♭ - F - G♭ - A♭ - A - B
C - D - E♭ - F - G♭ - A♭ - A - B - C C - D♭ - E♭ - E - G♭ - G - A - B♭ - C

CHORD PROGRESSION (HARMONIC MOVEMENT) "CENTRAL WEST PARK"

MEASURE 1 - 5 MEASURE 6 - 10 HARMONIC POLYGRAM

 In the tone circle above you Above the tone circle with the This tone circle shows all
see the exact "movement" "movement" between the connections between the
between the harmonic harmonic progression of chords used in "Central West
progression of "Central West "Central West Park" in Park.
Park" in the first 5 bars. bar 6 to 10.

The black lines are the II-V-

I's. The Blue The lines
lines represent Fourths. are: Fifth, Fourth, Minor
Second, Major 7th / Minor
Second.

The movement (above) from bar 1-5 looks pretty interesting

geometrically.

Coltrane "swapped" 2 of the 4 Tone Centra (of the Four

Tonic System) for his composition.

He goes in II-V-I's around the Circle passing each Tone

Centrum like this:

B → D → A♭ → F → B

... in stead of the standard geometrically more symmetric:

 B → D → F → A♭ → B

... that you can see on the right.

"EQUINOX"

The reason I like to write something about Equinox is that it is a

Minor Blues with a "hidden reference" to the Autumnal Equinox. I
found out about that thanks to a post by Facebook friend Robert
Aguirre, who shared his idea online around the 23rd of
September.

But, before we look into that, first a couple of words about what an
Equinox is, in case you are not familiar with that term:

An Equinox is an astronomical event in which

the plane of Earth's equator passes through the Sun's Ecliptic. The
Sun's Ecliptic, the Earth's Equator and Axis all intersect.

This occurs twice each year, around 20March (Vernal Equinox) and
between 22 and 23 September (Autumnal Equinox).

Why is the 23th of September of importance?

John Coltrane was born on 23 September 1926, around 17:00.

On the 23rd of September 1926 the Equinox took place

at 15:26:22, duration = 12 Hours, 08Minutes and 09 Seconds. With
other words: John Coltrane was born during the Autumnal Equinox!
EQUINOX (Concert Pitch version):

What we see above, is a 12-bar Minor Blues starting after the

intro at [1]. In the tone circle (on the right) you see with the black
lines and arrows the chord progressions and their geometric
relationship.

The only non "standard" chord in this basic 3-chord (I-IV-V) Minor
Blues, is the A♭9 chord in the 9th bar [9].

What the numbers 9 (bar) and 12 (bars Blues) have in common

with the Autumnal Equinox, is that the Autumnal Equinox takes
place in the 9th month (September) each year (12 months).

The A♭9 chord is the relative Major/Minor Substitute for

the Fm7 chord (the IV, as used in Equinox at the usual places for a
Minor Blues).

But why specifically the A♭9 substitute?

The reason for this (I think) can be found when we look at the
melody of this composition. In bar [9] we find 3 tones, all D's. If we
use Fm7 - the 4th degree (IV) - in the 9th bar, then the D would be
the 6th of the chord (as it is in bar 10). D could also have been
the 5th of the G Dominant 7/♭9 chord if that would have been the
chord of choice for bar [9].
But, by using the A♭9 as substitute chord, the D in the melody of
bar [9] is given a different role, not the 5th or 6th, but it becomes
the Tritone of A♭.

The tones that form the Tritone interval are geometrically located
on the opposite sides of the Tone Circle and divide the tone
circle in two equal halves, as the Equator divides Earthinto
two Hemispheres.

At the moment of the Equinoxes, Earth's Equator passes the

center of the Sun's Ecliptic. If you imagine the Tone Cirlce to
be Earth and the Tritoneto be the Equator, then the result of this
merger you see on the right.

It looks like Coltrane intended to "accentuate" the 9th bar with

the A♭9 substitute chord and with it the 9th month and
the Autumnal Equinox.

This idea might seem a bit "far-fetched" at first, perhaps I'm "seeing
things" there that were not "orchestrated" by Coltrane as such, but
since Coltrane was intellectually and spiritual developed and
interested in the "occult" this might have been the reason ...

FUNNY FOOTNOTE: the "standard" Blues progressions / chords

of this composition (the I, IV and V's) are all located in the tone
circle above the A♭9 - D tritone. With other words, the Blues is
played above the "Equator", in the "Northern Hemisphere" (North
America, the "birthplace" of the Blues).

MORE COLTRANE COMPOSITIONS?

Dear visitor ... If you have are aware of / come across other
compositions of Coltrane with interesting geometric 'properties'
and/or other "hidden" features and references, then please do feel
free to contact me, so I can add your findings to this article (with a
reference of course).
 Enjoyed your breakdown of solfeggio and the
alternate 528 Hz type claims.

Jeremy dePrisco

 Hi Roel, your blog is very good and your thinking

very clear. I've found on the internet many myths
about 432 and 256. You expose them as myth,
and it is very good, because mixing truth with
false statements is dangerous for very good
ideas.

Sławek Kędra

 Roel, thank you so much for confirming the whole

A=432 Hz thing. Your blog helped enormously!

Catherine

 Your pages on the history of people discovering

and directionally amplifying cymatics is just great.
Also the 432 underbelly of the investigation is so
informative and refreshing.
 Hey Roel, this blog is great, thanks for putting so
much tuning info together.

Geoffrey Hoffman

 Hello, I have recently found you in my search for

evidence concerning 528 mhz and 7.83hz claims.
Thank You again for your brilliant knowledge
sharing!

Dr. Grayfeather

 I must thank you for all your work, it is nice to see

someone who thinks this stuff is important, but
also that it should be something all musicians can
understand, not just professors and
mathematicians.
 Tom Bobson

 Thanks for your thoughtful and thorough

debunking of Solfeggio. It should happen to more
new-agey pseudoscience. Then, really finding out
what might be going on in newly explored territory
might be easier.

Glen Speirs

 Thanks for creating a very interesting blog...with a

well-balanced view of some hotly-debated topics.

Laiki Huxorli

 Hello. Thanks for your wonderful article about

Maria Renold and 12-true-fifths.

Darren Cassidy

 I was searching for articles on music and the

brain to read during breakfast when I found your
website. Great stuff!

Joe Brown

 Hello! I appreciated your article de-mythizing the

Solfeggio Frequencies. It was factual, well-done,
cool-headed, and the best I've seen.

John Greg

 Hi there, I just found your site and absolutely

LOVE it - thank you so much!

Mirabai

 Hey man, this is an amazing ressource for us

musicians who are trying to make new records in
432hz.
 Dante

 Howdy! Excellent site, lookin' forward to going

thru it some more.

Dameon Keller

 I'm going to go ahead and say… you are the

man!!

Todd Bartolomeo

 Enjoyed your breakdown of solfeggio and the

alternate 528 Hz type claims.

Jeremy dePrisco

 Hi Roel, your blog is very good and your thinking

very clear. I've found on the internet many myths
about 432 and 256. You expose them as myth,
and it is very good, because mixing truth with
false statements is dangerous for very good
ideas.

Sławek Kędra