John Coltrane - Who Is He

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John Coltrane – Who is he (Analysis) John Coltrane was born in September 23rd, 1926, in Hamlet, North Carolina and died in July 17th in Huntington, New York at the young age of 40. He was called a revolutionary saxophonist. He also helped pioneer the genre modal jazz along side the great, Miles Davis. Early in his career, he would play in two genres, which is bebop and hard bop. He grabbed hold of a saxophone at the age of 13 and shows great talent. At a young age, Coltrane also tried to imitate the sound produced by the likes of Charlie Park and Johnny Hedges. As his career progressed, he had influenced countless musicians and he remains one of the most important saxophonists in jazz history. The way John Coltrane plays his 3 different types of saxophones, which were the alto, soprano and the tenor. He also played the clarinet and the alto horn. In saxophone, he uses the technique called “Altissimo”, which is basically, any note higher than F# (sharp), the highest range in the normal range of a saxophone. To achieve the technique, the player produces many voicing techniques such as the tongue, throat and the air stream, in result disturbing the fundamentals of a note and attaining one of the higher overtones controlling. This type of technique is common in the jazz genre. “Coltrane Changes/Cycles” is the second technique used by John Coltrane. It is basically a harmonic movement in major thirds, using the note root of a chord over the usual jazz chord progressions. One of his songs called “Giant Steps” is a perfect example for the technique. John Coltrane also learned a technique called “multiphonics” from an American jazz pianist, Thelonious Monk. The technique involves a player producing several tones simultaneously by using a calm embouchure, diverse pressure, and distinct fingerings. In the 1960’s, Coltrane used the technique a lot more often to

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