The simplest song that nobody can play
Giant Steps by John Coltrane is often considered to have the most complex chord progression of all time. It’s based on a simple system found within the circle of fifths, but this proved nearly impossible to play.
@tonyennis1787
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
I have never heard Giant Steps described as simple.
@MDMvision
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
and then you didn't show the actual chord progression on the circle of fifths diagram, which is what i was waiting for…..
@kahwigulum
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
thundercat pretty much stole this technique to great success
@chrislinhares7311
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
You jumped to The Circle of Fifths without any explanation.
@dkb219
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
I was raised on the 1/4/5 of the 12 bar blues. I view any chord patterns outside of that with suspicion and fear.
@Julian-i9n2q
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
HAVE YOU MET MISS JONES????????????????
@claymor8241
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
Ah at 4:10 Cage’s Music Of Changes, evokes such poignant memories, we chose it for the first dance at our wedding.
@mariosimas
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
dont forget the "Shape of jazz to come" by Ornette Coleman
@guitarcoyote
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
Wonderful explanation!!! ❤
Love all the background and visuals.
@aranosaranos
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
Giant steps is an ugly silly tune. It might be difficult for some, it depends on the style of your practice. Good for selfobsessed scale players immersed in their own arses😂😂😂😂
@mindless-pedant
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
I've always thought it very melodic. Not the whistle – why- you – work type melodic, but still melodic.
@nevarcruz4852
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
man its some sweet jazz coming out this video and i am so please to see everyone below talking about it, that this great music is not being forgotten
@MrKockabilly
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
Coltrane: Guys, I have here an interesting chord progression that could be considered complex.
Drummer: I'm ready.
@elpirata2685
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
I disagree that complexity was the point. The inspiration is exploring the relationship between keys a major third apart. The rest is just II-V-Is to modulate. The simplicity is why a (top-notch) musician like Flannigan could sight read the changes, and improvise a beautiful solo.
An interesting aside: the use of a triangle as shorthand for a major 7th chord, now common in jazz, was popularised byTrane too- highlighting the geometric relationship between major thirds in the circle of fifths.
@samrolfe2563
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
Yeah, so hard when you are – check notes – just playing notes.
Any instrument that doesn't play chords should be banned from writing Jazz.
Drummer obviously not included.
@richardhines8622
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
Bloodless.
@gabrielmatte1182
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
That progression was actually started by Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit – Ondine. If you listen to the climax of the piece, the chords move the same way as the first chords of giant steps (but in minor)
@whatilearnttoday5295
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
"Almost impossible to play" wtf?!?!? Why be dishonest?
@parksideevangelicalchurch2886
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
I still have no idea why these progressions are so hard to play. Is it the finger movement or the breathing? If so, showing someone on the sax explain would have been helpful.
@r-i-ch
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
Giant Steps isn't hard to play!
It's hard to play well with anything worth the saying.
@r-i-ch
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
1959 =
Ornette Colman "Shape of Jazz to Come" – far more revolutionary than anything else other than Kind of Blue
Mingus Ah Um
@danp420
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
love jazz! please make more videos on jazz
@paulgibby6932
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
1:48 "simple idea found in all western music" I thought you were going to say 2-5s 😅 Seems like 2-5s allow a composer to get to any new key center fast. p.s. I always thought it was clumsy how this tune climbs up to the C#-7 F#7 turnaround. Great video. I loved the visuals.
@Gk2003m
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
1:25: look at that studio! Big. Open. Brick wall…. A Live Room. I looove that sound on those recordings. When the music still mattered, before sound engineers deadened everything and then re-added reverb as an effect. Intrinsic reverb, rather than pasted-on.
@axeman2638
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
It's not hard to play, slowly.
@kiereluurs1243
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
That Cage-'music' is an example of arty-farty. 😵
Sadly, jazz often is 'from nothing to nowhere'. 🙄 And oh, everyone will have a solo. In every piece. 🥱
@SWERVNKOLIDE
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
Spain?
@terrapin323
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
The fact that the three key centers are arrived at exclusively via 5-1s and 2-5-1s makes it actually profoundly un-weird. What WOULD be weird is if you just jumped between Bmaj7 Gmaj7 Ebmaj7 or re-arranged the chords to be perfectly symmetrical. Then again, perfect symmetry has a logic to it. If you want something even stranger, checkout countdown. Because countdown has a 3-cycle of the Trane change, instead of a 2-cycle, and it continuously goes down in whole steps. 26-2 likewise has a 3-cycle. In both of those songs, Coltrane uses a subtle substitution to break the perfect symmetry to make it more musical and palatable. In countdown the first chord is Em7 instead of Dmaj7 to implement a quasi 2-5-1 motion. In 26-2 the final bar substitutes the Fmaj7 for Cm7-F7. In both cases perfect symmetry is avoided, but we, as appreciators of math, can easily write down our own versions of the tune to explore the possibilities. For example, here's mine, first line is a 1-cycle, second line is a 2 cycle, and so on, until you get to 6-cycle, then you 2-5-1 back to the beginning. This is like a hyper-countdown arrangement.
@timcardona9962
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
Odd video. Not only is it not weird sounding at all, it’s not even the weirdest on that album LOL. It’s all functional harmony. Wayne Shorter’s tunes are “weird”.
@noThankyou-g5c
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
im sorry but tonality does not sound like complicated music theory. it sounds so basic that im more curious either how it’s worth mentioning or if I don’t actually understand what it means for music to be tonal
@alichamas63
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
“most complex chord progression ever” weeeell I wouldn’t go that far. It’s decent but I think some of Coltrane’s other tunes are harder, for example 26-2 is like Giant Steps with more twists and turns.
@ashcruickshank3385
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
My other big favourite from 59 is Charles Mingus – Mingus ah um is sheer brilliance that holds it own with the other two
@Y0uDude
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
David, you said this might be more music theory than we expected. But as a musician who does everything to bypass theory and see music in pictures instead, this video was a huge gift. Thanks.
@mycosys
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
Can i request you cover the story of one of the most influential, yet unknown albums, Touch. The first American prog band/album.
Down at Circe's Place has been one of my favourite tracks since i was a small child. The album was recorded in a castle in the Hollywood Hills, Jimi Hendrix and Mick Jagger were there, seems like a story. Also just a freaking amazing album.
@mycosys
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
As an EWI player my mind is kinda blown that not once in this did the fact a sax is monophonic and doesnt play chords come up (certainly not 7ths even in the harmonics you described, thats pretty unique harmonic energy levels).
@michaelpacinus242
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
I just blurted out long, slurping piles of demented white juice to this. Thanks!
@JustineFiles
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
I’ll never hear Giant Steps the same way now 😮
@SteveBennett1
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
This video seems to be missing the actual explanation of what the pattern is in Giant Steps. At 6:26, it looks like it's about to draw some arrows on the cycle of fifths or something but then just…moves on. A lot of setup missing the payoff?
@therealhansgroover
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
This was the perfect blend of music theory and history. Keep these up! 🙌
@muki2309
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
Not mentioning the shape of jazz to come in the class of 59 is criminal
@CatBlackGuitars
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
Welcome to jazz club, nice!
@ohmslawyer3599
January 19, 2026 at 11:45 pm
Thanks for the explanation !!!
Comments are closed.