How’s it going, guys? This is John McClennan and
I’m here with guitarcontrol.com, excited to bring
you this video blog. We’re talking about “Giant Steps”
today, John Coletrane’s tune. I’m going to show
you some lines that will get you through the first
four bars of “Giant Steps” and probably the hardest
part of the tune. So let’s jump right in. Click the
link below for the tab so you can follow along.
Here’s what we’re doing here. We’re going to come off
a B major 7 and we’re starting on the low string, the
2nd fret, and I play 2-2. Instantly I’m starting out
with a real kind of modern sound. So I’ve got 2-2, jump
up to 6 with my pinkie and then 4 and then 5. A lot of
times I’ll use my fingers as well. When I have a big
interval skip I’ll just play with my finger instead of the
pick. And then 5-3 and then 5-4. That’s just a little lick,
4-5-4-5. And this is the thing about going to an E flat
major 7. So you’ve got… Going right into that chord.
Again, as you work through this lick look up above on the
tab because you’ve got chord shapes and you have to know
what notes and how it’s being applied over what chord.
When you get here, some skipping again. So you’ve
got 5-4-6-6-3. And then here’s a little II-V-I
lick that I like to play. It’s going over A minor,
D7, G major 7. I love that sound. Over A minor.
That’s 3-2-5-3-5 and then… That’s giving you that
kind of sound. Dominant 7 flat 9 over the V chord
resolving into G major 7. So the whole lick slowly
is… That’s your next chord, there, is the G major 7.
All right, well, click the link below for the tab
and practice that slowly. It’s a difficult lick.
