‘A Love Supreme’ by John Coltrane Recorded December 1964 John Coltrane (ts), McCoy Tyner (p) Elvin Jones (d) Jimmy Garrison (b)
1s
Quartal Harmony McCoy Tyner's trademark sound is his use o !uartal harmony" #uartal harmony means harmonic structures or chords built usin$ intervals ourths rather than thirds as in traditional or %tertian& harmony" #uartal harmony is characteried by its ambi$uous, open sound and usin$ it can dis$uise the tonal center and as a result create tension or resolution eectively" y the 1*+&s the use o !uartal harmony in music -as by no means revolutionary, but it -as Tyner -ith Coltrane -ho popularied the !uartal sound in Ja" E.amples o !uartal harmony can be ound in the music o Erik /atie as early as 10*1"
McCoy normally uses threenote !uartal voicin$s in his let hand and can oten be heard playin$ these diatonically throu$h the mode, resultin$ in interestin$ shapes built rom combinations o perect and au$mented ourths" elo- is a short practice routine or practicin$ this concept throu$h the C 2orian scale"
3t is also -orth studyin$ the inversions o these !uartal shapes and takin$ those throu$h the mode" 4or e.ample5
/ome other en!uiries into the !uartal sound that 3 have e.plored are5 Melodic use o ourth structures throu$h a mode -ith patterns or arpe$$ios 6on harmonic use o ourth structures to create tension over static chords 4ournote ourth voicin$s throu$h a mode as above The interval o a ourth taken throu$h dierent a.es and the resultin$ patterns" This is oten heard in the playin$ o 7erbie 7ancock, 7orace /ilver and beyond, ater McCoy Tyner&s -ork -ith John Coltrane melodic use o ourths became 8rmly rooted in the 9a lan$ua$e"
Pentatonic colours 3n this techni!ue derived rom McCoy Tyner&s improvised lines, -e can e.plore the colors created by playin$ dierent minor pentatonic scales over a static root note or modal center" 3n %:ursuance&, the modal center is b dorian but or the purposes o this handout let&s e.plore them in a C dorian conte.t, here the scales to-ards the top o the table are more %in& soundin$ as they emphasise the C dorian tonality" ;s -e move to-ards the middle and bottom o the table, the scales contain mostly notes not ound in C dorian or notes that are contradictory such as E natural or natural < as such they sound a lot more %out& and are best reserved or special eect" ;s you can see, to-ards the middle o the table, describin$ the colours $et tenuous usin$ traditional chordscale theory" 3&ve ound it better to simply hear ho- these colors sound than try to rationalie them -ith theory"
McCoy oten %sidesteps& into other (sometimes distant) pentatonic scales creatin$ varyin$ de$rees o contrast" Minor :entatonic /cale
3ntervals over C pedal
Color
C minor pentatonic G minor pentatonic 2 minor pentatonic 4 minor pentatonic b minor pentatonic Eb minor pentatonic ;b minor pentatonic
=, b>, ?, @, bA @, bA, =, *, 11 B, ?, @, +, = ?, b+, bA, =, b> bA, b*, b>, ?, b+ b>, b@, b+, bA, b* b+, A, b*, b>, b@
2b minor pentatonic
bB, >, D?, b+, A
Minor 11 Minor 11 Minor 1> (no >) Minor A b+ /us b* b1> :ure locrian Minorma9or b1> D11 b* ;u$mented Ma9or A D11 b* Ma9or A D11 b* Ma9or A D11 Ma9or A Ma9or +*
4D minor pentatonic minor pentatonic E minor pentatonic ; minor pentatonic
D?, +, A, b*, > A, *, >, D11, + >, @, +, A, * +, =, *, >, @
Minor implications
Ma9or implications
3n order to brin$ these e.tended sounds into my playin$ and aural a-areness, 3&ve practiced playin$ over Tampura drones, -hich can be ound on ouTube in most keys" 4rom a technical standpoint, 3&ve ound $ood results by choosin$ t-o pentatonic scales and alternatin$ bet-een them -ithout chan$in$ the direction o my line < alternatively you can practice playin$ one pentatonic continuously and then have a riend shout out the ne.t one at random, then shit into that scale as smoothly as possible"
Tension and resolution within a line ;n important element o speakin$ the 9a lan$ua$e is the ability to improvise tension and resolution -ithin a sin$le line" 3 you play throu$h the chord pro$ression verbatim or %play the chan$es& this tension and resolution -ill be incidental to that pro$ression" ut -hat players have been doin$ since ach is embellishin$ a static chord by implyin$ another chord in their line" Fets look at playin$ over a b minor chord" 3n order create a sense o harmonic momentum in our line -e can imply A < 3 cadences over this static chord"
This is the concept in its purest orm (minor triad and dominant Ath) but this basic idea althou$h sometimes cleverly dis$uised can be heard in every movement in 9a music as a -ay o creatin$ motion"
7ere is a more bebopstyle variation, this time usin$ a minor + chord as the tonic and a diminished Ath chord as the dominant to create a Ab* sound"
;nd here&s a variation inspired by McCoy Tyner&s playin$ on %:ursuance& alternatin$ bet-een b minor pentatonic and 4A altered sounds"
This concept is not 9ust limited to A3 movements and you can impose dierent pro$ressions over static or nonstatic harmonies to create interest in your line" McCoy also e.plores transposin$ cellular ra$ments -ithin a statement notably the %Fove /upreme& theme, -hich he transposes to almost every key in this solo to $reat eect" Continuin$ this meetin$ o ne- and old ideas, 3&ve been e.plorin$ combinin$ the basic ma9or triad -ith a !uartal %trichord&" This creates an$ular but interestin$ lines -ith an internal lo$ic" McCoy Tyner mastered the basic triad shapes and also !uartal harmony so 3 decided to e.plore the eect o combinin$ -ithin a line"
Pentatonic scales in octave shells :erhaps inspired by the $reat blues $uitarists, McCoy sometimes plays pentatonic shapes in an octave shell a sound evocative o the blues" elo- is an e.ercise 3&ve invented to practice it, startin$ on each de$ree o a pentatonic scale" This techni!ue can be heard at the start o the tenth chorus o this solo"
The Lydian tetrachord The Fydian tetrachord is a common melodic (or harmelodic) shape ound in all kinds o music and has been used in 9a since the early years o bebop (see Charlie :arker on HoHo)" 7o-ever, John Coltrane&s classic !uartet took this shape and e.plored its many applications and the melodies that can be ound rom it"
The very same shape in a linear conte.t can be used to describe many dierent harmonies"
=oot 6ote
7armony Generated usin$ Gb Fydian
C 2b 2 Eb E 4 Gb G ;b ; b Transposition within a line
Focrian 3onian ;ltered Minor +* (6onharmonic) Fydian ;u$ b* /us b* Fydian (6onharmonic) 2orian natural A Mi.olydian (6onharmonic) 2ominant 1> b1> 7armonic Ma9or or Mi.olydian b+ Fydian b*
3n the ourth chorus o the solo (bar >+) Tyner develops a pentatonic ra$ment in e.actly the same -ay that Coltrane does in his solo on ;ckno-led$ement by transposin$ it to dierent, unrelated keys" This creates a sense o motion and release -hen he shits back to a ra$ment that 8ts -ith the modal center" Ie can apply this concept to any melodic structure by transposin$ it by an interval or set o intervals" This can help to create lon$er -indin$ lines -ith inherent tension and resolution" 7ere is an e.ample sho-in$ a ma9or triad transposed do-n the au$mented a.is connected -ith a step-ise passin$ note5
Blending old and new Continuin$ this idea o blendin$ tradition -ith innovation Tyner oten directly 9u.taposes traditional shapes such as seventh chords -ith !uartal triads or tetrachordal cells" To-ards the end o his solo he pairs an E minor A chord -ith a !uartal triad rom 4D creatin$ an an$ular line sotened by the more commonly heard seventh chord"
Concepts like these are crucial to the sound o many contemporary players and prove very versatile in unctional and nonunctional conte.ts" /tudyin$ Tyner&s solo has revealed this or$anic yet structured -ay o improvisin$ lines and has also e.tended my repertoire o compositional devices"
Cover illustration by :aulo :arisi rom the $raphic novel %Coltrane&
