John Coltrane on Practicing, Improvisation, Favorite Albums, and More
There’s little I can say about John Coltrane that hasn’t already been said.
But one thing that I don’t hear that often is what Coltrane said about himself.
After doing some poking around on the web, I can across this vibey Austin Powers-era interview with the man himself and a less-than-lovable interviewer. At any rate, Trane had some truly surprising viewpoints which I think you’ll find inspiring and kinda amazing.
Always Practicing
When asked about the relationship between his personality and his music, Trane acknowledged that critics had labeled him as an angry dude. Coltrane explained that the reason that his music might sound angry is because he plays “so many sounds.”
He continued, “I’m trying so many things at one time that I haven’t sorted them out. I have a whole bag of things I’m trying to work through and get the one essential…There are some set things I know, some devices, some harmonic devices that I know that will take me out of the ordinary path…but I haven’t played them enough and I’m not familiar enough with them yet to play the one single line to them, so I play all of them, trying to acclimate my ears…”
Giant Steps
In response to the reports that he trying to go for a more “beautiful sound” on the classic recording, Giant Steps. Coltrane clarified that although he’d like to continue working on beautifying the quality of his tone, what he really was going for was emphasizing the melodic aspect of his playing.
“Now I’m primarily interested in working what I know down into a more lyrical line – that’s what I mean by beautiful.”
His Favorite Things
When asked about his best recording, John hailed Blue Trane as his favorite overall. As far as quartet records went, he felt that Giant Steps (the most recent recording at the time of the interview) was his best, but then quickly interjects, “with the exception of maybe Soul Trane.”
As for his favorite tenor players, Coltrane responded “all of them.” When pressed further, Trane called out the great Sonny Rollins, adding that “in the formative days, there was Dexter Gordon.”
Working with Miles
Our friendly interviewer also inquired as to whether playing with Miles, in effect, limited him to a specific type of playing. However, Coltrane immediately chimed in the quite the opposite was true, and that Miles offered him complete musical freedom.
The Roots
The interviewer pointed out that Coltrane had a strong sense of tradition, to which the legend replied “I’d like to even make it stronger, I’d like to strengthen my roots, because I didn’t start at the beginning, and there’s a whole lot back there that all young musicians should have.”
As for whether he himself owned many of the records from before his time, John said that he doesn’t actually have many records from that era at the moment, but emphasized that he’d like to get more of them and include them in his repertoire.
paul "sax" carter
December 3, 2010 @ 6:39 pm
hi iam just writing to say thanks very much for your web i think its gr8 it has helped me with my quest for a good sound and to improvise on tennor sax keep the gr8 wrk up all the best p “sax”
Doron
December 4, 2010 @ 10:36 am
Hey there P Sax,
Thanks so much for the kudos! Comments like yours really inspire me to keep doing everything I can to help my fellow sax players as much as possible, and I’m so glad that the site has been helpful to you.
Please let me know if there’s anything else I can do, or if there’s a topic which hasn’t been covered here that you’d like to see on the site.
All the best,
Doron
Brian
March 3, 2011 @ 6:04 pm
Hey there,
Just wanted to thank you for posting these summary of that interview. I remember listening to it ages ago but totally forgot about it until recently when I stumbled on your site. It’s awe-inspiring how dedicated Coltrane was to his craft…what a musical titan. I didn’t realize this initially, but the content here is gold. I could definitely work on a more lyrical line and getting back to this music’s roots!
Thanks –
Brian
Doron Orenstein
March 3, 2011 @ 11:32 pm
Heya Brian,
Yeah, really inspiring and rare to hear the master himself speak, especially about his roots, which is cool considering what an innovative musician he was.
At any rate, I’m so glad that you got something out of the summary.
All the best,
Doron
Gary Player’s Advice: Practice Practice Practice!!! | London Music Institute – Blog
October 4, 2012 @ 7:14 pm
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A. Robinson
November 6, 2018 @ 12:45 pm
How did “john Coltrane” practice when he first started playing an instrument.
John Stillwell
June 9, 2024 @ 7:48 am
John Colrane did guitarists a big favor by writing songs that almost seem like they were written guitar suing more chromatic key changes than 4ths or 5ths making improvising over them easier at least in an instrument – key change way of looking at it. Half step key changes are the easiest to play on guitar, maybe the hardest on sax.
But that’s not why I always half a John Coltrane picture in my music room. It’s because I’ve thought he was greatest musician in the genre.