Most all musicians can appreciate the music of jazz sax player John Coltrane. Coltrane left his mark on the music world and changed the way we musicians look at harmonic considerations. During Coltrane's [change running] period he employed most of the harmonic devices of his contemporaries, II, V7 I patterns of the bebop era,turnarounds and other formula's.
He took what he learned and made his own system of II V7 patterns. He called it the 3 tonic system or better known as 'Coltrane Substitutions'
Let's look at an example.
Normal (II V7 I) progression
D-7 | G7 | CM7 | Resolve to I chord --> CM7
Coltrane would substitute the II V7 I in C with this
D-7 Eb7 | AbM7 B7 | E G7 ---> Resolve to I chord (CM7)
If you've done the math his formula is 1/2 step resolve min 3rd resolve minor 3rd.
From the first chord D-7 to the resolving I chord (CM7) is the same in the basic II V7 and Coltrane's Substitutions but he adds a colorful selection of resolving V7 to I chords by moving up 1/2 step from D-7 to Eb7 resolve to AbM7 and so on.
Example.1
Basic II V7 I progression. Chords are played on the inside 4 strings
Note: the G7 is a second inversion because it uses D(5th) in the bass.
D-7 G7 CM7
E|------------------------------
B|---6-----6----5---------------
G|---5-----4----4---------------
D|---7-----5----5---------------
A|---5-----5----3---------------
E|------------------------------
Example .2
Coltrane II V7 I progression (3 Tonic System)
D-7 Eb7 AbM7 B7 E G7 CM7
E|-------------------------------------------
B|---6-----6----6-----7----9----8----8-------
G|---5-----4----5-----8----9---10----9-------
D|---7-----5----5-----7----9----9----9-------
A|---5-----5---------------7---10------------
E|--------------6-----7--------------8-------
Now if you notice there are alot of chords for a short period of time. Coltrane was known for his speed of soloing over many chord progressions.
Try practicing Example.1 and then add incorporate the substitutions as in Example 2. Also try them in different keys.
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