The most feared song in jazz, explained
Why Hacker News recommends it
Recommended as a well-produced, accessible explanation of Giant Steps and the harmonic ideas behind Coltrane's work.
What it is
Vox Earworm explains why John Coltrane's Giant Steps is so hard to improvise over: it is fast and moves through three keys. Musicians Braxton Cook and Adam Neely walk the host through the underlying music theory.
Recommended by 5 HN commenters across 4 different months, 2021 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec peteforde · 2023-01 · on “Jazz Is Freedom”
I highly recommend this Vox explainer on John Coltrane's "Giant Steps", for anyone interested in learning about the math behind one of Jazz' greatest innovations. [this video]
Recommends davidwf · 2021-01 · on “Ask HN: What YouTube channels do you subscribe to?”
I keep a Google Document of these to share just in case people ask about my YouTube interests. I Actually Watched All of Them I have actually watched ALL of the videos on these channels and I don’t even feel bad about it :-) I actually like new videos from some of the ones below (like NativLang, for example) but they maybe don’t hold up in the early videos. - Space Time: PBS Physics, sooo good -- [LINK] -- Great first video: [LINK] - Lindsay Ellis: Really, really intelligent video essays about film and culture -- [LINK] -- Great First Video: [LINK] - Periodic Videos: Chemistry, including a video for every element -- [LINK] -- Great first video (obviously): [LINK] Other Math and Science - 3Bl
Recommends elbelcho · 2024-03 · on “Miles Davis and the recording of Kind of Blue”
If you're looking for a comprehensible to mortals explanation of the genius that can be found in Jazz, watch this explainer on Coltrane's Giant Steps. [this video]
Recommends ghostpepper · 2025-09 · on “John Coltrane's Tone Circle”
If you don’t have the time (or the musical background) for the full article, this short YouTube video touches on some of the same ideas in a much more condensed and accessible version: [this video]
Recommends zzzeek · 2025-09 · on “John Coltrane's Tone Circle”
Nice site but we're at the point in "Show an In Depth Thing on Hacker News" where circles like these need to be presented with a live GUI that includes sound and colors as you spin the circles around to play different chords. towards my craving for instant gratification with sound and lights I found a well produced video by Vox on the subject: [this video]