GoKawiilBlog post rebuilds John Coltrane's hand-drawn tone circle as an interactive widget
A music theory blog post reconstructs a circular diagram that John Coltrane once sketched and gave to Yusef Lateef, who later referenced it in his own book on scales. The diagram overlays chromatic scales onto the circle of fifths/fourths, and the post turns it into an interactive tool letting users rotate keys and highlight harmonic shapes, including patterns connected to Coltrane's composition 'Giant Steps'.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
Coltrane never documented in writing what the diagram meant, so efforts to decode it are necessarily interpretive reconstructions rather than confirmed history. Turning the sketch into an interactive model could make abstract jazz harmony concepts, like the symmetrical chord movements in 'Giant Steps', more accessible to musicians studying his approach.
- Coltrane sketched a circular chromatic/fifths diagram and gave it to Yusef Lateef, who referenced it in his own scale repository.
- The diagram has no confirmed explanation from Coltrane himself, leaving its exact purpose open to interpretation.
- The blog post converts the sketch into an interactive widget that can rotate keys and highlight harmonic shapes tied to 'Giant Steps'.
Coltrane's Giant Steps Vinyl LP — If you're diving deep into Coltrane's harmonic theory, there's no substitute for hearing 'Giant Steps' itself on vinyl. Studying the tone circle alongside the actual recording helps connect the geometric diagram to the sound of those rapid key changes in action.
See Coltrane's Giant Steps Vinyl LP on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: jtomschroeder.com — Tom Schroeder, 2026-09-30
Published there as: “Coltrane's Tone Circle”
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