John Coltrane’s reinterpretation of the circle of fifths.
The diagram is now known as The Coltrane Circle or Coltranes Circle of Tones.
The accomplished jazz saxophonist, bandleader, and composer John Coltrane thought similarly.
John Coltrane’s reinterpretation of the circle of fifths. The diagram is now known as “The Coltrane Circle” or “Coltrane’s Circle of Tones.”
In 1967, Coltrane presented a geometric drawing to fellow saxophonist and professor Yusef Lateef.
The diagram would come to be known as The Coltrane Circle or Coltranes Circle of Tones.
Though portraying a recognizable principle in music theory, the drawing is unique in how it presents this information.
Portrait of John Coltrane, October 1963. (Photo: Hugo van Gelderen, viaWikimedia Commons)
For clarinetist Arun Ghosh, Coltranes Circle embodied a musical system connected with the Divine.
Ghosh even commented that it feels quite Islamic to me.
The drawing, however, also reveals Coltranes preoccupation with physics and science.
Circle of fifths (Photo: Just plain Bill, viaWikimedia Commons).
Renowned jazz musician John Coltrane beautifully mapped the relationship between music and mathematics with his Coltrane Circle.
Portrait of John Coltrane, October 1963.
Circle of fifths (Photo: Just plain Bill, viaWikimedia Commons).
