Transcriptions #1: Someday My Prince Will Come John Coltrane Solo

2 minute read

This rendition of “Someday My Prince Will Come” was performed by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb. The solo by John Coltrane starts around 5:52 and my transcription ends around 6:12. “Someday My Prince Will Come” is one of my favorite tunes.

someday-my-prince-will-come-john-coltrane.pdf

I really like the beginning of John Coltrane’s solo here. The melody he plays in the first five measures is very pretty and catchy. It’s interesting how he ends the phrase in measure five. If we pull up the “Someday My Prince Will Come” lead sheet, look at the chords, and match them with Coltrane’s solo, we see that the first transcribed measure is a pickup, second measure is over B♭maj7, third measure is over D7, fourth measure is over E♭maj7, and fifth measure is over G7. That means that when we get to the last note of the fourth measure (the F), our ears are itching to hear the resolution a whole step down to an E♭, but we don’t hear this resolution until the upbeat of beat 1 on the next measure. This is interesting because while the melody feels resolved, the E♭ is the augmented 5th of the chord G7. The E♭ is toying between the dissonance with the new harmony and the consonance with the resolution of the melody. This is a common practice of bebop artists where they shift back the chord changes a little, meaning that even though the rhythm section has moved onto G7, his solo stays on E♭maj7 for one more measure.

The rhythm in measures 10-12 is also cool. The phrases are composed of triplets that always end right before the downbeat. Sandwiched between some fast runs, this section exudes a feeling of ease and nonchalance with consistent triplets being played at a relaxed tempo and Coltrane not even bothering to finish the phrases on a downbeat. Combined with the back and forth melody, this results in a phrase that doesn’t sound so “square” and doesn’t have a sense of urgency or destination in mind. When I hear this section, I imagine a person casually walking down the street.

Written on May 28th, 2020 by Chris Cheung