This tune has been a measuring stick of musicianship for over thirty years. It is especially challenging (and fun) for guitarists who are in the habit of moving the left hand to a different position each time the chord changes. there are three tonal centers which are an unusual Major Third apart: G, B, Eb. The "II-V-I" progressions are used here result in the G Major chord being preceded by the Am and D7, creating an Am-D7-G Maj 7 sequence. Likewise, the other two become: C#m7-F#7-B Maj7 and Fm7-Bb7-Eb Maj7.    Giant Steps is made up solely of these three chord sequences.

   I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to make music with two ex-Wes Montgomery keyboard players who lived here for many years. I learned a lot from playing and listening to these guys

   Once Buddy Montgomery told me as I pulled out my Real Book and put it on my music stand: "Jack, if you have to read the music for this tune, that means you don't know it.  If you don't know it, you shouldn't be playing it in public."

Melvin Rhyne said to me a few times: "You don't know a tune unless you know it in all twelve keys."

I didn't dare take a music stand or any written music

on gigs with them.  They taught me to play the music in the air, not the music on the paper.  Thanks guys !!!

   On those gigs I never knew what key they would play a tune in until they started playing it!  No one told me what key something was going to be in. No one even counted off the tune. Those guys were able to play every song in their repertoire in all twelve keys. 

   To get a handle on Giant Steps and other tunes, you need to write out the changes in all twelve keys and practice them regularly and then memorize them.

This scale type melody exercise is to be played in the second position only. (The goal is to run a line throught the changes without moving your hand out of position.) The only way to play in all keys without moving the hand is to regard a position as six frets: the first finger plays the notes in frets 1 and 2, second finger the notes in fret 3, third finger the notes in fret 4, fourth finger the notes in frets 5 and 6. The notes below are in the key of C without line direction changed when the chord changes. The famous changes are written above the melody.

   The direction, beginning, end, and rhythmic content of your improvised line should not be determined by the phrasing and shape of the tune.  Outlining chords with scales and arpeggios is not improvising. The improvised line should be free from  the confines of the tune while fitting the tune harmonically. 

Miles Davis said:   "I play against the band."

He also said:  "Play what nobody else is playing."

and then said:  "If you can't play something that helps the music, , don' t play anything at all."

To be a strong player in an ensemble, you need to know what every player in the band is playing at all times,  what notes are being played, the octaves they are being played in, the rhythms of those notes,

and what dynamic they are played with.   If you are reading a chart while doing that, your effectiveness in the ensemble is reduced.   However, I feel it is possible to read music so well that you can also pay attention to these additional musical parameters.  Few people read music that well.