By: Makeda Lee
In the song titled ‘A Love Supreme,’ by John Coltrane, a famous saxophonist, there are many different elements found in this music piece. The elements include rhythm, melody, harmony, soloing, and improv. This type of jazz is called ‘Avant- grade‘ jazz.
While listening to this piece by John Coltrane, I noticed how all of the instruments eventually unite to make a greater and more powerful sound. I really enjoyed how the saxophone carried the melody and how the piano and drums kept the beat of the music. I noticed how in certain parts of the music piece, the saxophone starts to move up octaves. Something else I admired was the diminuendo. To me, it seemed like the piano and saxophone were the story tellers of the piece which is where the spiritual aspect might come in.
Rhythm: The main instruments that kept the rhythm in this music piece were the bass and drums.
Improvise: After doing research on the song, I learned that the first part of the song was improvised. While listening to the song, I wasn’t completely sure which parts where improvised. I’m not sure how you figure out how something is improvised.
Melody: After listening to this piece, it was clear that the saxophone was the instrument that carried the melody.
Soloing: Throughout the piece, each instrument seems to have a solo. This includes the piano, drums, saxophone and bass. As said before, the piano and saxophone seemed to be the story teller of the piece. The bass seemed to be the prelude in the beginning section of the piece.
