Jazz · modal · 4/4 swing

McCoy Tyner modal vamp (quartal)

176 bpm
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triplets

McCoy Tyner modal vamp — the Coltrane-quartet piano sound on one dorian chord (G minor here). The left hand strikes a low open fifth plus octave (G–D–G) on the downbeat and lets it ring like a drone; the bass pedals root and fifth under it. The right hand never plays a triad: it jabs quartal voicings — stacks of perfect fourths, D–G–C–F and E–A–D–G — on swung off-beats, sliding between the two shapes.

The off-beats are swung at triplet positions (and-of-1 = 0.667). Drums: swing ride, hi-hat on 2 and 4, the kick feathered softly on every quarter, a couple of snare triplet jabs in the Elvin Jones manner.

Listen for the openness: with no thirds stacked in the right hand the harmony floats, so the rhythm of the jabs carries the music. Practice: hold the left-hand fifth with the pedal and move the two fourth shapes up and down the dorian scale in parallel — that sideways planing is the Tyner vocabulary.

References & listening

  • Recording McCoy Tyner The Real McCoy(Blue Note, 1967)— "Passion Dance"
  • Recording John Coltrane Impressions(Impulse!, 1963)— title track (live at the Village Vanguard, 3 Nov 1961); McCoy Tyner, piano
  • Web McCoy Tyner(Wikipedia)

How this pattern was made

  • standard practice (McCoy Tyner with John Coltrane, e.g. "Impressions", and "Passion Dance" on The Real McCoy); no transcribed source