Footprints — Chord Changes & Harmonic Analysis
- Composer:
- Wayne Shorter
- Year:
- 1966
- Key:
- C minor
- Form:
- AB (12 bars)
- Style:
- Post-Bop
- Tempo:
- 140–220 BPM
A Wayne Shorter classic with a memorable bass line and modal harmony. The 12-bar form in 6/4 time creates an unusual rhythmic feel, while the modal minor tonality provides freedom for improvisation.
About This Standard
Composed by Wayne Shorter and first recorded on his Blue Note album Adam's Apple (1966), Footprints was later recorded in a famous version by the Miles Davis Quintet on Miles Smiles (1967). The tune is a 12-bar minor blues in 3/4 (waltz) time, and the Davis Quintet's version — with its free, rhythmically floating approach — became one of the defining recordings of 1960s avant-garde jazz.
Notable recordings:
- Wayne Shorter — Adam's Apple (1966)
- Miles Davis Quintet — Miles Smiles (1967)
- Widely recorded — (modern jazz repertoire essential)
Chord Changes
Notation
Harmonic Analysis
Footprints is a 12-bar minor blues in C minor played in 3/4 time. The changes follow a blues structure: Cm7 (I)→Fm7 (IV)→Cm7 (I)→Ab7 Db7 (tritone substitute turnaround)→Cm7. The 3/4 feel transforms the familiar blues into a modal, floating groove. Wayne Shorter's harmonic language — using Ab7 and Db7 as tritone substitutes in the turnaround — adds sophistication while maintaining the blues feeling. The Miles Davis Quintet version pushed even further into rhythmic freedom, treating the changes loosely.