Moment's Notice — Chord Changes & Harmonic Analysis
- Composer:
- John Coltrane
- Year:
- 1957
- Key:
- Eb major
- Form:
- AABA (32 bars)
- Style:
- Post-Bop
- Tempo:
- 160–260 BPM
A challenging Coltrane composition featuring rapid key changes through the cycle of fifths. The tune moves through multiple tonal centers, requiring advanced harmonic understanding and technical facility.
About This Standard
Composed by John Coltrane and recorded on his landmark Blue Note album Blue Train (1957), Moment's Notice is one of Coltrane's most sophisticated compositions. Its complex, rapidly moving chord changes — featuring ii-V-I progressions in multiple keys moving at a pace of two chords per bar — showcased the harmonic complexity Coltrane was developing before his later modal period.
Notable recordings:
- John Coltrane — Blue Train (1957)
- Widely studied — (Coltrane composition requiring harmonic fluency)
Chord Changes
Notation
Harmonic Analysis
Moment's Notice is a 32-bar composition (typically AABA) in F major with rapidly shifting ii-V-I progressions that move through multiple key centers at two chords per bar. The A section cycles through ii-V-I patterns in Eb, Db, F, and Db major in quick succession. The harmonic movement is denser than any standard of its era, requiring complete fluency in ii-V-I patterns in all keys. It foreshadowed the harmonic density of Giant Steps (1960) and remains one of the most challenging bebop/post-bop heads to navigate.