“My Favorite Things” was written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II for the 1959 musical The Sound of Music. A year later, John Coltrane recorded a groundbreaking modal version on soprano saxophone, turning a show tune into one of the most important jazz performances of the 1960s. It’s also a holiday favorite.
The tune is a waltz in 3/4, usually played in E minor with a turn to E major. The original song moves through minor and relative major chords, with secondary dominants and a classic ii-V-I. Coltrane’s version simplifies the harmony into long vamps: extended sections of E minor and E major, connected by the melody. That modal approach gives soloists room to explore.
For improvisation on the Coltrane-style vamp, use E Dorian over E minor and E Ionian (major) or E Lydian over E major. Build long, flowing phrases and use repetition to create intensity, the way Coltrane and McCoy Tyner did. On the show-tune version, follow the chord changes, using E harmonic minor for the dominant chords and the relative major scale when the harmony brightens.
Practice the waltz feel with a metronome on beat one. Learn the melody by singing it, then try both the original harmony and the Coltrane vamp version. Pianists should study McCoy Tyner’s open fourths voicings, which define the modal sound.
Transposing tip: Bb instruments read it in F# minor, Eb instruments in C# minor. The Coltrane vamps are great for learning modes in other keys too.
Is it hard to play? The show-tune version is beginner-friendly, while the Coltrane vamp version is easy harmonically but demanding to sustain musically over a long solo.
Common mistake: rushing the waltz. Feel the long phrases. Recordings to study: Coltrane’s 1961 album My Favorite Things and his later live versions. Learn more about the songwriters on the Rodgers and Hammerstein Wikipedia page, and find more jazz waltzes on Minedit.