Standards
Countdown chords & key
- Key
- B♭ major
- Form
- A
- Bars
- 24
- Groove
- Up-tempo swing
- Time signature
- 4/4
“Countdown” is a jazz standard by John Coltrane. Most bands play it in B♭ major, up-tempo swing; the tune runs 24 bars in A form. In this atlas it appears on 2 album tracks and in 1 transcribed solo.
Chord changes
Showing in: Concert (C) — B♭ major
Changes as commonly played (concert pitch). Your band's version may differ.
Harmonic analysis
Most used chords
- B♭maj7×7
- F7×5
- G♭maj7×5
- Dmaj7×5
- A7×4
- Em7×3
History
"Countdown" is a hardbop jazz standard composed by American jazz saxophonist John Coltrane that was first featured on his fifth studio album, Giant Steps, in 1960. The song is a contrafact of Miles Davis's "Tune Up", which is reharmonized to the Coltrane changes. The original recording has been described as having "resolute intensity... [that] does more to modernize jazz in 141 seconds than many artists do in their entire careers".
Read the full article on Wikipedia ↗ · From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Recorded on these albums
Transcribed solos on Countdown
| John Coltrane tenor saxophone | 338 BPM |
Standards with similar changes
Similarity of the chord progression, independent of key.
Frequently asked questions
What key is Countdown in?
Countdown is usually played in B♭ major. For B♭ instruments that is C major, for E♭ instruments G major.
Who wrote Countdown?
Countdown was written by John Coltrane.
What is the form of Countdown?
Countdown has 1 sections (A) with 24 bars in total.
How fast is Countdown played?
The usual groove is Up-tempo swing. Transcribed solos in our data were played at 338 BPM.
What are the chord changes to Countdown?
The opening bars are Em7 F7 | Bbmaj7 Db7 | Gbmaj7 A7 | Dmaj7. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.