“Footprints” was composed by saxophonist Wayne Shorter and first recorded on his album Adam’s Apple in 1966. The first commercial release of the song was on the Miles Davis album Miles Smiles recorded later in 1966, but released earlier.
In this lesson, we’ll dive into Wayne Shorter’s interpretation of this classic tune. While it has evolved over the years and is often felt in 6/8—or even as a combination of different meters—I believe it’s most natural to feel it in 6/4 in the original recording.
Here is what we’ll explore in the course:
- Two distinct modal approaches
- The use of triad pairs
- The pentatonic scales
- Various bebop scale options
- A detailed study of Wayne Shorter’s solo transcription (did you get the quote from A Love Supreme by Coltrane?)
Let’s get started!
Listen to the playlist and let me know in the comments which is your favorite version!
Video lessons:
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Here is the chart you find in the Real Book with no less than 8 melodic and 4 harmonic mistakes!
This piece is a blues in C minor, clearly structured as a 12-bar form when written in 6/4. A key harmonic feature appears in bars 9 and 10, where the progression—F#ø7 F7#11 | E7alt A7#9—deviates from the D7 | Db7 found in the RealBook.
It is important for the pianist (or the guitarist) to get the accompanying figures right with the anticipation on the “and” of 3:
