5 more simple ways to practice major scales:

  • block 7th chords (two hands, together)
    • root position
    • first inversion
    • second inversion (can really hear Bill Evans here)
    • third inversion
  • moving thirds (e.g. C E, D F, E G, D F, C E up and opposite on the way down — this is more about finger technique than the scales, but certainly practicing thirds cannot hurt)

Strictly Confidential and Poinciana come to mind — both built on simple melodies orchestrated with giant diatonic chords.

According to Howard Levy, “Trane wrote ‘Giant Steps’ after he had mastered all the common progressions in the bebop repertory and had tired of them. I heard that ‘Giant Steps just grew out of the exercises he had been practicing at the time, exploring different kinds of harmonic movements and trying to make his lines resolve to different places.”

—Paul F. Berliner’s Thinking In Jazz (page 223)