What instrument did jazz great John Coltrane play?

John Coltrane played the saxophone. He became especially famous for his powerful, searching work on the tenor saxophone, although he also played soprano and, earlier in his career, alto saxophone.

Coltrane began on clarinet and alto horn before switching to saxophone as a teenager. His mother bought him his first saxophone for his seventeenth birthday in 1943. By 1947, he had moved to tenor saxophone, the instrument that defined his sound and helped establish him as one of jazz’s most influential improvisers.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Coltrane performed with major figures including Dizzy Gillespie, Johnny Hodges, Thelonious Monk, and Miles Davis. His tenor playing can be heard on landmark recordings such as Kind of Blue, Giant Steps, and A Love Supreme. He later helped popularize the soprano saxophone in modern jazz, notably through “My Favorite Things.”

A common mix-up is assuming that “saxophone” means only tenor saxophone. Coltrane’s best-known instrument was tenor, but the broader answer is correct because he played several members of the saxophone family.