To summarize: for dominant we have 2 rules for each of 135b7 and 246. The main chord tones we can choose from either 1 half step between seven and tonic or 3 between seven and tonic and the one and two and the 2 and 3. For color tones 246 we have either none or 2 between the b7 and tonic and the 1 and 2.
I went to the conservatory and wasted a lot of years searching for the holy grail. This answers so many questions that I have tried asking the right questions for. Barry is absolutely brilliant but you are equally generous and ingenious in your way of presenting the material. Thank you ever so much, man- You are awesome!
0:22 : overview Rules for descending: 1:06 : From 1 (half step ) 1:26 : From 1 ( 3 half steps) 1:48 : From 2 (no half steps) 2:00 : From 2 (two half steps) 2:13 : From 3 2:33 : From 4 2:58 : From 5 3:20 : From 6 3:40 : From 7 4:09 : Practice routine 6:06 : important concept 7:43 : important concept (no bebop scales) 8:18 : using triplets
The theme of this episode is parity (whether a number is even or odd). We want chord tones (of the dominant seventh chord) to land on strong beats. If no adjustment is needed, we can add zero or two chromatic notes. If adjustment is needed, we can add one or three chromatic notes. Later, triplets change how many notes there are until the next strong beat. One eighth note triplet causes there to be an odd number of notes in a bar. However, a sixteenth note triplet doesn't affect the parity of notes in a bar. This is why the video says that the rule is "reversed" when identifying the note in the triplet that determines the rule to follow.
I like to streamline the "half step rules" that Barry Harris taught. For descending half-step rules: Starting on an odd-numbered degree (7, 9, 11, etc) you don't need to add a half step. Starting on an even-numbered degree (6, 8, 10, etc) you need to add a half step. That's it. These "rules" serve to balance the line. Balance = chord tones landing on the beat. It's basically a binary approach to balance a 7-note scale. 7 is an odd quantity of notes, balancing it with added half steps can keep chord tones on the beat. Observations: Add 1 half step or 3 half steps and the result is the same, either way balances the scale. Add none or add 2 half steps and the result is the same, either way balances the scale. Harry Likas was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book". Harry studied for 20 years with Barry Harris. Harry spends his time teaching online and playing solo piano gigs.
I don't normally comment on UA-cam videos, but these sir, are phenomenal. Thank you so much for your time, effort and most importantly, your knowledge. Rip Barry
I, like many others, are taking notes (on these 5 videos and counting) and digesting this. UA-cam fortunately allows slowing down,, but I find my ears are developing an awareness that I hadn't expected, perhaps BECAUSE of the rhythmic emphasis of scale tones on the beats. (As an aside, I hope Nica's house in Weehawken, NJ was sold to a jazz lover. It should get at least a PLAQUE as a national historic site since Thelonius Monk and Barry Harris lived there for years. My 2 cents.)
You have made his ideas and concepts so much more digestible for me. especially as a guitar player you have finally made jazz a little clearer for me. I’ve been trying to figure out where to start and this has been a huge help. Thank you!
I’m taking your videos slowly over and over to warm back up and train. You’re a really good resource. I hope to catch up to your more recent lessons with good questions and enough practice. Thank ya !
Thank you so much for these valuable lessons. You are an excellent teacher. The pace is very fast but I am feeling encouraged and supported by the way you explain things. Much appreciated!
This is a really great musical training, I love the classical approach presented, and how it becomes melodic. I would consider maybe offering an accompanying PDF, of the examples, covered.
Right off the bat that is fascinating that these rules show themselves in the structure of thirds in the key. The half step rules seemed so daunting until now
Hello, from Mexico. I really appreciate your contributing to make Barry's method available and straightforward. Much as it is, as your say, cerebral, its beauty cannot be overlooked. Somehow I stumbled upon his music and method, I've tried to decipher it to no avail and I can say I did not take the plunge and decided to sit on the fence to see what happened. Then a week ago I went over the harmonies from his major and minor 6th diminished in Drop 2, 3 and 4-2 and immediately fell pretty to its enchants once more. What you're doing for all of us is just invaluable, I pay my respects wholeheartedly. All the best!!
Hi Chris, what an excellent lesson. It might, respectfully be worth adding that, as a pianist, I might want to extend the run beyond the target note. In fact this might also be the case on the guitar, particularly if the run is started high on the neck. In any event, another rule comes into play here and that is that no matter which note of the scale, or method of descent or on which part of the beat the run takes off from, if the run continues beyond the target note, in order to keep rhythm, it has to be continued as for a chord tone. Perhaps this is an obvious point, and if so, I apologise. I think that at the very least, pianists who follow you may benefit from giving this point some consideration. Thanks for sharing your expertise. Much appreciated. Best wishes, Mal
Half a ton of very useful information there - thanks a lot for your effort. It's going by so fast I'll have to watch it a couple times more often to make notes of all the rules. Would've been helpful if you'd have summarized them shortly in your description but that's probably asking too much. Looking forwrd to work my way through your other episodes. Cheers Tom
I recently discovered a possible variation on half-steps. When you start on the 6th and immediately lower a half-step to the diminished note of the scale and then combine that with either the 3rd to 7th half-steps or the root to 7th, you end up on chord tones sooner than the other way of descending from the 6th. I tried it a bunch of times and I think it works but let us know what you think. Thanks!
my episode notes: • Half-step rules for the dominant scale (descending; F7 to start with) • Same rule(s) apply to 1-3-5-7. Same rule(s) apply to 2-4-6 • Tonic: half-step between tonic and dominant 7th o 2nd part of the rule: half-steps between tonic and 7th, 3 & 2, 2 &1 (3 half steps) • Rule for the 2nd: no half steps o 2nd part of the rule: half steps between 2nd and tonic and tonic and 7th • Rule for the 3rd: same as tonic • Rule for the 4th: same as 2nd • Rule for the 5th: same as 1 and 3 • Rule for the 6th: same as 2 & 4 • Rule for the 7th: same as 1, 3, 5 • Practice: start on tonic, do each one twice. Tonic, then 2nd, then 3rd, etc. (always descending) • If you go up first (tonic to 2, tonic to 2 to 3, etc.), follow the rule(s) for the first note when descending • 8th note triplets: follow the rule of the middle note of the triplet (1-2-1, follow rule for 2) • 16th note triplets: follow the rule for the first note. • Arpeggios o For Barry, an arpeggio is 3 notes with the bottom note repeated o 3 arpeggios: on the root (F), on the 5th (C-), on the 7th (Eb) • Don’t worry about altered chords, just follow the rules
Man, im really really grateful for this channel !.I've been playing all different things over 10 years but im beginner on Jazz guitar. Ive been studying Barry Harris 6th dim Scale for few months and just found your channel. So .. I decided to watch every single of your videos starting on number 1. Im going to six now, and understanding everything you're saying ! this is giving me so much joy and motivation to enter the Jazz world. Is ok to start on jazz guitar direct on BH right ? Thanks again !
So, for the "odd" tones (1, 3, 5, b7), you add the "odd" number of 1/2 steps (1 or 3). For the "even" tones, you add the "even" number of 1/2 steps (0 or 2)
Excellent material!! I'm currently studying Alan Kingstone's book using some of what he has learned form BH. I don't think this and the 5-4-3-2 material is in there. Thanks very much
If you read through the David Baker bebop books, he actually speaks to a lot of the same half step rules as Barry. I think the term 'bebop scale' turns a lot of folks off because it seems like just a single scale that you run but it has many of the same rules and ideas as Barry's method. Interesting stuff, love the series!
I somewhat agree, however, David Baker does not talk about additional half-steps between the 3-2 scale tones; Baker's emphasis seems to be landing chord tones as quickly as possible on strong beats
@@robpallot5058 I had How to Play Bebop 1-3 for a decade and I know that's incorrect. Baker has several examples of chromatically descending all the way from 3 to b7 on dominant chords, among other embellishments. There are also multiple examples of adding chromatic passing notes and enclosures to realign the chord tones to the downbeat if you were to start a phrase on a non-chord tone. But if you spend enough time with the approach, you realize it's not some straight-jacket alignment that you have to stick to all the time. In fact, transcribing Charlie Parker proves otherwise - that non-chord tones land on downbeats all the time in bebop. I think of Baker's system as more or less a way to align the chord tones should you want to. Not to mention that Baker has a 'bebop major' scale, placing a chromatic note between the 5 and 6, which is similar to Harris' 6th scale. Baker also expounds on that idea with chromatic embellishments and approaches to realign the chord tones should you start on a non-chord tone. My point on my initial comment was that I think there's actually some overlap in the way Harris and Baker approach adding chromatic tones - they aren't identical, but the two systems can work together so both are worth checking out
This series is great. I need to send you some money. I just have to get used to you calling F the "tonic" of the F7 chord, instead of calling it the "root."
Thank you very valueable lesons! I will try to practice to get more bop style skills. I understand that it is more of basic thing to practice but if for example I play up-down and then at some point up again for example how do these rules work? . Also all the phrases you give begin on beat..and if the phrase starts with pick up note which note is definng the rule? The one on the beat?... In general it seems that we ouselves may estimate what is actually the beginning and the end of the phrase and even accents... even if the phrase goes like very long line we mentally split it into a few phrases?
These are for descending phrases. I have an episode about Barry's "chromatic " scale which can help with ascending. If a phrase starts off the beat, the rules are reversed. Hope this helps. Glad you're enjoying these.
Why does Barry Harris include a half-step between 2-1 when decending instead of between 5-6? Consider a C7 chord, that is related to D diminished (D, F, Ab, B) - so it seems more logical to include an Ab (in addition to the B-natural) when adding in an additional half-step given it is from the related diminished chord
Identifying the three important triads in the dominant chord is interesting. I had mostly been thinking about the half dim chord beginning on the 3rd. Now I can expand my vocabulary I'd like to see a little more explanation about how Barry integrates them with those scale runs. It seems like they should be separate topics.
Chris ___ I must be slow in grasping... It would be nice for us old folks, if you provided a PDF, so we could read one rule, at a time. lol ( p.s. ), I also think, 'Barry Harris', is cool'.
hey all this videos are great stuff but how do you practice them in all keys and all positions ? moving chromatically or quarterly i wont learn the notes of each and every chorde/scale. i would learning shapes. Any tip how to approach it?
Do you know where the original bebop musicians learnt these rules from? What's the original source for them? Maybe it goes as far back as JS Bach. Any insight on the subject? You should regroup all your videos in a website and promote it, this is pure gold! Thanks so much for your effort!
Thanks again for the kind words Fred. Barry came up with his half step rules after transcribing Charlie Parker. He noticed Bird liked to put half steps in particular places. This is how he devised these rules. Barry is really brilliant. Still going at 90.
Thank you, and Barry is phenomenal! I'm sure that anyone who practices these devices benefits tremendously from the exercise. And, of course, the ideas are very stylistically accurate, but I am curious as to why is there no Half Step being employed between the 6th (13th) and the 5th?
👍I kind of assumed that Barry's "rules" are somewhat flexible in application, but I definitely appreciate the emphasis on the rhythmic clarity that gives these phrases an undeniable pulse.
This helps a lot! I'm trying to work through his DVDs...finding it extremely difficult. Although I have a decent working knowledge of traditional harmony (major-derived stuff,inversions, arpeggios, all that stuff) this really is its own unique system -- I'm hoping something clicks at some point. I'm sure it's covered later in the Harris videos, but is this meant to relate to keeping the chord-tones on downbeats? I know half-steps typify bebop playing, but what is the theory behind having the concrete rules? I guess if you apply half-steps with abandon, you might run out of sync accidentally? Hopefully you can clarify! I'm very lucky you uploaded this just recently, I was getting ready to learn these from all the music in the workbook (not too fond of reading!). These are a fantastic supplement to his materials, tailored for guitar, so thank you again!
Hey friend. I've been working through Barry's material and was also asking the same questions about the the half step rules. After spending three months of hard practice on my scales and half step rules I stepped away from all of it for a while and came back from it. First thing I noticed with my playing was that I didn't really care where I put my half steps because the rhythm had been transferred over to my playing. Put in more intuitive terms, I could feel where a half step was necessary to preserve the soundness of the line and could relax the constraints a little. Barry ultimately says this when he says that half steps can be anywhere and the point is too play rhythmically. Hope this helps.
This is the most dense thing ever. But my god. This is amazing My question is - how do you decide whether you end the phrase on the 3 or the tonic? It seems you flip flop
Fantastic videos, Chris! Can I ask how you organize/prioritize things regarding positions or multiple positions etc.? I would assume it's best to be working on more material in fewer positions at the beginning and then add more positions later? Maybe new positions on older/easier material? Anyway, any thoughts appreciated . Thanks!
Thanks for the nice words Matt. For me, I like to practice some new things in just one position until I really have it together. After that, i'd move to another until i got it together and so on. The half step rules can be a little overwhelming, so I'd stick to just one fingering. Keep it up brother! By the way, I just checked out your video of you playing the scales for the blues in all the positions. Nicely done.
The ascending rule about using the rule for the note you're starting with, works also for the other scale degrees? It's ok if I go up from the tonic but from other notes I get confused
At about 13:45 Chris says "major 7th" when he meant "minor 7th" a couple of times when actually referring to the Eb over the F7 chord. It confused me for a minute because I thought he discussing the E that came right before it in the line. These videos are all just awesome. When I finish I'm going through them all again, maybe several times for some.
I have a question. The rule for 2-4-6 is to add a half step between the 2&1 and the 1&m7. Which is a m2 and a 7. If you start on the 2 and descend you get. 2-(m2)-1-(7)-m7-6-5-4-3-2-(m2)-1-(7)-m7-6-5-4-3-2 and so on. It doesnt work after the first octave. When I followed along with the original video Barry Harris is skipping the rule after the first octave. He goes like this. 2-(m2)-1-(7)-m7-6-5-4-3-2-1 It only works if you do it like that.
Thinking about buying his workshops. What’s your opinion? Also thinking about some Skype lessons with you. This method of thinking is very intriguing to me.
Did Mr Harris explain why these rules were specifically designed for descending scale ? Are these rules supposed to work on ascending scales as well? Thank you
Question: On the rule for "2", How's come you don't half step the lower 2 to Tonic? There's two passes between G to F, but we only half step the first pass?
I wondered that myself but based on what I’ve learned so far the rules are about landing right, and playing the rule twice gets in the way of the purpose of the rule. Maybe?
Man thank you for making these videos recently really started to dig Barry's ideas. Just one question to this video. Is there a reason why you end on different chord tones depending on which note you start on, is there also a "Rule" or are you just doing it because it sounds "logical". Thank you for these Videos and keep up that work ! R.I.P. Barry
Thanks for all the great videos! I'm going through the rules...but when you get to the 2nd...the half step rules are 2nd to tonic has a half-step. How come you only play that half-step from the 2nd(9th) to tonic and not in the lower octave...shouldn't the last three notes be 2nd, b2nd and tonic?
Why do you @10:48-10:51 skip the half-step between second and tonic in the lower octave while applying the two half step rule for the second. Did I miss something?
I believe the answer here is that the rules for 2 4 and 6 only apply over the first octave because by the time you've followed them for that long, you're already landing on chord tones on strong beats. The rules for 1 3 5 and 7 keep chord tones on strong beats, the rules for 2 4 and 6 move your chord tones back to strong beats. If that makes sense.
Really trying to go through your videos. Sorry for so many questions. I note that when you ran your "practice", when you started on the tonic, second, and third, you ran it down a whole octave to end on the tonic. But after that you did not end on the tonic. What is the suggestion for practicing these? Do you go from fourth to fourth, fifth to fifth, etc (not what you seem to be doing)? Or is there some rule like, eg: 1-3 end on tonic, 4-5 end on 3rd, 5-7 end on 5th?
Barry ends on the tonic 3rd 5th or even 7th when using the rules. Glad you're working on all this. I know it seems like a lot but once you get it in your fingers, it's so helpful for creating lines on the fly.
@@thingsivelearnedfrombarryh2616 I had the same question. I wasn't clear how long to run down the chromatic lines. Also, for instance, on the second rule (staring on the 2 with two chromatic notes) you do it at the begging of the line: 2-#-1-#-b7-6 (where # only means a chromatic note) etc but not at the end of the line, so it ends: 4-3-2-1; is that the usual way to use this chromaticsm?
So I noticed on the second "2" rule where you played a half step between the 2 and 1, the G to G flat then the F, you didn't put it in the final G to F/ 2 to 1.
Hi! Still Loving your videos. I just wanted to hear your opinion on something. Barry teaches us bebop, but so many jazz musicians today talk in terms of modes. As i am trying to learn how to improvise i get more and more confused about which fundamenals to choose to build my repertoire upon. Do i learn the feel of every variation of minor and major chords and apply modal scales on top? Or do i navigate only using tips and tricks that Barry teaches us through You? And then just comping using scales of chords like the 6th diminished? As a piano player i’m loosing my mind trying to piece everything together. Any tips?? Sorry for the long fuzzy question.
I only use Barry's method exclusively. His is so beautiful and infinite that I never felt the need to look elsewhere. Also, It's going to take the rest of my life to just get some of Barry's stuff together.
Just a suggestion: Modes got into jazz through the lydian chromatic concept which seems a little dusty too me compared to the barry harris stuff. I like really classical stuff like Ravel, Liszt, Bud Powell, Vince Guaraldi and the Pokémon soundtrack. If you would rather copy Bill Evans, first learn Barry Harris' stuff and then learn the lydian chromatic concept. Although that might take 2 lifes but that's kind of the difference. I heard Barry say 'I don't know modes' and I heard Miles Davis talk about Modes… That's that right? Any questions?
Fingering Question: At 1:36 to play the Ab note, you play that with your 1 finger and then play the G with your 4th finger. I always prefer stretching with my 1st finger also. But in playing it slowly, I have recently started to try and pick the upbeats and slur the downbeats to try and get that horn type bebop phrasing. So in for example, in this case I'm trying to get used to playing that Ab with my 4th finger and then sliding into the G with my 4th finger to make it slur into the downbeat. I'm wondering if you have you ever thought about about that kind of thing and do you think it's worth the effort... or no one will ever tell the difference? It's does sound nice to me like that at least when I do it slowly. What are your thoughts on that?
I'm in a concept block. Are we say Tonic= Mixolydian, 2=Aeolian, 3=Locrian, 4=Ionian, 5=Dorian, 6=Phrygian, 7=Lydian? And If so, how are we getting half steps between 1&2 or 2&3 where they are already half steps?
Barry didn’t like to think in modes. I believe there’s two reasons being that 1) that they’re not found in most standards 2) Schoenberg thought there were really only two the major and the minor. Barry liked to think of mainly three scales: major, minor and dominant Other than strictly modal tunes like so what I’d shy away from using them in your playing like so many exercise books beat to death. I.e. don’t think of a ii-V as being in Dorian mixolodian and Ionian that’s not how modes actually work. Modal harmony is beautiful when used correctly as in say film music. But it is literally impossible to use modes to spice up a ii-V there is far too little time. If you wanted to use half step rules over the modes you would use Barry’s chromatic scale with the dominant scale rules. So over phrygian , starting on the G in E phrygian for 3 half steps you would go down chromatically to the F and then back up to the scale tone above (G) before the E. Not really sure where you would use something like that but that’s how the half step rules would work.
Hey Chris, does it matter if you mix up the half steps order in other ways? For example, in the video for 1 3 5 7 you use half step between the 1 to 7, then the lower 3 to 2 half step and 2 to 1 half step. Would it matter if you do the 3 to 2 half step in the upper octave, down to the 2 to 1 half step right below that, down to the 1 to 7 right below that?
Can someone help me with a couple of things. (For my practice not music rules) First, do you always only do the half step rule at the top of the first octave as in his examples? i.e. 3,b3,2,b2,R,7,b7,6,5,4,3,2,R or do you add the half steps to the second partial octave? Second, if playing a partial octave do you play the same rules i.e. up arpeggio 3,5,7,9 down scale R,7,b7,6? or is the goal to complete the sequence? Said another way, can you start and stop on any note so long as you follow the rule?
When you say "run up to"..... say the 3rd and then the rule (#1 the tonic and 7th) are you descending to the A? and so on with each note you descend to that note? I will have to listen again but I think when you went to the 4th- B flat you came back down to the A again. Maybe it doesn't matter? I'm still watching of course but I wanted to ask. And also you're playing each half step rule run diatonically correct? Does any of this make sense?
To summarize: for dominant we have 2 rules for each of 135b7 and 246. The main chord tones we can choose from either 1 half step between seven and tonic or 3 between seven and tonic and the one and two and the 2 and 3. For color tones 246 we have either none or 2 between the b7 and tonic and the 1 and 2.
Thank you for the summary. I was trying to get my head around it with a formula, and this is perfect.
been practicing this for just half a week now and already it seems to become part of my muscle memory. Really cool, thanks!
I went to the conservatory and wasted a lot of years searching for the holy grail. This answers so many questions that I have tried asking the right questions for. Barry is absolutely brilliant but you are equally generous and ingenious in your way of presenting the material. Thank you ever so much, man- You are awesome!
Thank you for this incredible ressource! I can always come back here and learn how to create beautiful lines.
0:22 : overview
Rules for descending:
1:06 : From 1 (half step )
1:26 : From 1 ( 3 half steps)
1:48 : From 2 (no half steps)
2:00 : From 2 (two half steps)
2:13 : From 3
2:33 : From 4
2:58 : From 5
3:20 : From 6
3:40 : From 7
4:09 : Practice routine
6:06 : important concept
7:43 : important concept (no bebop scales)
8:18 : using triplets
The theme of this episode is parity (whether a number is even or odd).
We want chord tones (of the dominant seventh chord) to land on strong beats.
If no adjustment is needed, we can add zero or two chromatic notes.
If adjustment is needed, we can add one or three chromatic notes.
Later, triplets change how many notes there are until the next strong beat.
One eighth note triplet causes there to be an odd number of notes in a bar.
However, a sixteenth note triplet doesn't affect the parity of notes in a bar.
This is why the video says that the rule is "reversed" when identifying the note in the triplet that determines the rule to follow.
I like to streamline the "half step rules" that Barry Harris taught.
For descending half-step rules: Starting on an odd-numbered degree (7, 9, 11, etc) you don't need to add a half step. Starting on an even-numbered degree (6, 8, 10, etc) you need to add a half step.
That's it.
These "rules" serve to balance the line. Balance = chord tones landing on the beat. It's basically a binary approach to balance a 7-note scale. 7 is an odd quantity of notes, balancing it with added half steps can keep chord tones on the beat.
Observations:
Add 1 half step or 3 half steps and the result is the same, either way balances the scale.
Add none or add 2 half steps and the result is the same, either way balances the scale.
Harry Likas was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book". Harry studied for 20 years with Barry Harris. Harry spends his time teaching online and playing solo piano gigs.
I really agree with you.
I don't normally comment on UA-cam videos, but these sir, are phenomenal. Thank you so much for your time, effort and most importantly, your knowledge. Rip Barry
Chris you are truly a humble brother you didn't have to reach back to those of us that wasn't privy to Barry Harris lessons but you did. Thanks bro 😊.
This series in my humble opinion is the ultimate 'bop guitar' method.
I, like many others, are taking notes (on these 5 videos and counting) and digesting this. UA-cam fortunately allows slowing down,, but I find my ears are developing an awareness that I hadn't expected, perhaps BECAUSE of the rhythmic emphasis of scale tones on the beats. (As an aside, I hope Nica's house in Weehawken, NJ was sold to a jazz lover. It should get at least a PLAQUE as a national historic site since Thelonius Monk and Barry Harris lived there for years. My 2 cents.)
You have made his ideas and concepts so much more digestible for me. especially as a guitar player you have finally made jazz a little clearer for me. I’ve been trying to figure out where to start and this has been a huge help. Thank you!
I’m taking your videos slowly over and over to warm back up and train. You’re a really good resource. I hope to catch up to your more recent lessons with good questions and enough practice. Thank ya !
You're welcome Ben.
Outstanding episode with many details I did not know, even after watching many other videos and reading materials.
Thank you so much for these valuable lessons. You are an excellent teacher. The pace is very fast but I am feeling encouraged and supported by the way you explain things. Much appreciated!
Just take it slow Marty. It took me a long time to get these in my hands. However long it takes you is fine.
Please share with your musician friends
This is a really great musical training, I love the classical approach presented, and how it becomes melodic. I would consider maybe offering an accompanying PDF, of the examples, covered.
One fine lesson jam-packed with ideas. Thanks much.
You're welcome. Please share with your musician friends
I'm so grateful to have found your channel!
Your teaching style is perfect for me, btw, and I can't thank you enough.
You're welcome Richard. I'm glad you're enjoying these.
I’ma need to take some notes on this one!
Don't forget to play some notes as well.
as all videos from this channel this is such a good video so many information in it ! Brilliant! thank you very much for that
Right off the bat that is fascinating that these rules show themselves in the structure of thirds in the key. The half step rules seemed so daunting until now
Thank you for these fabulous lessons! I am able to pick things up from you because you explain them so clearly. This is great!.
Thanks for your kind words. Please share with your musician friends.
this is such a good lesson. Thanks so much!
Wow my brain just exploded , I probably need to rewatch it a lot !!! Its a great lesson just hard to digest but that’s my fault I’m a slow learner
This lesson really opened up my playing!
Thank you so much!!!
Priceless. TY so much
Fantastic information...
Thank you Michael. Please share with your musician friends.
Hello, from Mexico. I really appreciate your contributing to make Barry's method available and straightforward. Much as it is, as your say, cerebral, its beauty cannot be overlooked. Somehow I stumbled upon his music and method, I've tried to decipher it to no avail and I can say I did not take the plunge and decided to sit on the fence to see what happened. Then a week ago I went over the harmonies from his major and minor 6th diminished in Drop 2, 3 and 4-2 and immediately fell pretty to its enchants once more. What you're doing for all of us is just invaluable, I pay my respects wholeheartedly. All the best!!
Bro... this video is awesome.. I’m gonna go practice!
Thanks Alan. Barry is the Master. Please share with your musician friends.
Very clear exposition
Lol.... refreshing yo come across a lesson I'm genuinely not ready for yet. I'll be back for this later. Gorgeous guitar btw.
Thanks for your help sharing Barry’s works. Really useful!
Thank you for making this! Really great!
John H Glad you're enjoying it. Please share with your musician friends.
This is truly the best stuff.. no bs. Thank u
Hey thanks for breaking it down like this tremendous help!
Hi Chris, what an excellent lesson. It might, respectfully be worth adding that, as a pianist, I might want to extend the run beyond the target note. In fact this might also be the case on the guitar, particularly if the run is started high on the neck. In any event, another rule comes into play here and that is that no matter which note of the scale, or method of descent or on which part of the beat the run takes off from, if the run continues beyond the target note, in order to keep rhythm, it has to be continued as for a chord tone. Perhaps this is an obvious point, and if so, I apologise. I think that at the very least, pianists who follow you may benefit from giving this point some consideration.
Thanks for sharing your expertise. Much appreciated.
Best wishes,
Mal
@taylorfusion1-3-5-7 is the chord tones, so the rules that apply to them i guess. I wonder what they meant by target note here tho…
Barry Is a Genius
Half a ton of very useful information there - thanks a lot for your effort. It's going by so fast I'll have to watch it a couple times more often to make notes of all the rules. Would've been helpful if you'd have summarized them shortly in your description but that's probably asking too much. Looking forwrd to work my way through your other episodes. Cheers Tom
Thanks Tom. I'll keep your suggestion in mind for future episodes.
Thanks - much appreciated! Meanwhile I'll take notes and notate your examples so I can reference them in my practice!
Good on you!
Awesome! Thanks!
Rick Handel You're welcome
Really, this great!!
I recently discovered a possible variation on half-steps. When you start on the 6th and immediately lower a half-step to the diminished note of the scale and then combine that with either the 3rd to 7th half-steps or the root to 7th, you end up on chord tones sooner than the other way of descending from the 6th. I tried it a bunch of times and I think it works but let us know what you think. Thanks!
You can make any note work in jazz I think these "rules" are more like ear training you can't think like this when playing.
This stuff is so great, thank you so much.
Awesome series of videos. Thank you so much! Regards from Talca city in southern Chile
Excellent dude. Nice one.
Thanks Lance. I hope you enjoy some of the other episodes as well.
Thanks men!
I can't thank you enough for this content my friend! Cheers from Australia
Brilliant!
This was great information to learn and know, Is there a PDF to follow along.
my episode notes:
• Half-step rules for the dominant scale (descending; F7 to start with)
• Same rule(s) apply to 1-3-5-7. Same rule(s) apply to 2-4-6
• Tonic: half-step between tonic and dominant 7th
o 2nd part of the rule: half-steps between tonic and 7th, 3 & 2, 2 &1 (3 half steps)
• Rule for the 2nd: no half steps
o 2nd part of the rule: half steps between 2nd and tonic and tonic and 7th
• Rule for the 3rd: same as tonic
• Rule for the 4th: same as 2nd
• Rule for the 5th: same as 1 and 3
• Rule for the 6th: same as 2 & 4
• Rule for the 7th: same as 1, 3, 5
• Practice: start on tonic, do each one twice. Tonic, then 2nd, then 3rd, etc. (always descending)
• If you go up first (tonic to 2, tonic to 2 to 3, etc.), follow the rule(s) for the first note when descending
• 8th note triplets: follow the rule of the middle note of the triplet (1-2-1, follow rule for 2)
• 16th note triplets: follow the rule for the first note.
• Arpeggios
o For Barry, an arpeggio is 3 notes with the bottom note repeated
o 3 arpeggios: on the root (F), on the 5th (C-), on the 7th (Eb)
• Don’t worry about altered chords, just follow the rules
Man, im really really grateful for this channel !.I've been playing all different things over 10 years but im beginner on Jazz guitar. Ive been studying Barry Harris 6th dim Scale for few months and just found your channel. So .. I decided to watch every single of your videos starting on number 1. Im going to six now, and understanding everything you're saying ! this is giving me so much joy and motivation to enter the Jazz world. Is ok to start on jazz guitar direct on BH right ? Thanks again !
Could you give us some demos on how we can apply them to a song so that we can understand more. Many thanks
great video
Great Video!
So, for the "odd" tones (1, 3, 5, b7), you add the "odd" number of 1/2 steps (1 or 3). For the "even" tones, you add the "even" number of 1/2 steps (0 or 2)
Excellent material!! I'm currently studying Alan Kingstone's book using some of what he has learned form BH. I don't think this and the 5-4-3-2 material is in there. Thanks very much
You're welcome Ed! Glad you're enjoying them. Please share.
If you read through the David Baker bebop books, he actually speaks to a lot of the same half step rules as Barry. I think the term 'bebop scale' turns a lot of folks off because it seems like just a single scale that you run but it has many of the same rules and ideas as Barry's method. Interesting stuff, love the series!
I somewhat agree, however, David Baker does not talk about additional half-steps between the 3-2 scale tones; Baker's emphasis seems to be landing chord tones as quickly as possible on strong beats
@@robpallot5058 I had How to Play Bebop 1-3 for a decade and I know that's incorrect.
Baker has several examples of chromatically descending all the way from 3 to b7 on dominant chords, among other embellishments. There are also multiple examples of adding chromatic passing notes and enclosures to realign the chord tones to the downbeat if you were to start a phrase on a non-chord tone.
But if you spend enough time with the approach, you realize it's not some straight-jacket alignment that you have to stick to all the time. In fact, transcribing Charlie Parker proves otherwise - that non-chord tones land on downbeats all the time in bebop. I think of Baker's system as more or less a way to align the chord tones should you want to.
Not to mention that Baker has a 'bebop major' scale, placing a chromatic note between the 5 and 6, which is similar to Harris' 6th scale. Baker also expounds on that idea with chromatic embellishments and approaches to realign the chord tones should you start on a non-chord tone.
My point on my initial comment was that I think there's actually some overlap in the way Harris and Baker approach adding chromatic tones - they aren't identical, but the two systems can work together so both are worth checking out
@@jakestewartmusic fair enough, agree with you on most of your points - a lot of overlap indeed, even if slightly different emphasise
This series is great. I need to send you some money.
I just have to get used to you calling F the "tonic" of the F7 chord, instead of calling it the "root."
Thank you very valueable lesons! I will try to practice to get more bop style skills. I understand that it is more of basic thing to practice but if for example I play up-down and then at some point up again for example how do these rules work? . Also all the phrases you give begin on beat..and if the phrase starts with pick up note which note is definng the rule? The one on the beat?... In general it seems that we ouselves may estimate what is actually the beginning and the end of the phrase and even accents... even if the phrase goes like very long line we mentally split it into a few phrases?
These are for descending phrases. I have an episode about Barry's "chromatic " scale which can help with ascending.
If a phrase starts off the beat, the rules are reversed.
Hope this helps. Glad you're enjoying these.
Why does Barry Harris include a half-step between 2-1 when decending instead of between 5-6? Consider a C7 chord, that is related to D diminished (D, F, Ab, B) - so it seems more logical to include an Ab (in addition to the B-natural) when adding in an additional half-step given it is from the related diminished chord
Identifying the three important triads in the dominant chord is interesting. I had mostly been thinking about the half dim chord beginning on the 3rd. Now I can expand my vocabulary
I'd like to see a little more explanation about how Barry integrates them with those scale runs. It seems like they should be separate topics.
Some of my most recent lessons about movement have some examples
Chris ___ I must be slow in grasping... It would be nice for us old folks, if you provided a PDF, so we could read one rule, at a time. lol ( p.s. ), I also think, 'Barry Harris', is cool'.
Thanks for the idea Donn. I also give Skype lessons which you might find more beneficial.
Chris ___ Just found the 'cc' ( Closed Caption ), never mind. lol
hey all this videos are great stuff but how do you practice them in all keys and all positions ? moving chromatically or quarterly i wont learn the notes of each and every chorde/scale. i would learning shapes. Any tip how to approach it?
Do you know where the original bebop musicians learnt these rules from? What's the original source for them? Maybe it goes as far back as JS Bach. Any insight on the subject?
You should regroup all your videos in a website and promote it, this is pure gold! Thanks so much for your effort!
Thanks again for the kind words Fred. Barry came up with his half step rules after transcribing Charlie Parker. He noticed Bird liked to put half steps in particular places. This is how he devised these rules. Barry is really brilliant. Still going at 90.
Thank you, and Barry is phenomenal! I'm sure that anyone who practices these devices benefits tremendously from the exercise. And, of course, the ideas are very stylistically accurate, but I am curious as to why is there no Half Step being employed between the 6th (13th) and the 5th?
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Perhaps this episode will help
👍I kind of assumed that Barry's "rules" are somewhat flexible in application, but I definitely appreciate the emphasis on the rhythmic clarity that gives these phrases an undeniable pulse.
This helps a lot! I'm trying to work through his DVDs...finding it extremely difficult. Although I have a decent working knowledge of traditional harmony (major-derived stuff,inversions, arpeggios, all that stuff) this really is its own unique system -- I'm hoping something clicks at some point. I'm sure it's covered later in the Harris videos, but is this meant to relate to keeping the chord-tones on downbeats? I know half-steps typify bebop playing, but what is the theory behind having the concrete rules? I guess if you apply half-steps with abandon, you might run out of sync accidentally? Hopefully you can clarify!
I'm very lucky you uploaded this just recently, I was getting ready to learn these from all the music in the workbook (not too fond of reading!). These are a fantastic supplement to his materials, tailored for guitar, so thank you again!
Hey friend. I've been working through Barry's material and was also asking the same questions about the the half step rules.
After spending three months of hard practice on my scales and half step rules I stepped away from all of it for a while and came back from it. First thing I noticed with my playing was that I didn't really care where I put my half steps because the rhythm had been transferred over to my playing. Put in more intuitive terms, I could feel where a half step was necessary to preserve the soundness of the line and could relax the constraints a little. Barry ultimately says this when he says that half steps can be anywhere and the point is too play rhythmically. Hope this helps.
Thank u!!! It was a very helpful video, I wanted to ask if there is going to be a video about same subject for minor and major chords?
also I wanted to know -can i apply these rules for descending F7 as well?
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ua-cam.com/video/S1gGP4PCrnE/v-deo.html
This is the most dense thing ever. But my god. This is amazing
My question is - how do you decide whether you end the phrase on the 3 or the tonic? It seems you flip flop
Fantastic videos, Chris!
Can I ask how you organize/prioritize things regarding positions or multiple positions etc.? I would assume it's best to be working on more material in fewer positions at the beginning and then add more positions later?
Maybe new positions on older/easier material? Anyway, any thoughts appreciated . Thanks!
Thanks for the nice words Matt. For me, I like to practice some new things in just one position until I really have it together. After that, i'd move to another until i got it together and so on. The half step rules can be a little overwhelming, so I'd stick to just one fingering. Keep it up brother! By the way, I just checked out your video of you playing the scales for the blues in all the positions. Nicely done.
The ascending rule about using the rule for the note you're starting with, works also for the other scale degrees? It's ok if I go up from the tonic but from other notes I get confused
At about 13:45 Chris says "major 7th" when he meant "minor 7th" a couple of times when actually referring to the Eb over the F7 chord. It confused me for a minute because I thought he discussing the E that came right before it in the line. These videos are all just awesome. When I finish I'm going through them all again, maybe several times for some.
I get the half step rules, but what confuses me is how You end the phrases.
❤🎉
I have a question. The rule for 2-4-6 is to add a half step between the 2&1 and the 1&m7. Which is a m2 and a 7. If you start on the 2 and descend you get.
2-(m2)-1-(7)-m7-6-5-4-3-2-(m2)-1-(7)-m7-6-5-4-3-2 and so on.
It doesnt work after the first octave. When I followed along with the original video Barry Harris is skipping the rule after the first octave. He goes like this.
2-(m2)-1-(7)-m7-6-5-4-3-2-1
It only works if you do it like that.
Thinking about buying his workshops. What’s your opinion? Also thinking about some Skype lessons with you. This method of thinking is very intriguing to me.
Did Mr Harris explain why these rules were specifically designed for descending scale ? Are these rules supposed to work on ascending scales as well? Thank you
Chris seems to emphasize that these are descending rules, don't they also work asending
Wait, on the important arpeggios for a dom 7 the arpeggio off the tonic is played as a MAJOR 7th?
Question: On the rule for "2", How's come you don't half step the lower 2 to Tonic? There's two passes between G to F, but we only half step the first pass?
I wondered that myself but based on what I’ve learned so far the rules are about landing right, and playing the rule twice gets in the way of the purpose of the rule. Maybe?
Are there ascending rules as well?
Why only descending?
So what’s the difference between this and his chromatic scale method
Man thank you for making these videos recently really started to dig Barry's ideas. Just one question to this video. Is there a reason why you end on different chord tones depending on which note you start on, is there also a "Rule" or are you just doing it because it sounds "logical". Thank you for these Videos and keep up that work ! R.I.P. Barry
And another Question What happens when you do the 8th note triplet from the 7th ?
Thanks for all the great videos!
I'm going through the rules...but when you get to the 2nd...the half step rules are 2nd to tonic has a half-step. How come you only play that half-step from the 2nd(9th) to tonic and not in the lower octave...shouldn't the last three notes be 2nd, b2nd and tonic?
Why do you @10:48-10:51 skip the half-step between second and tonic in the lower octave while applying the two half step rule for the second. Did I miss something?
I believe the answer here is that the rules for 2 4 and 6 only apply over the first octave because by the time you've followed them for that long, you're already landing on chord tones on strong beats. The rules for 1 3 5 and 7 keep chord tones on strong beats, the rules for 2 4 and 6 move your chord tones back to strong beats. If that makes sense.
Really trying to go through your videos. Sorry for so many questions. I note that when you ran your "practice", when you started on the tonic, second, and third, you ran it down a whole octave to end on the tonic. But after that you did not end on the tonic. What is the suggestion for practicing these? Do you go from fourth to fourth, fifth to fifth, etc (not what you seem to be doing)? Or is there some rule like, eg: 1-3 end on tonic, 4-5 end on 3rd, 5-7 end on 5th?
Barry ends on the tonic 3rd 5th or even 7th when using the rules. Glad you're working on all this. I know it seems like a lot but once you get it in your fingers, it's so helpful for creating lines on the fly.
@@thingsivelearnedfrombarryh2616 I had the same question. I wasn't clear how long to run down the chromatic lines. Also, for instance, on the second rule (staring on the 2 with two chromatic notes) you do it at the begging of the line: 2-#-1-#-b7-6 (where # only means a chromatic note) etc but not at the end of the line, so it ends: 4-3-2-1; is that the usual way to use this chromaticsm?
excellent videos! one question though, do the rules apply when you play 16th notes instead of 8th notes , maybe in a fast line for example?
Thank you. Same rules for sixteenth notes as for eighth notes.
8 note triplet 08:30
16 note triplet 10:00
So I noticed on the second "2" rule where you played a half step between the 2 and 1, the G to G flat then the F, you didn't put it in the final G to F/ 2 to 1.
What if you start on the 8?
Hi! Still Loving your videos. I just wanted to hear your opinion on something.
Barry teaches us bebop, but so many jazz musicians today talk in terms of modes. As i am trying to learn how to improvise i get more and more confused about which fundamenals to choose to build my repertoire upon. Do i learn the feel of every variation of minor and major chords and apply modal scales on top? Or do i navigate only using tips and tricks that Barry teaches us through You? And then just comping using scales of chords like the 6th diminished? As a piano player i’m loosing my mind trying to piece everything together. Any tips??
Sorry for the long fuzzy question.
I only use Barry's method exclusively. His is so beautiful and infinite that I never felt the need to look elsewhere. Also, It's going to take the rest of my life to just get some of Barry's stuff together.
Just a suggestion: Modes got into jazz through the lydian chromatic concept which seems a little dusty too me compared to the barry harris stuff. I like really classical stuff like Ravel, Liszt, Bud Powell, Vince Guaraldi and the Pokémon soundtrack. If you would rather copy Bill Evans, first learn Barry Harris' stuff and then learn the lydian chromatic concept. Although that might take 2 lifes but that's kind of the difference. I heard Barry say 'I don't know modes' and I heard Miles Davis talk about Modes… That's that right? Any questions?
Fingering Question: At 1:36 to play the Ab note, you play that with your 1 finger and then play the G with your 4th finger. I always prefer stretching with my 1st finger also. But in playing it slowly, I have recently started to try and pick the upbeats and slur the downbeats to try and get that horn type bebop phrasing. So in for example, in this case I'm trying to get used to playing that Ab with my 4th finger and then sliding into the G with my 4th finger to make it slur into the downbeat. I'm wondering if you have you ever thought about about that kind of thing and do you think it's worth the effort... or no one will ever tell the difference? It's does sound nice to me like that at least when I do it slowly. What are your thoughts on that?
Thanks! Is there some sort of rhythmic or harmonic rule that tells you where to stop the scale?
I'm in a concept block. Are we say Tonic= Mixolydian, 2=Aeolian, 3=Locrian, 4=Ionian, 5=Dorian, 6=Phrygian, 7=Lydian? And If so, how are we getting half steps between 1&2 or 2&3 where they are already half steps?
Barry didn’t like to think in modes. I believe there’s two reasons being that 1) that they’re not found in most standards 2) Schoenberg thought there were really only two the major and the minor. Barry liked to think of mainly three scales: major, minor and dominant
Other than strictly modal tunes like so what I’d shy away from using them in your playing like so many exercise books beat to death. I.e. don’t think of a ii-V as being in Dorian mixolodian and Ionian that’s not how modes actually work. Modal harmony is beautiful when used correctly as in say film music. But it is literally impossible to use modes to spice up a ii-V there is far too little time.
If you wanted to use half step rules over the modes you would use Barry’s chromatic scale with the dominant scale rules. So over phrygian , starting on the G in E phrygian for 3 half steps you would go down chromatically to the F and then back up to the scale tone above (G) before the E. Not really sure where you would use something like that but that’s how the half step rules would work.
Hey Chris, does it matter if you mix up the half steps order in other ways? For example, in the video for 1 3 5 7 you use half step between the 1 to 7, then the lower 3 to 2 half step and 2 to 1 half step. Would it matter if you do the 3 to 2 half step in the upper octave, down to the 2 to 1 half step right below that, down to the 1 to 7 right below that?
Can someone help me with a couple of things. (For my practice not music rules)
First, do you always only do the half step rule at the top of the first octave as in his examples? i.e. 3,b3,2,b2,R,7,b7,6,5,4,3,2,R or do you add the half steps to the second partial octave?
Second, if playing a partial octave do you play the same rules i.e. up arpeggio 3,5,7,9 down scale R,7,b7,6? or is the goal to complete the sequence?
Said another way, can you start and stop on any note so long as you follow the rule?
When you say "run up to"..... say the 3rd and then the rule (#1 the tonic and 7th) are you descending to the A? and so on with each note you descend to that note? I will have to listen again but I think when you went to the 4th- B flat you came back down to the A again. Maybe it doesn't matter? I'm still watching of course but I wanted to ask. And also you're playing each half step rule run diatonically correct? Does any of this make sense?
I'm available for skype lessons. Email me at chrisparksjazz22@gmail.com
How does it work for ascending? His descending rules don’t seem to work.