Barry Harris Harmonic Method For Guitar Pdf Pic

I've known about the Barry Harris method of teaching harmony for two or three years now. That being said, I still don't understand how to construct the scale for major and minor or how to apply the scale in really any given context. Can anyone offer some insight?I know that a C6 scale (Major) would just be a C major scale with a b6 added - I think; I also know that this is significant because it offers two dominant chords as opposed to one - E7 to tonicize A-7 (for relative minor) and G7 to tonicize C∆7 for the native major key. Aside from that bit, I'm clueless. I'm not super familiar with his teachings, but it was introduced to me as a way to harmonize melodies in block chords. The advantage of adding the b6 is that it gives you an even number of notes in the scale, so you can keep alternating between tonic and dominant harmonies as you go up or down the scale. For example, in C major, you alternate between C6 and Bdim7, like so: C D E F G Ab A B CA B C D E F G Ab AG Ab A B C D E F GE F G Ab A B C D EAnd in C minor, you simply use Cm6 and Bdim7.

1. Barry Harris Voicings

When dealing with a dominant harmony, you can use the minor scale based on the 5th degree of the chord.Thing is, you can't just blindly apply that to any melody - you've got to be aware of the context, whether it's going to clash with anything, etc, but it's a place to start. I had a feeling that this was the gist, but I couldn't really get a straight answer anywhere else online.How do you spell the minor version of the scale? The same way with an Eb swapped with the E natural for a harmonic minor type of feel? Also, what instrument do you play? I'm curious about common voicing for chords with this scale.

I doubt anyone using this scale to comp for a soloist uses straight stacked thirds. From what I've heard of Barry Harris, using this scale, it sounds pretty involved.In addition to what you've mentioned on alternating between tonic and dominant harmonies, I think that one of the approaches to harmonizing is to harmonize all of the even scale degrees in a given melody with a B fully diminished seventh chord (dominant function) and all of the even scale degrees with an A minor seven chord (tonic function). Since those are basically the only chords in the scale (w/ inversions), I can see it's appeal for a song that calls for a lot of rhythmic movement.1) It's hard to mess up.2) It sounds great without going overkill. This is some late input, but I'd thought I'd add some more to what you're saying. The harmonic possibilities with the Barry Harris scale are pretty staggering. I highly recommend David Berkman's 'Jazz Piano Harmony' book where he spends a whole chapter explaining it.So with the C6 scale, the Ddiminished notes are always hoping to resolve. In Barry's words, 'The diminished notes say 'Move me.'

' So once you get used to the basic C6 and Ddim7 chords alternating, you can start experimenting with 'borrowing' diminished notes.The basic example is C-E-G-B. We might think it's a Cmaj7 chord, but really it's a C6 chord with a borrowed diminished note, the B. The B wants to resolve to A. It's up to you whether or not to resolve it or leave it.Let's borrow a different note.

The F is a diminished note that wants to go to E. So, for a CMaj7 chord in a chart, C-F-G-A is now an option. Another example: D-E-G-A. The D wants to resolve to C.And these are just some of the possibilities of borrowing one note. The G# and B are borrowed and want to return to G and A. Another: E-G-B-D, the B and D want to move to A and C.

Another: E-G#-A-D. The G# and D want to resolve down.The point is that with this system is easy to create MOVEMENT within chords. C-E-G-B is a static shape as a Cmaj7 chord, but with the Harris system I can create G#-B-D-G as a voicing for CMaj7. The bottom three notes want to move up, but I can do so at my discretion.Really, the creative possibilities are immense enough for a lifetime of study and make for great ways to harmonize melodies. Again, check out the Berkman book for lots of examples of these things in context and a more in-depth explanation.

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Barry Harris Voicings

No pictures of text. Don't post your entire collection: That's useless to the conversation. Album covers are okay, but please get the conversation started.Community.: #music on irc.snoonet.org. All the tunes here non stop. He's got some cool masterclass videos on YouTube, but none that formulate a method really.I frequently hear people casually reference his approach, and have generally just interpreted it as using the harmony to decide on a tonicized note/key/scale for a few bars and just playing around with that. Of course, there's a lifetime of learning to do right there.Can anyone with knowledge of Harris' approach back this up or correct me?PS: For those in the NY area, Barry is at the Village Vanguard the last week of July! It's a shame they don't live stream like Smalls.