Quick start guide to Barry Harris line building

[Christian Miller]

[NSJ]

Good stuff. The descending scales starting from the b7 of the dominant chord to the 3rd of the VI7 really sticks out, in terms of scale practice to me. it’s a great way to make the chord change in lines.

I7 VI7: F7 D7

F7 from the b7 down to the 3rd of D7 probably would have made a better scale pattern than the F7 up from the R to the b7 in bar 11 of your blues? I’m curious why you chose the F7 up from the R instead.

What I like about these scales is You eventually learn this in a very tactile way on the fingerboard. Your point about one octave patterns made for jazz is right on.

[A. Kingstone]

I couldn't get past the dreadful toffee accent.

Wink is as good as a nudge to a blind bat.

Lovely phrasing, clear explanations. Nice house.

Posted from the colonies.

[NSJ]

I just wanna say the polyrhythmic feel of playing three note patterns in a duple feel is not easy to pull off, but is also very bebop. Nice demos of that. Bird did it all the time, achieving Polyrhythms across the bar line.

[NSJ]

Also: the half step rules. It seems to me it’s not so straight cut to add or not add half steps if they are even or odd numbers of the scale. A line that begins with a 2-4-6 COULD add a half step if the even note (2-4-6) begins on an “and” or offbeat. Say, starting, in the key of C, on an F (the P4) and descending. If the F starts on an offbeat/AND, the next note E (the M3) would be on downbeat and a half step would be added to keep the chord tones on the downbeat.
Your assertion-that the half steps are added on the odd notes (1357) and not on the even notes (246) would be clearly true if the line began on on the downbeat and not the off-beat.

Please correct me if I”m wrong. Thanks.

[Bop Head]

At ca. 4:40 the scale outline in bar 2 sounds a bit strange because the bassline is playing no quick change blues (no IV in bar 2)

[Christian Miller]

At ca. 4:40 the scale outline in bar 2 sounds a bit strange because the bassline is playing no quick change blues (no IV in bar 2)

Aha! Well done. You get todays special prize!

yeah I thought that but then didn’t have time to change it. I don’t think it matters too much, I actually quite like it.

[Christian Miller]

Also: the half step rules. It seems to me it’s not so straight cut to add or not add half steps if they are even or odd numbers of the scale. A line that begins with a 2-4-6 COULD add a half step if the even note (2-4-6) begins on an “and” or offbeat. Say, starting, in the key of C, on an F (the P4) and descending. If the F starts on an offbeat/AND, the next note E (the M3) would be on downbeat and a half step would be added to keep the chord tones on the downbeat.
Your assertion-that the half steps are added on the odd notes (1357) and not on the even notes (246) would be clearly true if the line began on on the downbeat and not the off-beat.

Please correct me if I”m wrong. Thanks.

i think I mention this VERY quickly in the video unless I chopped it out. You are entirely correct.

(In any case I don’t really talk about how the chord tones line up but rather how we ‘come out right’ which is how I always heard Barry put it.)

now have a look at my solo haha.

[Christian Miller]

I just wanna say the polyrhythmic feel of playing three note patterns in a duple feel is not easy to pull off, but is also very bebop. Nice demos of that. Bird did it all the time, achieving Polyrhythms across the bar line.

thanks! That’s the heart and soul

[Christian Miller]

Good stuff. The descending scales starting from the b7 of the dominant chord to the 3rd of the VI7 really sticks out, in terms of scale practice to me. it’s a great way to make the chord change in lines.

I7 VI7: F7 D7

F7 from the b7 down to the 3rd of D7 probably would have made a better scale pattern than the F7 up from the R to the b7 in bar 11 of your blues? I’m curious why you chose the F7 up from the R instead.

Keeping it simple. at its essence a turnaround is I-V

Btw these are not my preferred blues changes for soloing.

You can totally do that and it would sound good. There’s always variations. Maybe I’ll do a vid on like 20 back to back variations of the blues or something. I need to do one for RC as well.

[Bop Head]

[…] Nice house. […]

Seems like you are not really one of the tofu-eating Guardian reading wokerati because those would not let their daughters play with a toy kitchen forcing them into a house wife’s role LOL.

[Bop Head]

Aha! Well done. You get todays special prize!

yeah I thought that but then didn’t have time to change it. I don’t think it matters too much, I actually quite like it.

My ears were sharpened from singing “Hey Joe” and “Honky Tonk Women” at a jam session yesterday.

It is a OK sounding but it doesn’t really serve the purpose of illustrating the changes with the outline.

Nice video nonetheless.

[Christian Miller]

Seems like you are not really one of the tofu-eating Guardian reading wokerati because those would not let their daughters play with a toy kitchen forcing them into a house wife’s role LOL.

How do you know I don’t have sons? Or theybies?

[Christian Miller]

My ears were sharpened from singing “Hey Joe” and “Honky Tonk Women” at a jam session yesterday.

It is a OK sounding but it doesn’t really serve the purpose of illustrating the changes with the outline.

Nice video nonetheless.

True.

For a glimpse into the exciting world of Youtubery, have a look at my video editor time line lol


If I corrected every detail I’d never get the things out. I know, this much work for a bloke in front of a camera. Mental, huh? I don’t think it’s that unusual to have that level of editing either.

tbh I miss the days where I could switch on a camera and umm and ahh for thirty minutes and thousands of people would inexplicably watch it. Received wisdom is that the algorithm changed and now it’s all engagement and watch time. Keep it snappy, keep up the energy etc.

in all honesty, I’m thinking the amount of work it took to get the last few vids together may not be supportable if I want to like, do anything else. I may be chasing a level of production that I can’t keep up (no please don’t laugh) and that’s what the level on Music YouTube - even jazz guitar YouTube - these days seems to be. Jens with his quick fire memes and dry humour. The boy Barnby with his perfect hour long deep dives. I’m guessing they don’t get out much lol. But then I’m guessing it’s Jens’ main job or at least a major income stream, which is not a relationship I ever want to have with YT. I suppose Chris Parks is pretty straight to camera (but he’s so good at saying what he’s going to say clearly and succinctly without going off on a tangent, something I find very hard to do….)

mind you there’s a older guy who’s got thirty times the subs I do who does unedited 45 minute lectures in front of a whiteboard on classical harmony, while En Blanc Et Noirs utterly brilliant videos have a viewership of, well, me.

so maybe the ‘received wisdom’ is bullshit, esp for niche content.

That said I wanted something clearer and more helpful than my old videos which contained exactly the same info. I feel I did that, or at least a better job than I had. Barry Harris material usually does well so I feel the time input is more justified.

sorry for the stunlock lol. This nonsense is actually quite a big part of my life god help me

[Bop Head]

True.

For a glimpse into the exciting world of Youtubery, have a look at my video editor time line lol


If I corrected every detail I’d never get the things out. I know, this much work for a bloke in front of a camera. Mental, huh? I don’t think it’s that unusual to have that level of editing either.

tbh I miss the days where I could switch on a camera and umm and ahh for thirty minutes and thousands of people would inexplicably watch it. Received wisdom is that the algorithm changed and now it’s all engagement and watch time. Keep it snappy, keep up the energy etc.

in all honesty, I’m thinking the amount of work it took to get the last few vids together may not be supportable if I want to like, do anything else. I may be chasing a level of production that I can’t keep up (no please don’t laugh) and that’s what the level on Music YouTube - even jazz guitar YouTube - these days seems to be. Jens with his quick fire memes and dry humour. The boy Barnby with his perfect hour long deep dives. I’m guessing they don’t get out much lol. But then I’m guessing it’s Jens’ main job or at least a major income stream, which is not a relationship I ever want to have with YT. I suppose Chris Parks is pretty straight to camera (but he’s so good at saying what he’s going to say clearly and succinctly without going off on a tangent, something I find very hard to do….)

mind you there’s a older guy who’s got thirty times the subs I do who does unedited 45 minute lectures in front of a whiteboard on classical harmony, while En Blanc Et Noirs utterly brilliant videos have a viewership of, well, me.

so maybe the ‘received wisdom’ is bullshit, esp for niche content.

That said I wanted something clearer and more helpful than my old videos which contained exactly the same info. I feel I did that, or at least a better job than I had. Barry Harris material usually does well so I feel the time input is more justified.

sorry for the stunlock lol. This nonsense is actually quite a big part of my life god help me

Wow, that looks like a whole lotta work. I had never thought that there were so many edits necessary for this video. I am not sure if Jens Larsen meanwhile has a team for camera and and edit work. His first generation of videos was (more or les at least) unedited as well.

[Christian Miller]

Wow, that looks like a whole lotta work. I had never thought that there were so many edits necessary for this video. I am not sure if Jens Larsen meanwhile has a team for camera and and edit work. His first generation of videos was (more or les at least) unedited as well.

No idea. I don’t think even 389k subs and 10-100k views on a vid is actually enough to earn a living from YT monetisation, let alone pay someone, although it is a significant income stream at that point.

His YT related income I would expect would mostly come from his various online courses, Patreon, private students and so on. I don’t know if he can afford an editor/producer off the back of that, but it’s getting there at least. his content is quite high effort and has become much more refined.

However at the stage he’s at he doesn’t need to do a video every week, so maybe he can still do it as a one man band

[CliffR]

F7 from the b7 down to the 3rd of D7 probably would have made a better scale pattern than the F7 up from the R to the b7 in bar 11 of your blues?

I'm re-watching now, and Christian actually does that on bars 7 and 8 around the 3m50s mark.

[Bop Head]

How do you know I don’t have sons? Or theybies?

After meditating on a just learned new vocable and a just learned new concept during a few working hours in a non-toy kitchen, a question arose in my head: Would a true theyby education allow the use of any other than abstract toys like toy blocks or non-thematic LEGO to prevent any forcing into any role? (BTW I like the fact that the toy kitchen seems to be made of wood and not of plastic.)

[Bop Head]

No idea. I don’t think even 389k subs and 10-100k views on a vid is actually enough to earn a living from YT monetisation, let alone pay someone, although it is a significant income stream at that point.

His YT related income I would expect would mostly come from his various online courses, Patreon, private students and so on. I don’t know if he can afford an editor/producer off the back of that, but it’s getting there at least. his content is quite high effort and has become much more refined.

However at the stage he’s at he doesn’t need to do a video every week, so maybe he can still do it as a one man band

Maybe those YT pros are working closer to a pre-made script which means less “jazz” so to speak in the recording but also less editing. But it would probably mean less fun in the recording for you as well.

[Christian Miller]

Maybe those YT pros are working closer to a pre-made script and which means less “jazz” so to speak in the recording but also less editing. But it would probably mean less fun in the recording for you as well.

I know it’s hard to believe but I had a fairly worked out script for this one. Some although not all of what I say was written out beforehand. I do tend to expand improvisationally on what I wrote because it’s easier to chop something out like the needless repetition of a point than realise I’ve missed out something important. I also think it makes it sound more conversational and less like a lecture, and clearly this worked.

Aside from that that it’s mostly editing out umms and aahs, dead air, false starts, repetition, hesitation, poorly played demonstrations and so on.

look at something like a Jens Larsen or David Bruce video - even though I think it’s very scripted you can see that it is very obviously HEAVILY edited.

I then need to add in notation for demonstrations, appropriate images and video clips and so on. Tabs specifically are a pain in the arse to prepare and philosophically I wish the vast majority of guitarists didn’t require them. Logic allows me to transcribe what I play without actually having to sit down and do it, but the resulting file still needs cleaning up and formatting esp as Musescore has no idea what constitutes a playable guitar fingering.

This all gets gets very piecemeal, is a lot of work and I think I’d need to do it even if I was essentially reading off the screen.

YouTube is a lot of work, if you do it this way, which is the mainstream way to do it. That said, although I am happier with these videos, I’m not noticing an uptick of performance on the more edited videos, so maybe I’ll spend less time on this aspect. Or I might make my videos shorter. As average watch time is around 6m maybe this is a good length of video and enough time to spend on one small thing.

[Christian Miller]

After meditating on a just learned new vocable and a just learned new concept during a few working hours in a non-toy kitchen, a question arose in my head: Would a true theyby education allow the use of any other than abstract toys like toy blocks or non-thematic LEGO to prevent any forcing into any role? (BTW I like the fact that the toy kitchen seems to be made of wood and not of plastic.)

Haha, sure.

my little girls know what they like and I have little or no influence. Do you think it’s my choice that I know all the words to the songs from Frozen?

Society is to blame!!! ;-)

They are into all sorts of stuff though.

[Bop Head]

my little girls know what they like and I have little or no influence. Do you think it’s my choice that I know all the words to the songs from Frozen?

They are into all sorts of stuff though.

I was just kidding. I was working for one year in two day-care centers (in two places that contain kindergarten and day-care center in one house) so I know it is impossible to keep kids from the influence of media and industry. Three year old girls would come in their Elsa skirts and one boy on some days insisted on wearing his Spiderman costume or he would not go. Really keeping your kids away from all those influences would probably lead to a Kaspar Hauser syndrome. But I liked the work nonetheless very much and simply tried to do as much as creative stuff with them as possible, drawing and painting with them, moulding with modeling clay and of course singing — sometimes playing for toddlers is more fun than heating up a crowd waiting for the Fun Loving Criminals. (I quit because I could not stand some of the “black pedagogy” remains that some of my mostly female colleagues used. I do not think it is useful to let a two year old sit alone in the next room to calm down or put a three year old into a baby chair for the same reason …)

[NSJ]

I was just minding my own business, happily after the Arsenal match, after we thrashed Forest all the way back to Nottingham so badly, even the Sheriff won’t be able to them.. ..I was practicing some scale of chords on my 8 string, when what the hell did just witness in the 98th minute????


UNION BERLIN! GET IN THERE! G’won! Take a bow, sons!


Talk about a scaled step from ABOVE. Absolutely GLORIOUS! That warrants a “Magisterial” or two. Where the hell is Ray Hudson??? (Probably still on La Liga duty, with both Barça and the Merenges Regime-Fascists playing today…


Tine to get stuck in lads with the dom7 scales for sure,

[Christian Miller]

[djg]