Barry Harris & Wes Montgomery

[pingu]

On Dm7b5, we relate to Bb7. We play Bb7 scale (which is the same notes as C natural minor)

got it , yes , Jaco mentioned that's how he thought of B-7b5

Thats interesting , do you ever think of it as the 'back door'

On the G7b9, we run the Bb7 scale to the third of G7.

Could you illuminate that a bit ?
slightly confused ..... the third of G7 is B natural innit ?

[grahambop]

got it , yes , Jaco mentioned that's how he thought of B-7b5

Thats interesting , do you ever think of it as the 'back door'



Could you illuminate that a bit ?
slightly confused ..... the third of G7 is B natural innit ?

It’s a Barry Harris idea - you play a Bb7 scale descending from the 7th note (Ab) but end on a B (third of G7) instead of a Bb. This gives a nice fit over a minor turnaround i.e. Dm7b5 to G7. It also works over a G7.

Check out the YouTube channel ‘things I’ve learned from Barry Harris’. He covers all this stuff really well.

[matt.guitarteacher]

Could you illuminate that a bit ?
slightly confused ..... the third of G7 is B natural innit ?

Non-devotees of Barry Harris will often dismissively refer to this as "just harmonic minor", and it sort of is on a technical level (V7b9 from HM starring on the b9 and descending to the 3rd).

But there's a lot more to it than that. First of all, it's the simplest way to learn to play HM over that change, as a beginner, period. It stacks those seven notes in that smaller interval which avoids the augmented 2nd, it's really easy to hear and play, and most of all, it gets you playing minor without any extra theory really. It's beautifully simple.

[christianm77]

Non-devotees of Barry Harris will often dismissively refer to this as "just harmonic minor", and it sort of is on a technical level (V7b9 from HM starring on the b9 and descending to the 3rd).

But there's a lot more to it than that. First of all, it's the simplest way to learn to play HM over that change, as a beginner, period. It stacks those seven notes in that smaller interval which avoids the augmented 2nd, it's really easy to hear and play, and most of all, it gets you playing minor without any extra theory really. It's beautifully simple.

Also you can solo on that progression just using the dominant language you already have without having to learn a bunch of new harmonic minor stuff

[christianm77]

got it , yes , Jaco mentioned that's how he thought of B-7b5

Thats interesting , do you ever think of it as the 'back door'

Yes it’s the same thing.

As is minor plagal.

[grahambop]

It’s a Barry Harris idea - you play a Bb7 scale descending from the 7th note (Ab) but end on a B (third of G7) instead of a Bb. This gives a nice fit over a minor turnaround i.e. Dm7b5 to G7. It also works over a G7.

Check out the YouTube channel ‘things I’ve learned from Barry Harris’. He covers all this stuff really well.

Chris covers the minor turnaround stuff here:

[christianm77]

I don’t think of the II V I as a turnaround because it ends on a resting chord.... I would think of a I II V as a turnaround.

Am I only the person who makes that distinction? I find it useful and teach it, but don’t know if it crops up elsewhere.

[grahambop]

You’re probably right, thinking about it.

[rintincop]

Non-devotees of Barry Harris will often dismissively refer to this as "just harmonic minor", and it sort of is on a technical level (V7b9 from HM starring on the b9 and descending to the 3rd).

But there's a lot more to it than that. First of all, it's the simplest way to learn to play HM over that change, as a beginner, period. It stacks those seven notes in that smaller interval which avoids the augmented 2nd, it's really easy to hear and play, and most of all, it gets you playing minor without any extra theory really. It's beautifully simple.

This can turn in the harmonic minor, but actually as I now understand it but really it's more like you take the dominant stuff you've worked out (because basically you should have spent about 18 months coming up with cool bop to play on dominant chords without bothering with other chord qualities) and be able to run it into a minor chord using the dim7 on third of the G7 chord...

Nice points.