Things I Learned From Barry Harris ep 1

[Christian Miller]

The thing that Barry’s teaching provides is not just info, it’s a clear pathway to mastery via prioritised work….

[pamosmusic]

The thing that Barry’s teaching provides is not just info, it’s a clear pathway to mastery via prioritised work….

Yeah this is the most compelling part, at the moment.

Limiting the number of chords so you can focus on vocabulary is pretty liberating. Which obviously we all know all the time, but also seem to somehow never do. But the way Barry’s stuff is set up, it forces you to get tons of vocab on a handful of sounds and then use them super creatively

[Tal_175]

Yeah this is the most compelling part, at the moment.

Limiting the number of chords so you can focus on vocabulary is pretty liberating. Which obviously we all know all the time, but also seem to somehow never do. But the way Barry’s stuff is set up, it forces you to get tons of vocab on a handful of sounds and then use them super creatively

I don't know if BH ever explained his scale choice rationale this way, it's one theory. Another explanation is his scales are strictly based on how he analyzed Charlie Parker and Bud Powell lines. That's certainly true for his treatment of II V's.

[pamosmusic]

I don't know if BH ever explained his scale choice rationale this way, it's one theory. Another explanation is his scales are strictly based on how he analyzed Charlie Parker and Bud Powell lines. That's certainly true for his treatment of II V's.

Yeah I wouldn’t know.

But it’s just kind of an obvious advantage relative to the way jazz is usually taught.

[Christian Miller]

As I say I don’t want to extrapolate too much, but Barry did advise us to not feel compelled to always use harmonic minor on contexts like the OP because we could get ‘stuck’ in it, the implication being that we want to be able to use our dominant language.

How much harmonic vocab minor do I have? Prob not that much! It gets samey fast

He then demonstrated some very convincing minor ii V I lines that didn’t use the third of V at all - so running for example C7 straight into Dm without any C#.

Obviously bebop is full of harmonic minor lines, so I thought that seemed to bear out my understanding of the ‘let the dominant dominate’ thing.

OTOH it does obviously work stylistically as well. Clearly Bird and Bud do other things as well …. But it’s a great start. IIRC David Baker similarly prioritised dominant.

[pamosmusic]

I should also clarify that I don’t mean to imply harmonic simplicity either. But there’s an obvious advantage to learning tons of vocabulary and using it with maximum flexibility. Meaning that every sound you add ends up being that thorough. I have loads of harmonic vocabulary but it all sounds boring … which is probably not unusual

[pamosmusic]

Inch deep and a mile wide, as it were.

[Christian Miller]

I fear not the man who has practiced a thousand punches but the one who has practiced one punch a thousand times etc

And this is why I have three licks!

[pamosmusic]

I fear not the man who has practiced a thousand punches but the one who has practiced one punch a thousand times etc

And this is why I have three licks!

This is why no one fears me.