There are two paths for a chord player to go down. Barry Harris Method. The Barry Harris Method. The Barry Harris Harmonic Method for Guitar. About About 'The Barry Harris Harmonic Method for Guitar' Studying the concepts put forth in this book will not teach you a set of hip sounding voicings.

Question by Ivo (Rotterdam) Alan Kingstone’s book (View ) ___ Hi Marc-Andre, On your site you specifically say that your comping has radically improved/changed since you discovered the book “The Barry Harris Harmonic Method for Guitar”. I have trouble adding interest, motion or spice to my own comping. I know most of the guitar (comping) chord voicings and I get by, but it sounds really vanilla or plain. After buying quite a few books on comping and voice leading it really hasn’t changed my playing to anything that sounds ‘professional’. So before blindly buying another book I was wondering if you could tell us why this book had such a big impact on your comping or harmonic awareness. What makes this book or method so good? Maybe you could give some examples.

I’m not asking for a free lesson or anything like that, but I’m curious in what -practical- way this book has changed your comping (so it’s basically about usability of the method). Thanks for answering this question!

Kind regards, Ivo (View ) Hello Ivo, Very good question. Let’s start with the usability right away: Imagine that you harmonized the major scale in such a way that you have only two chords. They would be called “home” and “away” (or “release” and “tension”).

In musical language we would say “C major”, the I chord, for “home” and “G dominant”, the V chord, for “away”. To get to that we have to use the major scale and add one note (also known as the “bebop” scale): C D E F G Ab A B By harmonizing we get two chords: C E G A = C major 6th (= A minor 7th) D F Ab B = D diminished 7th ( Note = D dim 7 = F dim 7 = Ab dim7 = B dim7 which in turn is always equivalent to G7(b9) without the root.) That is the starting concept of all of the Barry Harris approach. By playing in inversions, you can then harmonize the scale in chords that are still just I and V!!! For example: C6 D dim7 (aka G7(b9) over D bass) C6 / E F dim7 (also aka G7(b9)) C6 / G Ab dim (also G7(b9)) Am7 (aka C6 over A bass) B dim (also G7(b9)) C6 That’s for the theory. Now try playing it. That demonstrates the difference between “plain” harmonization in C major and the “Harris 6th – diminished” technique. They’re shown in two useful guitar voicings: the drop-2 and drop-3.

So, this is only the first step in the liberation of static “chord grips”. After that, it’s possible to apply the “6th-dim concept” to common progressions. For example: Dm7 – G7 – C Dm7: use F6-dim G7: use Abm6-dim (for altered sound) C: use C6-dim You can understand that, from playing 3-4 chord grips, you can now move around with about 20 of ’em! And that’s also just the tip of the iceberg Kingstone goes in much detail on what can be derived from this kind of thinking. One of the things that really helped was the use of extensions.

For example, if you see Cmaj, instead of using the regular C6 scale, start with an “extended” chord such as G6. It contains G B D E, so it gives a C major chord with 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th. Then it’s possible to “come back down” from the extended C major 9th with a passing diminished: (All of which is happening during a bar of C major chord type!) E B D G (aka G6 = C major 9th) E Bb Db G (aka Db dim = the infamous bII dim7) E A C G (aka C6 = Am7) As you can see, this way of thinking clearly demonstrates what extensions really are and the origins of the passing diminished chords often found in fakebooks. And it is, of course, applicable anytime, anywhere with any chord type. And once again, that is only a fraction of what you can come up with using this new way of relating to chords and harmonic movement in general Other very interesting concepts topics found in the book are: diminished borrowing, Monk moves, solo jazz guitar, applications to intervals, partial chords, applications to single-note playing and altered dominant chords. Finally, while I believe that books and concepts can change your playing for the better, always remember that there’s no magic pill for playing good! You have to investigate, practice and develop a personal style.

I highly recommend Alan Kingstone’s book BUT it’s understood that you will have to work at it (at least a little) for the concepts to sound good to you and others. I hope it answers your question. Good luck with your comping.

Sincerely, Marc-Andre Seguin (View ) PS: Check out this video. A simple demonstration on the first 8 bars of the jazz standard “Out of Nowhere”. I using some ideas directly (or indirectly related to Barry’s harmony) First 8 bars of “Out of Nowhere” Chords: Gmaj7 / / / / / / / Bbm7 / / / Eb7 / / / Gmaj7 / / / / / / / Bm7 / / / E7 / / / Am etc. __ Old Comments for Adding Interest to Comping Using the Alan Kingstone Book: The Barry Harris Harmonic Method for Guitar Oct 11, 2012 Drop 2 book by: Anonymous Hi Mark. Is this the same principle of Mark Levine´s Drop 2 Book that was adapted by Randy Vincent to Guitar? I’m still trying to play II-V-I properly but started reading the barry harris book and saw a lot of similarities with Levine’s one.

Carlos — M-A’s Comment: There are some similarities with the Vincent book, but it’s not the same basic “approach” to passing chords. I really like both books, but Kingstone opened my eyes to LOTS of things I wouldn’t have figured out M-A Mar 23, 2012 II V I minor examples! By: Anonymous Thank you for this lesson!!!! I have already been practicing this harmonic devices. Juat wanted ti ask if its posible for you to share some II-7b5 Valt I examples. I guess you will be using the minor dim 6th wright? Thanks in advance and greetings from argentina.

Any thoughts on the B.H. Harmonic Method For Guitar? Has anyone worked with/through it? Back in the late 80's or early 90's the jazz faculty at McGill University handed classes over to Barry Harris for one week and the results on the students were amazing.

He also inspired those of us who were on the staff at that time. Although the 'Passing tone' scale or 'bebop' scales theory is well known in a ' scratching the surface' way, the ramifications of it's prolonged and intense study and application are not so well known. There is also a harmonic or chordal component to Barry's concept that is much less known. It's application to guitar presents some fingering and adaptation issues but there is much to learn and explore. Any text that covers any portion of the Barry Harris method will I'm sure be of great value to the serious player. If you get into it,prepare to to be challenged to 'go deep' ie: serious long term commitment to intense practice and study. Any thoughts on the B.H.

Harmonic Method For Guitar? Has anyone worked with/through it? Back in the late 80's or early 90's the jazz faculty at McGill University handed classes over to Barry Harris for one week and the results on the students were amazing. He also inspired those of us who were on the staff at that time.

Although the 'Passing tone' scale or 'bebop' scales theory is well known in a ' scratching the surface' way, the ramifications of it's prolonged and intense study and application are not so well known. There is also a harmonic or chordal component to Barry's concept that is much less known. It's application to guitar presents some fingering and adaptation issues but there is much to learn and explore. Any text that covers any portion of the Barry Harris method will I'm sure be of great value to the serious player. If you get into it,prepare to to be challenged to 'go deep' ie: serious long term commitment to intense practice and study. Greg I worked through all of this stuff when I studied with Barry (for about 5 years in the 80s, and then a couple more years to review in the early 90s).

And YES, if you're interested in playing authentic bebop phrasing (or really pretty much any jazz style) then understanding this stuff is pretty much the key (and by 'understanding' I mean being able to play it upside-down, inside-out and backwards effortlessly). So, I concur with Greg. Be prepared to commit. It's something that you practice, not something that you 'think' about when you're playing.) Yes it ALL 'fits' on the guitar just fine. Ronny Ben-Hur actually wrote a book called 'Talk Jazz' that works you through all the 'rules' with fingerings for guitar, although you probably ultimately come up with your own. Barry also teaches some very cool harmonic concepts which revolve around what he calls the Sixth/Diminished scale.

There are major and minor 6th versions of this scale and it can be used to create harmony as well ans melodic lines (I wrote some articles on this for Just Jazz Guitar about 10 years ago, you can download them from my website). Yes it ALL 'fits' on the guitar just fine. Rick, the fingering issues I spoke of refer to the maj and min 6th diminished as chord scales and borrowing notes in the voicings which are impossible to do in all closed voicings on guitar and though the guitar friendly drop 2 and 3 voicings are much more facile when one tries to borrow more than one voice at a time or start to take complex voicings through the scales, as always certain compromises will have to be made compared to piano. I certainly didn't mean to suggest it was not applicable to our instrument. Quite to the contrary IMO. BTW Howard Rees did several good articles on some of the harmonic stuff from a pianistic point of view for Keyboard mag years ago I think they are still available here.

Raw Message Here is a review of the book in question from a while back. Paul C View profile More options Sep 12 2006, 9:17 pm I haven't seen this mentioned here before, so I thought some of you might like to hear about a new book/cd combination by my fellow Torontonian and Barry Harris/Howard Rees student, Alan Kingstone. As I know Alan personally, I won't pretend to an objective review, but I will say that any jazz guitarist interested in bebop harmony, especially as taught and practiced by Barry Harris, will find this to be an informative, highly useful, and generally quite gentle introduction to the business of thinking of the music as movement based on harmonized 8-note scales; of progressions as interlocking sequences of 6th voicings; and of dominants as, well, dominant. Unlike Roni Ben-Hur's recent book, which emphasizes scales and lines, Alan's is concerned almost entirely with the harmonic aspects of Barry Harris's teaching. While those aspects are beautifully demonstrated in the harmony chapters of the two volume workshop video (now dvd) series produced by Howard Rees, the emphasis there is mostly although not exclusively on piano. (Alan is the guitar player on volume 2.) What Kingstone's new book does very well is translate what are often intensely pianistic ideas to the guitar in ways that are both practical and musical.

The book starts by harmonizing Barry's four main 8-note scales (major 6 diminished, minor 6 diminished, 7 diminished, and 7b5 diminished), supplying drop voicings (and partial voicings) in all inversions. These are shown in standard notation and fingering charts ('boxes').

Alan then moves on to the role of the diminished chord in Barry's harmony, Barry's ideas about related dominants and how they can substitute for one another, voicings that use 'borrowed' notes, and the use of all this in movement through commonly-encountered progressions. The book ends with a chapter on scale practice, a detailed analysis of an exemplary arrangement of a standard (Like Someone in Love) using many of the 'moves' described in earlier chapters, and an appendix that systematically sets out a wide range of voicings playable on guitar. Alan Kingstone's 'The Barry Harris Harmonic Method for Guitar' is published by Howard Rees's Jazz Workshop Productions and available from his website (www. Ny I Norge Tekstbok Pdf File on this page. jazzworkshops.com), from Aebersold, and probably from lots of other places too. Here is a review of the book in question from a while back. Paul C View profile More options Sep 12 2006, 9:17 pm I haven't seen this mentioned here before, so I thought some of you might like to hear about a new book/cd combination by my fellow Torontonian and Barry Harris/Howard Rees student, Alan Kingstone. As I know Alan personally, I won't pretend to an objective review, but I will say that any jazz guitarist interested in bebop harmony, especially as taught and practiced by Barry Harris, will find this to be an informative, highly useful, and generally quite gentle introduction to the business of thinking of the music as movement based on harmonized 8-note scales; of progressions as interlocking sequences of 6th voicings; and of dominants as, well, dominant. Unlike Roni Ben-Hur's recent book, which emphasizes scales and lines, Alan's is concerned almost entirely with the harmonic aspects of Barry Harris's teaching.

While those aspects are beautifully demonstrated in the harmony chapters of the two volume workshop video (now dvd) series produced by Howard Rees, the emphasis there is mostly although not exclusively on piano. (Alan is the guitar player on volume 2.) What Kingstone's new book does very well is translate what are often intensely pianistic ideas to the guitar in ways that are both practical and musical. The book starts by harmonizing Barry's four main 8-note scales (major 6 diminished, minor 6 diminished, 7 diminished, and 7b5 diminished), supplying drop voicings (and partial voicings) in all inversions.

These are shown in standard notation and fingering charts ('boxes'). Alan then moves on to the role of the diminished chord in Barry's harmony, Barry's ideas about related dominants and how they can substitute for one another, voicings that use 'borrowed' notes, and the use of all this in movement through commonly-encountered progressions. The book ends with a chapter on scale practice, a detailed analysis of an exemplary arrangement of a standard (Like Someone in Love) using many of the 'moves' described in earlier chapters, and an appendix that systematically sets out a wide range of voicings playable on guitar. Alan Kingstone's 'The Barry Harris Harmonic Method for Guitar' is published by Howard Rees's Jazz Workshop Productions and available from his website (www.jazzworkshops.com), from Aebersold, and probably from lots of other places too.

To get a digestible introduction to the chord part, check out the JJG lessons from the mid-90s by Rick Stone, reproduced on his web site, as he mentioned above. Here is a review of the book in question from a while back. Paul C View profile More options Sep 12 2006, 9:17 pm I haven't seen this mentioned here before, so I thought some of you might like to hear about a new book/cd combination by my fellow Torontonian and Barry Harris/Howard Rees student, Alan Kingstone. As I know Alan personally, I won't pretend to an objective review, but I will say that any jazz guitarist interested in bebop harmony, especially as taught and practiced by Barry Harris, will find this to be an informative, highly useful, and generally quite gentle introduction to the business of thinking of the music as movement based on harmonized 8-note scales; of progressions as interlocking sequences of 6th voicings; and of dominants as, well, dominant. Unlike Roni Ben-Hur's recent book, which emphasizes scales and lines, Alan's is concerned almost entirely with the harmonic aspects of Barry Harris's teaching.

While those aspects are beautifully demonstrated in the harmony chapters of the two volume workshop video (now dvd) series produced by Howard Rees, the emphasis there is mostly although not exclusively on piano. (Alan is the guitar player on volume 2.) What Kingstone's new book does very well is translate what are often intensely pianistic ideas to the guitar in ways that are both practical and musical.

The book starts by harmonizing Barry's four main 8-note scales (major 6 diminished, minor 6 diminished, 7 diminished, and 7b5 diminished), supplying drop voicings (and partial voicings) in all inversions. These are shown in standard notation and fingering charts ('boxes').

Alan then moves on to the role of the diminished chord in Barry's harmony, Barry's ideas about related dominants and how they can substitute for one another, voicings that use 'borrowed' notes, and the use of all this in movement through commonly-encountered progressions. The book ends with a chapter on scale practice, a detailed analysis of an exemplary arrangement of a standard (Like Someone in Love) using many of the 'moves' described in earlier chapters, and an appendix that systematically sets out a wide range of voicings playable on guitar. Alan Kingstone's 'The Barry Harris Harmonic Method for Guitar' is published by Howard Rees's Jazz Workshop Productions and available from his website (www.jazzworkshops.com), from Aebersold, and probably from lots of other places too.

Yeah, I've seen Alan's book too. A lot of the charts and diagrams in it pretty much look like the stuff in my notebook from the 80s, which make sense since we were most certainly both trying to put Barry's stuff into guitar terms for my own understanding.

The Chord Construction Workshop articles I wrote for JJG in 1999 & 2000 came out of that thinking as well (also from a Pat Martino article from 1977 in Guitar Player, Mel Bay's Rhythm Guitar Method, and Berklee Arranging classes). They're all available as pdf downloads on my website (go to the 'Lessons' page and scroll down). Here is a review of the book in question from a while back. Paul C View profile More options Sep 12 2006, 9:17 pm I haven't seen this mentioned here before, so I thought some of you might like to hear about a new book/cd combination by my fellow Torontonian and Barry Harris/Howard Rees student, Alan Kingstone.

As I know Alan personally, I won't pretend to an objective review, but I will say that any jazz guitarist interested in bebop harmony, especially as taught and practiced by Barry Harris, will find this to be an informative, highly useful, and generally quite gentle introduction to the business of thinking of the music as movement based on harmonized 8-note scales; of progressions as interlocking sequences of 6th voicings; and of dominants as, well, dominant. Unlike Roni Ben-Hur's recent book, which emphasizes scales and lines, Alan's is concerned almost entirely with the harmonic aspects of Barry Harris's teaching. While those aspects are beautifully demonstrated in the harmony chapters of the two volume workshop video (now dvd) series produced by Howard Rees, the emphasis there is mostly although not exclusively on piano. (Alan is the guitar player on volume 2.) What Kingstone's new book does very well is translate what are often intensely pianistic ideas to the guitar in ways that are both practical and musical. The book starts by harmonizing Barry's four main 8-note scales (major 6 diminished, minor 6 diminished, 7 diminished, and 7b5 diminished), supplying drop voicings (and partial voicings) in all inversions. These are shown in standard notation and fingering charts ('boxes'). Alan then moves on to the role of the diminished chord in Barry's harmony, Barry's ideas about related dominants and how they can substitute for one another, voicings that use 'borrowed' notes, and the use of all this in movement through commonly-encountered progressions.

The book ends with a chapter on scale practice, a detailed analysis of an exemplary arrangement of a standard (Like Someone in Love) using many of the 'moves' described in earlier chapters, and an appendix that systematically sets out a wide range of voicings playable on guitar. Alan Kingstone's 'The Barry Harris Harmonic Method for Guitar' is published by Howard Rees's Jazz Workshop Productions and available from his website (www.jazzworkshops.com), from Aebersold, and probably from lots of other places too. Yeah, I've seen Alan's book too.

A lot of the charts and diagrams in it pretty much look like the stuff in my notebook from the 80s, which make sense since we were most certainly both trying to put Barry's stuff into guitar terms for my own understanding. The Chord Construction Workshop articles I wrote for JJG in 1999 & 2000 came out of that thinking as well (also from a Pat Martino article from 1977 in Guitar Player, Mel Bay's Rhythm Guitar Method, and Berklee Arranging classes). They're all available as pdf downloads on my website (go to the 'Lessons' page and scroll down). -- Musically Yours, Rick Stone Website:Recordings:Videos:Myspace:EPK:Though not half the player Rick Stone is I do consider myself lucky to have studied with Barry Harris since 1987. I don't offer my book for free though I've been told by guitarists and some pianists that it has helped them grasp Barry's concepts. I caught a glimpse of Ricks work in a magazine years ago and thought 'hey this looks like my stuff'. I've been with Howard Rees, since 86 who introduced me to Barry in 87 and I've been wrestling with this great stuff since then.

I took part in a workshop with Howard this evening with some wonderful Toronto musicians and we utilized Barry's thing of 3 or 5 or 7 ordered scale tones through a tune. It actually made me play melodically for change. Barry is in town Wednesday rehearsing a yearly outreach project and we get to take a special harmony class with him. My book differs from the Ben Hur work as it is specifically Barry's harmonic method. The method is about improvising harmony as 'movement' as opposed to static chords. If you're in the Toronto area check out Howard's workshops. If you're in New York, go to Barry's classes.

My book can be found here. Though not half the player Rick Stone is I do consider myself lucky to have studied with Barry Harris since 1987. I don't offer my book for free though I've been told by guitarists and some pianists that it has helped them grasp Barry's concepts. I caught a glimpse of Ricks work in a magazine years ago and thought 'hey this looks like my stuff'.

I've been with Howard Rees, since 86 who introduced me to Barry in 87 and I've been wrestling with this great stuff since then. I took part in a workshop with Howard this evening with some wonderful Toronto musicians and we utilized Barry's thing of 3 or 5 or 7 ordered scale tones through a tune. It actually made me play melodically for change. Barry is in town Wednesday rehearsing a yearly outreach project and we get to take a special harmony class with him. My book differs from the Ben Hur work as it is specifically Barry's harmonic method.

The method is about improvising harmony as 'movement' as opposed to static chords. If you're in the Toronto area check out Howard's workshops. If you're in New York, go to Barry's classes. My book can be found here. Thanks Alan Ah, so you showed up at JCT in Spring '87?

That was about the same time I was going through a divorce and moving out to Brooklyn. Then JCT closed down around July and I got busy with working on my Masters at Queens College for a few years. Anyway, the reason our stuff looks similar is pretty obvious; it's BARRY's stuff!!:-) I've got notebooks filled with stuff like that.

When I came back around 1990 he was using a small theater between 8th & 9th Ave. Around the corner from where JCT had been. I used to tape the class and transcribe EVERYTHING.

People told me I should put out a book on it, but I felt funny about that, thinking that Barry should be the one to write the book. But as he seems to have little inclination to do anything like that, I think that you and Roni did the right thing. I'm surprised that we never met, but I guess we must have just been there at different times. I was at the old JCT building in May. My son was graduating from F.I.T. Around the corner and had his work in an art show there. Afterwards I was walking up 8th Avenue and stopped to look at the building.

Everything down to the corner had been torn down and replaced by a high-rise, but the old JCT was still there. It sat for about 10 years unused after Barry left because they raised the rent to something he couldn't afford. I remember going past there as late as 1997 and the 'Jazz Cultural Theatre' sign was still up. Then it became a 99 cent store for awhile. Now it's empty and for rent again. There was a lady sweeping the sidewalk. I told her about JCT and she was thinking that I meant some other club that had been next door, but then I realized she wasn't old enough to remember what had been there in the 80s.

She opened the door and turned on the lights and let me look inside. The space was completely stripped of course, and you could see all the way to the back door (where the kitchen used to be) but I could just visualize where that couch had been (against the left wall next to the stage) where I used to sit and watch Tommy Flanagan play, and the display case full of books and records for sale right up in the front where we setup the tables to copy parts for the concerts while Colridge Taylor was there rehearsing the band for one of those concerts.

And I could visually Johnny Griffin sitting there (he was a photographer who used to work the door) and all his pictures of musicians framed on the walls. I was poor as dirt back then and couldn't afford film and developing, so I don't even have a single photo of the place.

I wonder if anyone else does? I used to even re-use my cassette tapes of the class and jam sessions, so the couple I've found are kind of a mish-mash of whatever from that time, and badly labeled. I did however find a performance of Tommy Flanagan playing a Strayhorn medley and Tommy and Barry playing duo pianos that was probably from one of Barry's birthdays, but I don't know what year (maybe 1984 or 85?). Sorry about the rambling, I just got thinking about the place again. Here is a review of the book in question from a while back. Paul C View profile More options Sep 12 2006, 9:17 pm I haven't seen this mentioned here before, so I thought some of you might like to hear about a new book/cd combination by my fellow Torontonian and Barry Harris/Howard Rees student, Alan Kingstone. As I know Alan personally, I won't pretend to an objective review, but I will say that any jazz guitarist interested in bebop harmony, especially as taught and practiced by Barry Harris, will find this to be an informative, highly useful, and generally quite gentle introduction to the business of thinking of the music as movement based on harmonized 8-note scales; of progressions as interlocking sequences of 6th voicings; and of dominants as, well, dominant.

Unlike Roni Ben-Hur's recent book, which emphasizes scales and lines, Alan's is concerned almost entirely with the harmonic aspects of Barry Harris's teaching. While those aspects are beautifully demonstrated in the harmony chapters of the two volume workshop video (now dvd) series produced by Howard Rees, the emphasis there is mostly although not exclusively on piano. (Alan is the guitar player on volume 2.) What Kingstone's new book does very well is translate what are often intensely pianistic ideas to the guitar in ways that are both practical and musical. The book starts by harmonizing Barry's four main 8-note scales (major 6 diminished, minor 6 diminished, 7 diminished, and 7b5 diminished), supplying drop voicings (and partial voicings) in all inversions. These are shown in standard notation and fingering charts ('boxes').

Alan then moves on to the role of the diminished chord in Barry's harmony, Barry's ideas about related dominants and how they can substitute for one another, voicings that use 'borrowed' notes, and the use of all this in movement through commonly-encountered progressions. The book ends with a chapter on scale practice, a detailed analysis of an exemplary arrangement of a standard (Like Someone in Love) using many of the 'moves' described in earlier chapters, and an appendix that systematically sets out a wide range of voicings playable on guitar. Alan Kingstone's 'The Barry Harris Harmonic Method for Guitar' is published by Howard Rees's Jazz Workshop Productions and available from his website (www.jazzworkshops.com), from Aebersold, and probably from lots of other places too. Yeah, I've seen Alan's book too. A lot of the charts and diagrams in it pretty much look like the stuff in my notebook from the 80s, which make sense since we were most certainly both trying to put Barry's stuff into guitar terms for my own understanding. The Chord Construction Workshop articles I wrote for JJG in 1999 & 2000 came out of that thinking as well (also from a Pat Martino article from 1977 in Guitar Player, Mel Bay's Rhythm Guitar Method, and Berklee Arranging classes).

They're all available as pdf downloads on my website (go to the 'Lessons' page and scroll down). -- Musically Yours, Rick Stone Website:Recordings:Videos:Myspace:EPK:Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - HI Rick, I've been using both the bebop scales and the maj 6/diminished harmony principles for at least 30 years, but I never put together that they were the two sides of the same same thing until I saw your articles. Howard Rees is still teaching the Harris method in Toronto. I took the course last year (it is a multi year effort, if not a lifetime effort) but decided this year to figure out protools and work on my improv with a good teacher.

I am considering going back next year though. Barry Harris still comes up here and gives the odd master class.

Well worth it. Reading various musical biographies it appears that Dr. Harris has had a profound effect on jazz music and that quite a bit of what is considered modern in jazz finds its origins with him. Howard Rees is still teaching the Harris method in Toronto.

I took the course last year (it is a multi year effort, if not a lifetime effort) but decided this year to figure out protools and work on my improv with a good teacher. I am considering going back next year though. Barry Harris still comes up here and gives the odd master class. Well worth it.

Reading various musical biographies it appears that Dr. Harris has had a profound effect on jazz music and that quite a bit of what is considered modern in jazz finds its origins with him. -- That'll put marzipan in your pie plate, Bingo. Hmm, thats interesting. I think he is very valuable as a codifier and his method has obviously been influential, but I never heard him as an innovator on the piano.

One of the thing that struck me as interesting is how he codifies bebop phraseology. Its almost like he is saying.look if you want to sound like a bebop pianist, here's the stuff to do. For example, he gives direction on where to start a phrase so that you will end on a chord tone. Its very useful for building melodic lines, but hardly cracks open new vistas in music (pardon the mixed metaphor.) E. Howard Rees is still teaching the Harris method in Toronto. I took the course last year (it is a multi year effort, if not a lifetime effort) but decided this year to figure out protools and work on my improv with a good teacher.

I am considering going back next year though. Barry Harris still comes up here and gives the odd master class. Well worth it. Reading various musical biographies it appears that Dr.

Harris has had a profound effect on jazz music and that quite a bit of what is considered modern in jazz finds its origins with him. Hmm, thats interesting. I think he is very valuable as a codifier and his method has obviously been influential, but I never heard him as an innovator on the piano. One of the thing that struck me as interesting is how he codifies bebop phraseology.

Its almost like he is saying.look if you want to sound like a bebop pianist, here's the stuff to do. For example, he gives direction on where to start a phrase so that you will end on a chord tone. Its very useful for building melodic lines, but hardly cracks open new vistas in music (pardon the mixed metaphor.) I think to understand that, you'd have to have been around at the piano classes and seen/heard what was going on there. His concepts of the Sixth/Diminished run deep and it's effects are profound and have permeated a lot of pianists thinking. It's a lot more than just the bebop phraseology. Unfortunately, Barry has always been much more involved with the creative process, and has not been very good about documenting his own work (hence it's his students who are writing all the articles and books).

He's also kind of a moving target. I haven't studied with him in many years, and students will ask me about stuff that he's said more recently, and I'll have no idea. He's 80 years old and still evolving! Howard Rees is still teaching the Harris method in Toronto. I took the course last year (it is a multi year effort, if not a lifetime effort) but decided this year to figure out protools and work on my improv with a good teacher.

I am considering going back next year though. Barry Harris still comes up here and gives the odd master class.

Well worth it. Reading various musical biographies it appears that Dr.

Harris has had a profound effect on jazz music and that quite a bit of what is considered modern in jazz finds its origins with him. Hmm, thats interesting. I think he is very valuable as a codifier and his method has obviously been influential, but I never heard him as an innovator on the piano. One of the thing that struck me as interesting is how he codifies bebop phraseology.

Its almost like he is saying.look if you want to sound like a bebop pianist, here's the stuff to do. For example, he gives direction on where to start a phrase so that you will end on a chord tone. Its very useful for building melodic lines, but hardly cracks open new vistas in music (pardon the mixed metaphor.) I think to understand that, you'd have to have been around at the piano classes and seen/heard what was going on there. His concepts of the Sixth/Diminished run deep and it's effects are profound and have permeated a lot of pianists thinking. It's a lot more than just the bebop phraseology. Unfortunately, Barry has always been much more involved with the creative process, and has not been very good about documenting his own work (hence it's his students who are writing all the articles and books). He's also kind of a moving target.

I haven't studied with him in many years, and students will ask me about stuff that he's said more recently, and I'll have no idea. He's 80 years old and still evolving!

-- Musically Yours, Rick Stone Website:Recordings:Videos:Myspace:EPK:Yeh, I lived around the corner from the JCT for years. I went by a few times, but the place was so crowded and the whole atmosphere was inpenetrable to me. So I went back to hanging over the brass rail at knickerbocker and watching roland hanna, junior mance, teddy wilson (!) from two feet away over their shoulders. It was an incredible place, I way preferred it to Bradley's for learning, tho bradley's was definitely a hipper scene. But at Knickerbocker, you could chat with the players between sets, whereas at Bradley's all their pals and ladies were hanging around, and the place was not physically set up for moving around.

If you left your table, it was gone. At the knick, I just got a perch in that little nook behind the pianist and hung on for a few sets, nursing a few beers. Everyone left me alone and I could watch and learn. I heard some INCREDIBLE playing there.

Sorry for rambling. Yeh, I lived around the corner from the JCT for years. I went by a few times, but the place was so crowded and the whole atmosphere was inpenetrable to me. So I went back to hanging over the brass rail at knickerbocker and watching roland hanna, junior mance, teddy wilson (!) from two feet away over their shoulders.

It was an incredible place, I way preferred it to Bradley's for learning, tho bradley's was definitely a hipper scene. But at Knickerbocker, you could chat with the players between sets, whereas at Bradley's all their pals and ladies were hanging around, and the place was not physically set up for moving around. If you left your table, it was gone. At the knick, I just got a perch in that little nook behind the pianist and hung on for a few sets, nursing a few beers.

Everyone left me alone and I could watch and learn. I heard some INCREDIBLE playing there. Sorry for rambling.

Yeah, I liked Bradley's a lot. I'd always try to get there early and get the table right next to the piano. You could really see their hands from there. I always dug seeing Kenny Barron because his technique was so incredible, but also Barry Harris and Tommy Flanagan, James Williams, etc. I remember walking in there once when they were having a benefit or memorial for someone (maybe Walter Davis?) and looking at all the pianists standing at the bar. I was thinking like 'if they dropped a bomb on this place, MOST of the greatest pianists in the world would be gone.' (thankfully, no bombs were dropped, although now through age and attrition, we've lost many of those guys).

Knickerbocker was a cool place too, but I didn't hang there as much. Is it still there? Howard Rees is still teaching the Harris method in Toronto.

I took the course last year (it is a multi year effort, if not a lifetime effort) but decided this year to figure out protools and work on my improv with a good teacher. I am considering going back next year though. Barry Harris still comes up here and gives the odd master class. Well worth it. Reading various musical biographies it appears that Dr. Harris has had a profound effect on jazz music and that quite a bit of what is considered modern in jazz finds its origins with him. -- That'll put marzipan in your pie plate, Bingo.

Hmm, thats interesting. I think he is very valuable as a codifier and his method has obviously been influential, but I never heard him as an innovator on the piano. One of the thing that struck me as interesting is how he codifies bebop phraseology. Its almost like he is saying.look if you want to sound like a bebop pianist, here's the stuff to do.

For example, he gives direction on where to start a phrase so that you will end on a chord tone. Its very useful for building melodic lines, but hardly cracks open new vistas in music (pardon the mixed metaphor.) Not necessarily as a pianist but as an instructor. A year or two back as I was reading up on various hip new jazz musicians mentioned in the newsgroup (of whom I had never heard, not being new or hip myself), I was amazed at how many of them had studied with Barry Harris or studied the Barry Harris method. Here is a review of the book in question from a while back. Paul C View profile More options Sep 12 2006, 9:17 pm I haven't seen this mentioned here before, so I thought some of you might like to hear about a new book/cd combination by my fellow Torontonian and Barry Harris/Howard Rees student, Alan Kingstone. As I know Alan personally, I won't pretend to an objective review, but I will say that any jazz guitarist interested in bebop harmony, especially as taught and practiced by Barry Harris, will find this to be an informative, highly useful, and generally quite gentle introduction to the business of thinking of the music as movement based on harmonized 8-note scales; of progressions as interlocking sequences of 6th voicings; and of dominants as, well, dominant.

Unlike Roni Ben-Hur's recent book, which emphasizes scales and lines, Alan's is concerned almost entirely with the harmonic aspects of Barry Harris's teaching. While those aspects are beautifully demonstrated in the harmony chapters of the two volume workshop video (now dvd) series produced by Howard Rees, the emphasis there is mostly although not exclusively on piano. (Alan is the guitar player on volume 2.) What Kingstone's new book does very well is translate what are often intensely pianistic ideas to the guitar in ways that are both practical and musical. The book starts by harmonizing Barry's four main 8-note scales (major 6 diminished, minor 6 diminished, 7 diminished, and 7b5 diminished), supplying drop voicings (and partial voicings) in all inversions.

These are shown in standard notation and fingering charts ('boxes'). Alan then moves on to the role of the diminished chord in Barry's harmony, Barry's ideas about related dominants and how they can substitute for one another, voicings that use 'borrowed' notes, and the use of all this in movement through commonly-encountered progressions. The book ends with a chapter on scale practice, a detailed analysis of an exemplary arrangement of a standard (Like Someone in Love) using many of the 'moves' described in earlier chapters, and an appendix that systematically sets out a wide range of voicings playable on guitar. Alan Kingstone's 'The Barry Harris Harmonic Method for Guitar' is published by Howard Rees's Jazz Workshop Productions and available from his website (www.jazzworkshops.com), from Aebersold, and probably from lots of other places too.

Yeah, I've seen Alan's book too. A lot of the charts and diagrams in it pretty much look like the stuff in my notebook from the 80s, which make sense since we were most certainly both trying to put Barry's stuff into guitar terms for my own understanding. The Chord Construction Workshop articles I wrote for JJG in 1999 & 2000 came out of that thinking as well (also from a Pat Martino article from 1977 in Guitar Player, Mel Bay's Rhythm Guitar Method, and Berklee Arranging classes). They're all available as pdf downloads on my website (go to the 'Lessons' page and scroll down). -- Musically Yours, Rick Stone Website:Recordings:Videos:Myspace:EPK:Hi Rick, I'm curious if David Baker developed his The Bebop Era books from Harris's teachings. I practiced a lot out of those books and much of the material is similar or the same as what you have in your lessons. Do you have any insight?

Hi Rick, I'm curious if David Baker developed his The Bebop Era books from Harris's teachings. I practiced a lot out of those books and much of the material is similar or the same as what you have in your lessons. Do you have any insight? Clay I'm not sure. I have the David Baker books you're talking about, and it IS pretty much EXACTLY what Barry teaches. I've never asked either of them about it, but was guessing that David was just laying Barry's stuff out in book form, but oddly, I don't think he credits him.

I'm sure I'll see David at the Jazz Education Network conference in January, so I'll try to remember to ask him. Before all these books came out there were just photocopies of handwritten sheets with examples of all of the chromatic rules that used to float around the classes.

Didn't look like something that Barry did, but they was probably transcribed and compiled and got handed down from student to student. Raw Message Although I never studied with Barry Harris, I did study with some great teachers at the Jazzmobile in the late 80's and early 90's. Rodney Jones, Ted Dunbar and Rick Stone were all great teachers and I learned most of what I know from those guys. A friend showed me the basic idea of Barry's system (the minor and major dim. 6th scale) and I harmonized those two scales and mapped it out on the guitar in all the variations I could come up with. Thanks to Rick Stone for teaching me how to teach myself. I also downloaded Rick Stone's pdf files dealing with Barry's method and they helped alot.

He also has some great files about chord construction which neatly summarize some of the most useful stuff I picked up from Rick. Rick is a truly great teacher and player--I now wish I had been a better student! I recently bought Alan Kingstones book 'The Barry Harris Harmonic Method for Guitar' which is proving to be very helpful (I'm working through the 2nd chapter on movement right now). My take on Alan's book is that it requires a knowledge of theory and a commitment to work hard unraveling Alan's short comments.

If anything, Alan could have provided more examples and commentary since it reads a bit like a transcription of his or Barry's notes. I'm still not sure how this method will translate to other genres other than jazz. Although I never studied with Barry Harris, I did study with some great teachers at the Jazzmobile in the late 80's and early 90's. Rodney Jones, Ted Dunbar and Rick Stone were all great teachers and I learned most of what I know from those guys. A friend showed me the basic idea of Barry's system (the minor and major dim. 6th scale) and I harmonized those two scales and mapped it out on the guitar in all the variations I could come up with.

Thanks to Rick Stone for teaching me how to teach myself. I also downloaded Rick Stone's pdf files dealing with Barry's method and they helped alot. He also has some great files about chord construction which neatly summarize some of the most useful stuff I picked up from Rick. Rick is a truly great teacher and player--I now wish I had been a better student! I recently bought Alan Kingstones book 'The Barry Harris Harmonic Method for Guitar' which is proving to be very helpful (I'm working through the 2nd chapter on movement right now). My take on Alan's book is that it requires a knowledge of theory and a commitment to work hard unraveling Alan's short comments.

If anything, Alan could have provided more examples and commentary since it reads a bit like a transcription of his or Barry's notes. I'm still not sure how this method will translate to other genres other than jazz. Larry Hey Larry, Long time, no see. Thanks for the kind words. Although I never studied with Barry Harris, I did study with some great teachers at the Jazzmobile in the late 80's and early 90's.

Rodney Jones, Ted Dunbar and Rick Stone were all great teachers and I learned most of what I know from those guys. A friend showed me the basic idea of Barry's system (the minor and major dim.

6th scale) and I harmonized those two scales and mapped it out on the guitar in all the variations I could come up with. Thanks to Rick Stone for teaching me how to teach myself. I also downloaded Rick Stone's pdf files dealing with Barry's method and they helped alot. He also has some great files about chord construction which neatly summarize some of the most useful stuff I picked up from Rick. Rick is a truly great teacher and player--I now wish I had been a better student! I recently bought Alan Kingstones book 'The Barry Harris Harmonic Method for Guitar' which is proving to be very helpful (I'm working through the 2nd chapter on movement right now).

My take on Alan's book is that it requires a knowledge of theory and a commitment to work hard unraveling Alan's short comments. If anything, Alan could have provided more examples and commentary since it reads a bit like a transcription of his or Barry's notes. I'm still not sure how this method will translate to other genres other than jazz. Larry Larry: Feel free to contact me directly at the e-mail address provided in the book if you have any questions. I recently bought Alan Kingstones book 'The Barry Harris Harmonic Method for Guitar' which is proving to be very helpful (I'm working through the 2nd chapter on movement right now). My take on Alan's book is that it requires a knowledge of theory and a commitment to work hard unraveling Alan's short comments.

If anything, Alan could have provided more examples and commentary since it reads a bit like a transcription of his or Barry's notes. I'm still not sure how this method will translate to other genres other than jazz. Larry Larry: Feel free to contact me directly at the e-mail address provided in the book if you have any questions. Alan Hi Alan, Thank you for your response. I'm now a bit embarrassed to have posted publicly my comments about your book (which is excellent by the way). I hope that my comments will not discourage anyone considering buying your book.

I bought it and I'm very glad I did! I do have one basic question that I thought I might share with everyone since it is something I've run across elsewhere when googling the Barry Harris method: How are the 7th diminished and 7b5 diminished scales and chords used?

There is a LOT of great information about how to think about and use the Maj/Min 6th dim. Scales but the other two are only harmonized and shown with inversions on the fingerboard charts. Thank you for the invitation to contact you via email also. I recently bought Alan Kingstones book 'The Barry Harris Harmonic Method for Guitar' which is proving to be very helpful (I'm working through the 2nd chapter on movement right now). My take on Alan's book is that it requires a knowledge of theory and a commitment to work hard unraveling Alan's short comments. If anything, Alan could have provided more examples and commentary since it reads a bit like a transcription of his or Barry's notes. I'm still not sure how this method will translate to other genres other than jazz.

Larry Larry: Feel free to contact me directly at the e-mail address provided in the book if you have any questions. Alan Hi Alan, Thank you for your response. I'm now a bit embarrassed to have posted publicly my comments about your book (which is excellent by the way). I hope that my comments will not discourage anyone considering buying your book.

I bought it and I'm very glad I did! I do have one basic question that I thought I might share with everyone since it is something I've run across elsewhere when googling the Barry Harris method: How are the 7th diminished and 7b5 diminished scales and chords used? There is a LOT of great information about how to think about and use the Maj/Min 6th dim.

Scales but the other two are only harmonized and shown with inversions on the fingerboard charts. Thank you for the invitation to contact you via email also. Larry Larry: No need to apologize. I think your critique is valid as there is a shortage of actual song application in the book. I suggest movement on chord/scales where before we may have played a single chord and ways to colour the chords with borrowed diminished or related dominant notes. There are demonstrations using common chord progressions and our job is to plug them in.

Like your private e-mail suggests, it's hard work. Now I should get of the couch, turn off the baseball game and do some of that hard work. Any thoughts on the B.H. Harmonic Method For Guitar? Has anyone worked with/through it?

'The Barry Harris Harmonic Method for Guitar' by Alan Kingstone (2006, Jazzworkship Productions). I have and give it my unqualified support as an excellent book for the inquiring guitarist; no qualifications. SKrohn recommended it to me last year some time. I knew much of the stuff in it, but even the stuff I know is approached in a very different and intriguing angle. It still lays on my work-stand and I futz with it periodically.

I assume I will for many years to come. Compensation 10th Edition By Milkovich Newman And Gerhart Plumbing.