Chris Parks · Stage 5: The added-note rules
Barry’s limitless half-step rules
Chris shows that Barry’s descending rules for a dominant scale are about how many added notes you use, not which ones. On F7 he swaps the usual chromatic notes for others, such as the sixth instead of the major seventh, and runs the new versions from each degree on the beat and on the ‘and’. Because the added notes are rhythmic placeholders, every student can make the rules sound their own.
Step by step
- 0:00On F7 from the tonic, the usual rule is one half step, between tonic and flat seven.
- 0:44The rule is really ‘one added note’: put D, the sixth, in that spot instead of E.
- 1:20From the second: no half steps, or two, between second and tonic and between tonic and flat seven.
- 2:28Keep the added note between second and tonic, but use the sixth in place of the one between tonic and seven.
- 3:03From the third: one half step, or three, chromatic all the way down to the flat seven.
- 3:34For a new three-note version, use the fourth between third and second, the flat second between second and tonic, and the sixth between tonic and flat seven.
- 5:27Start on the ‘and’ and the rules reverse: from the tonic no added notes, from the second one (using the sixth).
- 6:00Keep going on the ‘and’: from the third none or two, and on through the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh.
- 8:16Use them in Autumn Leaves, thinking two bars of F7 over the C minor to F7.
- 10:08The added notes are rhythmic placeholders, so choose your own; every Barry student can then sound different.
Chords and notes in this video
Tap a time to jump to it in the video.
Barry’s own words on this
In the course
Think the dominant: put the ii awayNo bebop scale: the half step is a placeholderStart on the ‘and’ and the rules reverseBarry gives you the why
Transcript
- 0:00Hello and welcome to episode 118 of Things I’ve Learned from Barry Harris. And today I thought we would talk about the importance of the rules, of Barry’s rules. And what’s so wonderful and enlightening about Barry’s teaching and Barry’s rules is it’s limitless. So for example, if we take his rules for descending half steps for a dominant scale, let’s say F7. So we’ll start on the tonic. The first rule is normally one half step between tonic and seven. Which is beautiful. Wait, let me get a metronome on. We can practice that.
- 0:44There’s our half step. But the rule is one half step between tonic and seven. That’s the rule. Well, really what the rule is, is one half step. So suppose I chose to, instead of putting the half step in between tonic and flat 7, suppose I put it on 6. So instead of doing the major 7 as the half step, suppose instead of this note, so we’re in F7, so instead of using E, suppose I use D. So now I would say this.
- 1:20So it went from this to this. In the same spot, I’m going to put D. So now there’s our half step. That’s where we’ll put it. 2, 3, 4. Pretty. Now the second rule, or the rule for the second, starting on the second, is no half steps. That’s easy. And then it’s two half steps. One is between 2 and 1.
- 1:52and then the second one is between tonic and flat 7. So it’s basically two totally chromatic to flat 7. Let’s try that one. Two, three, four. Again. So here’s no half steps. Now here’s two half steps. Two, three, four. Now what I was about to do, I just messed up on, is what if I wanted to use our half step from before. So if I keep that, the one between the second and the tonic,
- 2:28that’s fine, I can do that. But now instead of using the one between tonic and seven, we already said let’s use six. So now it becomes this. That’s a pretty phrase. Instead of this, which is also pretty, but I like. Okay, let’s try that one. One, two, three, four. Three, four. Really interesting stuff. Now let’s start on the third. Now normally the third is one half step, which would be normally between tonic and flat seven.
- 3:03Nice. And then three half steps, and they’re gonna be between the three and the two, the two and one, and the tonic and the flat seven, which is just basically three chromatic all the way down to the flat seven. One, two, three, four. Really pretty. Very rhythmic. Very nice. Let’s just do those. Here’s one half step. Three half steps. Okay.
- 3:34That’s one and the three. Now, again, those half steps can be anywhere. So what if we said instead of the three, putting it between three and two, suppose we used four instead of the flat three. So now in between three and two, we put four. And then two, we’re still going to use the same one. Two between tonic, and then between second and tonic, and then between tonic and flat seven, we’re going to use the sixth. So we’re going to use it. So here’s our three half steps. Here’s the first one. Second half step. Third half step.
- 4:07So now we got this. Here’s our three half steps. I’ll do that one. One, one, two, three, four. Here’s one half step. One more time, one half step. Three half steps. Again. Really interesting. See, you have a totally different sound now than the three half steps. But the point of the half steps is they’re rhythmic placeholders. So those half step notes are the ones obviously that are off the beat. That can be any note. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter where they are. I’m just choosing these because I practice these from time to time.
- 4:54So now we went from instead of one half step being this, and two half steps being this, and three half steps being this, which are all nice. Now here’s one half step. Here’s two half steps. Here’s three half steps. Those are really beautiful, all three of them. And they come from Barry’s same concept of these rules, which is put one half step or put three half steps.
- 5:27So it just shows you, you know, always the greatest, most wonderful philosophical things always go deep. And this stuff goes so deep. I’ve been really interested in looking at the ands also. So let’s take a look at the ands. And let’s use those half steps looking at the ands. I’ve never done this before, but let’s try. So let’s say, now we’re going to do the end, so all the rules reverse. So now if I start on the tonic, no half steps. Let’s start on the end of one. One, two, three, four, one. No half steps. Three, four, one.
- 6:00Now if I start on the two, I’m going to put one half step. But remember, the new one half step is not between tonic and seven. It is between tonic and seven, but it’s going to be the six instead of the major seven. So let’s hear what that sounds like. One, two, three, four, one. That’s a pretty phrase already. Now let’s start on three, but since we’re starting on the and, we’re going to use the rules for the two, which are none. So we’re going to do no half steps. One, two, three, four, one. Three, four, one. Or let’s use two.
- 6:35One, two, three, four, one. Again. That’s a nice one. That sounds good. Okay, let’s do four. So if we start on four on the end, we’re going to use the rules reverse. So we’re going to use one half step. And our one half step that we’re using is the six between the tonic and flat seven. One, two, three, four, one. Three, four, one. That’s pretty stuff.
- 7:08How about if we use three half steps? This one’s going to be weird. So the three half steps we used from before was between three and two we used four, between two and one we used that half step, flat second, and then between one and flat seven we used six. So let’s see, one, two, three, four, ah, oh that’s pretty. Let’s try five which means we’re going to use no half steps first since we’re doing on the end. One, two, three, four, ah, three, four, ah. Now let’s use two half steps.
- 7:42Three, four, up. That’s nice. Now we’ll try using six. One half step. One, two, three, four, up. Three half steps. I mean, get out of here. That is beautiful stuff. I never practice this. Now start on the 7. Again, so the rules reverse, so no half steps.
- 8:161, 2, 3, 4, ah. Now two half steps. Oh man, this is so pretty. So let’s say we wanted to play right away. away we know as Barry people we use F7 for when you see a C minor to F7 we just think F7 we know that C minor is part of F7. So let’s put it in so if we were playing Autumn Leaves let’s use some of these because there you have four beats of C minor and four beats of F7 or for us as soloists we can
- 8:59just think two measures of F7 the whole time. So let’s try some of these. Let’s see. Yeah, that time I did, which one did I did? I did. Oh, I started on the five, but I was just thinking And the end, which means I was thinking the rules were reversed, so two half steps. Yeah, that’s a pretty one. So let’s try another one.
- 9:34Let’s see. Let’s try again. Oh, I messed it up. No, I don’t want to use those. That’s a pretty one, so let’s see. Oh, man.
- 10:08This right away. That is a beautiful phrase. I don’t think I ever played that. I’m going to play it now, but... So, but do you see the concept? You take these rules that Barry has given us, these, yeah, the rules that he’s given us, and then you really make them what you want to make out of them. So you don’t have to just use the notes that are easily found between 3 and 2, 2 and 1, and tonic and flat 7. You make different notes. You put different notes in there.
- 10:41Because remember, they’re rhythmic placeholders. So you can do anything. So now you’re coming up with... Based on that idea, every single Barry Harris student can practice his descending half-step rules and every one of us will sound different. Because if we choose different notes to put in as half-steps, we would sound different. Now that is the mark of something that’s really special and brilliant. And that’s the reason that I’m still making these videos and talking about Barry, the way I talk about them. So anyway, enjoy taking your rules, but twisting them a little bit.
- 11:20See you next time.