In plain words
Asked what he wanted from drummers, Barry said: stop hitting on one. Drummers should know syncopation and the ‘ands’. His pet hate was an accent on beat four by itself, ‘that Philly Joe thing’, though Philly Joe Jones was a dear friend; put the ‘and’ of two before it and he would go along, because that is a salsa figure. He also thought drummers should be thinking of the shuffle even when playing ordinary time.
Believe: a talk to musicians30:0530:37The lone accent on four1:40Feeling the ‘and’11:5713:11Interview: Detroit, Bud Powell and the shuffle20:28
Starting a blues head, Barry wanted the drummer on brushes and the hi-hat (his ‘sock cymbal’) rather than heading straight for the ride, so the arrival of a soloist would be clearly marked. He told the pianist to keep it light, as this was no heavy blues, and said being a bebopper does not mean big chords at the top: little ones will do. Pianists, like horn players, have to breathe and leave space.
Passport: teaching a blues by ear7:018:2210:3011:40Student performances and coaching10:1310:48
Bass players, too, need to hit on the ‘ands’ more than on the beat; many use the ‘and’ of four only as a pickup. Barry wanted bassists to learn the band’s phrases, not only to walk. He said the bass belongs beside the pianist’s left hand, where bass players always stood to watch it, because the pianist knows how the harmony moves from one place to the next.
Student performances and coaching10:4811:22Confirmation4:53Believe: a talk to musicians17:1722:00
Above all, the players should set each other off. Barry liked it when the drummer threw back a figure in reply to a phrase: one player’s hit, on or off the beat, can instigate the next player’s idea, and that, he said, is how to think about the music. A good rhythm section also frees the soloist; Barry recalled Monk saying it would be nice to play with one and not have to worry about time.
Feeling the ‘and’16:4217:1718:29Interview: Bud Powell and teaching singers9:019:39
How he said to practise it
Drummers: work up little figures on the hi-hat, faster and faster, until you have them down pat, and try starting a head on the hi-hat with brushes.
Bass and drums: practise coming in and out on the ‘ands’, above all the ‘and’ of four. When the horns are to enter on the ‘and’ of one, hit the ‘and’ of four just before, a little louder.
Student performances and coaching10:48Feeling the ‘and’20:14
In Barry’s words
Each one plays from the moment he says it. Every other moment he teaches it is listed below.
Mostly, I expect them to stop hitting on the one.
I don’t mind [salsa], but please don’t give me just that four.
All the drummers think you’re supposed to start on the ride cymbal right away. Where’s the distinction?
[It] would be nice to play with a rhythm section and not have to worry about time so I could just go on and play.
Where this comes from
Everything above is drawn from these. Open any one to check it.
Every moment he teaches it12 moments in 8 recordings
Each time opens the transcript there; the video plays when you are online.
The lone accent on four
- 1:40
The lone accent on four he can’t stand; with the ‘and’ of two it becomes salsa.
Believe: a talk to musicians
Passport: teaching a blues by ear
Student performances and coaching
- 10:48
Pianists must breathe; bass and drums should hit on the ‘ands’, coming out on the ‘and’ of four.
Feeling the ‘and’
- 16:42
Praises a drummer’s answering figure: one player’s hit instigates the next idea.
Interview: Bud Powell and teaching singers
- 9:01
Bud’s elastic time depends on the rhythm section; Monk’s wish to forget about time.
Interview: Detroit, Bud Powell and the shuffle
- 20:28
Loves the shuffle; drummers should think shuffle even in regular time.
Confirmation
- 4:53
Bass players should learn the phrases too, not only walk.
From the lessons1 lesson, 5 points
Notes taken from Barry’s classes, each tied to the moment it comes from.
Playing together: drummer, bass and piano
- Idea
The pianist and the drummer need a real connection. In one conversation, the memory came up of Jimmy Lovelace in class always wanting to make sure he could see Barry when everyone gathered round the piano, and Barry agreed that was true; the point was the connection between the piano player and the drummer.
Jazz theory, part 3: four dominants from one diminished8:02
- Idea
Asked how Bud Powell could stretch the time without slowing it down, Barry said a lot of that depends on the rhythm section being there. He recalled Monk telling him, in one of his real sober moods, that it would be nice to play with a rhythm section and not have to worry about time, so he could just go on and play. Some players may have the knack of floating above whatever is going on, but sometimes you really wish for that kind of support.
- Idea
When a drummer answered a phrase with a figure of his own, Barry praised it. Sometimes a phrase invites a reaction, and responding is what you are supposed to do: one player’s hit, on or off the beat, can spark the next player’s idea. He wanted the band to think of the music as players setting each other off, rather than as separate prepared parts.
- Idea
Barry joked at length that the one drum figure he could not stand was an accent on beat four by itself, which he called the Philly Joe thing, while calling Philly Joe Jones a dear friend. He playfully blamed it for bringing back his worst memories and asked drummers not to play it around him. If the drummer hits the ‘and’ of two before that four, he will go along with it, because that is a salsa figure; it is the lone four he objects to.
- Exercise
On a blues head, Barry asked the drummer to use brushes and start the melody on the hi-hat instead of going straight to the ride cymbal. That makes a clear distinction between the melody and the moment someone starts to solo. Drummers should learn to play around on the hi-hat with little figures at increasing speeds, and have that kind of thing down pat.
In writing4 notes
What his interviews, his students’ class notes and other teachers’ articles add.
Barry said he plays off the drummer and that it all comes down to heartbeats, which the players have to adjust to each other. Nobody dominates; everyone blends. On a record date five players bring five heartbeats and five readings of the tempo, so all of them must compromise. Leroy Williams, he said, knows him best.
Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶14Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶20Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶452
Charles McPherson described Barry’s comping as very rhythmic, close to a drummer’s snare-drum comping, and said Barry listens and aims for a symbiosis with the horn players.
Ted Panken (interviewer); Tommy Flanagan, Tommy Flanagan ¶218
Leroy Williams recalled a week of duo gigs with Barry at Bradley’s, drums and piano with no bass, and said both of them felt unusually free; Barry reached things Williams had never heard him play.
Ted Panken (interviewer); Tommy Flanagan, Tommy Flanagan ¶125
The rhythm-section chapters of Barry’s two workshop videos, as listed in Howard Rees’s workbooks, cover walking bass lines that stress the upbeat, rhythms that highlight the ‘and’ of two and four or of one and four, longer tied notes in a walking line, playing upbeats on each instrument, a salsa rhythm, and small chords that are easy to grab.
Barry Harris (on video); Howard Rees (producer, The Barry Harris Workshop Video ¶21Barry Harris (on video); Howard Rees (producer, The Barry Harris Workshop Video Part 2: product page and 156-page workbook table of contents ¶18
Read further2 links
These open on the web.
Books and paid courses
- The Barry Harris Workshop Video (Part 1), Howard Rees / Jazz Workshop Productions: 4+ hours, 5 clinic segments + 102-112 page workbook (ABCs, scales on song forms, movable chords, rhythm section, vocalizing)
Barry himself (produced and transcribed by Howard Rees) — Chapter 4 is Barry’s rhythm-section clinic on Straight, No Chaser, with walking bass patterns stressing the upbeat (paid).
- The Barry Harris Workshop Video Part Two, Howard Rees: ~4h15, 156-page workbook; chapters Improvisation (49 sections), Rhythm Section (17), Harmony (41)
Barry himself (produced and transcribed by Howard Rees) — Its rhythm-section session covers upbeats on each instrument, a salsa rhythm and small chord voicings (paid).