Rules from every degree, ascending rules, several added notes, harmonic minor

Barry told his classes that the rules are more important than the scales, and that they must become second nature. His method: state a rule (for example, one added half step between two particular notes), pick a scale, and play the rule from each degree of that scale. Doing that, he said, is how you really learn.

The 1998 workshop, part 2: breaking the habit0:0019:43The 1998 workshop, part 335:23

In F harmonic minor, add one half step between the tonic and the seventh and play the descending scale in time after a count-off. Then start from the second (the extra note now falls between the second and the tonic), then from the third, and so on through every degree. Listen to how each starting point gives a different chord sound: from the tonic it is F minor; from the second it is G half-diminished going to C7.

The 1998 workshop, part 2: breaking the habit2:142:543:315:24

When you run a scale down, the added half step can go after any note that falls on the beat. In C major from the top, C, A, F and D land on the beat; in F harmonic minor, F, D-flat, B-flat and G do. So you could choose, say, to put the half step between the fourth and third of F minor. Barry said rules like this make a scale sound more inviting, turning F harmonic minor into more than just a scale.

The 1998 workshop, part 2: breaking the habit9:4310:1610:5711:31

The rules work going up too. Barry started to switch to a diminished scale on B but stopped himself, saying he was changing too quickly. The class then played up from tonic to tonic with one half step added between the tonic and second, then between the second and third, then the third and fourth, and so on, until one was needed between the seventh and the top (E and F, which fits the F minor scale they had been using). Later he reminded the class that a diminished scale has eight notes.

The 1998 workshop, part 2: breaking the habit12:0512:5126:33

Rules can add more than one note. In F minor, go from the tonic up to the minor third with two half steps added, then do the same from the next degree, where Barry said one has to go between G and A-flat. A bigger version: in C major go from C up to G filling every gap: D-flat between C and D, E-flat between D and E, G between E and F (already a half step apart), F-sharp between F and G. Then play it in time.

The 1998 workshop, part 2: breaking the habit14:2815:1019:4320:31

Anything you can do, Barry said, you can do from any degree to any degree. One example: in C major, go up two half steps from the fifth and then come down the chord. Another: go chromatically from the fifth up to the major seventh, then come down the chord. Pick the rule, then apply it on each degree of the scale.

The 1998 workshop, part 2: breaking the habit18:0229:5130:24

When a rule trips you up, that is the point. Barry said that anything that breaks a habit means you are doing something right. Rules upset pre-laid, pre-prepared plans, and he showed that even he had to stop and work things out when applying a rule to a tune like the 52nd Street Theme.

The 1998 workshop, part 2: breaking the habit24:1625:3326:33

A habit-breaking drill: from each degree of the scale, put a half step between the top note and the seventh, between the five and the four, and between the two and the one. Barry said this breaks up the habits you have developed in your playing.

The 1998 workshop, part 121:1122:40

Barry’s own routine: take a seventh scale and start on each degree in turn, playing that degree’s rules, and do everything twice. The tonic gets one half step; the second gets no half steps, then two; the third gets one, then three; and so on up the scale. You should be able to do this with every scale, and he reckoned that running all the scales through all the rules takes no more than about 15 minutes. He noted that the no-half-step version, simply going down the scale, teaches rhythm.

Half-step rules on the dominant scale, part 22:533:354:07

Barry gave these drills as precise instructions you must be able to carry out on the spot. For example: start on the third of B-flat 7, put one half step between the tonic and the seventh, run down the scale to the third, then play a chord up. Or: start on the third of B-flat 7, add three half steps and run down to the third. As an experiment he then tried applying his knowledge of all the seventh scales to the tune Lover.

Half-step rules on the dominant scale, part 25:576:31