In plain words
Barry told the 1998 workshop that the name needed straightening out: we should call it something other than a half step, because any note can go between two notes. Usually it is a chromatic half step, but a major scale already has half steps between 3 and 4 and between 7 and 1, and when the rule lands there you have to put something else in. Running C major down from C, he used the second, D, between the tonic and the major seventh.
He did the same on other scales. In F harmonic minor he again used the second between F and E, and on reaching the major seventh he put the tonic, F, between E and D♭. In A♭ major he put B♭ between A♭ and G, and E♭ between D♭ and C. Filling every gap from C up to G, G went between E and F. On a dominant scale, when the spot came round to the fourth and third, he said you still have to put something in between.
The 1998 workshop, part 2: breaking the habit2:546:3920:31The 1998 workshop, part 334:49The 1998 workshop, part 115:49
In a short class lesson Barry admitted he had left out rules for the minor because he could not see how three half steps would work with a minor third. Then he realised the half step is just one extra note and can be any note. On B♭7, coming down from the tonic, he had a student play G instead of A natural before going on to A♭, then asked why it couldn’t be the third or the fifth, and settled on the second.
Step by step
When the rule puts the extra note between two scale tones that are already a half step apart, use a scale note instead. In Barry’s examples here it was always the scale note just above the pair.
C major from C: D between C and B- C
- D
- B
- A
- G
- F
- E
- D
- C
A♭ major: B♭ between A♭ and G- A♭
- B♭
- G
A♭ major: E♭ between D♭ and C- D♭
- E♭
- C
C major going up: G between E and F- E
- G
- F
The 1998 workshop, part 2: breaking the habit1:422:1420:31The 1998 workshop, part 334:49
The same in F harmonic minor: F and E are a half step apart, so the second, G, goes between them.
F harmonic minor from F: G between F and E- F
- G
- E
- D♭
- C
- B♭
- A♭
- G
- F
Even where a chromatic note would fit, the extra note can be another one. In F harmonic minor Barry put the tonic, F, between E and D♭. On B♭7 from the tonic he replaced A natural with G, then with the second, C, going straight on to A♭.
F harmonic minor: F between E and D♭- E
- F
- D♭
B♭7 from B♭, G as the extra note- B♭
- G
- A♭
- G
- F
- E♭
- D
- C
- B♭
B♭7 from B♭, C as the extra note- B♭
- C
- A♭
- G
- F
- E♭
- D
- C
- B♭
The 1998 workshop, part 2: breaking the habit6:39The half-step rules1:402:15
an added note, outside the scale
How he said to practise it
Take a rule you already know and change only the extra note: chromatic first, then another note (Barry used the sixth, then the second, and asked why not the third or fifth), playing each version in time.
Run a major or harmonic minor scale down from each degree with a one-note rule; when the spot falls on two notes already a half step apart, put a scale note there instead and keep going in time.
The 1998 workshop, part 2: breaking the habit2:143:31The 1998 workshop, part 333:3134:49
In Barry’s words
Each one plays from the moment he says it. Every other moment he teaches it is listed below.
We should call it something other than half step... because any note can be put in between two notes.
The one half step in between is just... an extra note, and it could be any note.
I didn’t have the minors because I couldn’t imagine what the three half steps could be with the minor third.
Suppose I said... F harmonic, and I want a half step, coming down, I want a half step between the tonic and the seventh.
Where this comes from
Everything above is drawn from these. Open any one to check it.
Every moment he teaches it10 moments in 4 recordings
Each time opens the transcript there; the video plays when you are online.
The 1998 workshop, part 2: breaking the habit
- 1:42
‘Half step’ is the wrong name: any note can go between two notes; 3–4 and 7–1 need another.
- 2:14
C major down from C with the second between tonic and major seventh, played in time.
- 2:54
F harmonic minor: uses the second again between the tonic and the seventh.
- 6:39
On reaching the major seventh of F minor, uses the tonic between E and D♭.
- 20:31
Filling every gap from C up to G: G goes between E and F.
The half-step rules
The 1998 workshop, part 3
- 34:49
A♭ major has two half-step spots: B♭ goes between A♭ and G, E♭ between D♭ and C.
The 1998 workshop, part 1
- 15:49
Dominant scale: when the spot reaches the fourth and third, something still has to go between.
From the lessons1 lesson, 2 points
Notes taken from Barry’s classes, each tied to the moment it comes from.
The added note doesn’t have to be a half step
- Idea
Barry said the term ‘half step’ needs straightening out, because any note can be put between two scale notes. Usually it is a chromatic half step, but where two scale tones are already a half step apart (three and four, or the tonic and the major seventh) you have to insert something else. Running down C major, he put the second in the slot between the tonic and the major seventh; in F harmonic minor he used the tonic between the major seventh and the flat sixth.
- Exercise
Barry admitted he once left out the minor versions of his rules because he couldn’t picture three half steps with a minor third. Then he realised the added note is just one extra note, and it can be any note. Try it on B-flat 7 coming down from the tonic: instead of the A natural between B-flat and A-flat, play G (or the third, fifth or second), then go straight to A-flat and carry on down the scale.
In writing4 notes
What his interviews, his students’ class notes and other teachers’ articles add.
Galliano’s notes from Chris Parks’s videos point out two places in harmonic minor where no half step fits: the second goes between the tonic and the major seventh, and the fourth between the minor third and the second. He finds these make the best lines.
A guitarist working from Howard Rees’s videos describes the ‘chromatic major scale’: fill every gap of a descending major scale chromatically, and where there is already a semitone, jump to a scale note instead. In F: F, G, E, E♭, D, D♭, C, B, B♭, C, A, A♭, G, G♭, F.
Alan Kingstone reminds readers that extra notes can be leaps or repeated scale notes, not only chromatic notes outside the scale.
Rees’s online improvisation course has a lesson on line building with the extra-note rules by choosing any note.
Howard Rees / Jazz School Online, Improvisation Lessons for All Instruments (21-lesson list) ¶12
Read further1 link
These open on the web.
Books and paid courses
- Frederic Galliano, Notes on the Method of Barry Harris (HTML + PDF, updated Jan 2026): scale exercises, chromatic scale, Parker ideas, families, 4 chord scales, moving in fourths, 5-4-3-2, half-step tables, important arpeggios, scale outlines of blues/rhythm/Cherokee/Donna Lee/How High the Moon/Night in Tunisia
attendee-of-videos notes (from Chris Parks’ TILF + Labyrinth + Kingstone) — Free notes whose half-step table shows the second and the fourth used where harmonic minor has no room for a half step.