Barry HarrisThe method
Volume II · Lines Stage 6, line devices Idea 1 of 1012345678910
6.1

Arpeggios on every degree; the three important arpeggios of a dominant scale

Barry’s arpeggio is a triad with its bottom note repeated on top, played from any degree of a scale. On a dominant scale three matter most: major on the tonic, minor on the fifth, major on the ♭7. In B♭7: B♭, F minor, A♭.

In plain words

As Chris Parks explains Barry’s vocabulary, an arpeggio is a triad with its bottom note repeated an octave up, while the four-note stack most players call a C7 arpeggio is, for Barry, a chord; the arpeggio up from C is C E G C. In a 1998 Hague class Barry had the players run an arpeggio from each degree of the B♭7 scale in turn, and stopped them on the diminished one that turns up on the third, D F A♭ D.

My Chat With Chris Parks From Things I Learned From Barry Harris22:4123:14The 1998 workshop, part 136:1737:49

Of all the arpeggios on a dominant scale, Barry singled out three: the ones on the tonic, the fifth and the seventh. In B♭7 these are B♭ major, F minor and A♭ major. He disliked calling them by chord names, because names confuse; he would rather you thought of a chord simply as scale notes with one skipped between each, without knowing what it was called.

Practising the blues with the horns, part 20:130:46The 1998 workshop, part 139:01

The one on the seventh interested him most. It is an A♭ major arpeggio, but inside B♭7 it means B♭7, not A♭ major: if you run notes between its bottom and top A♭, they are B♭7 scale notes, so D rather than D♭. By contrast, an E♭ arpeggio used inside A♭ major is filled in with A♭ major notes.

The 1998 workshop, part 139:0139:34

The minor arpeggio on the fifth stands on what Barry called the important minor, the minor that is always found on the fifth of a dominant. Beyond the three, he pointed to two more sounds inside the dominant scale: the augmented arpeggio, very important when the dominant resolves, and the diminished from the third (the next idea).

Jazz theory, part 7: Monk and Stella by Starlight12:31Practising the blues with the horns, part 21:20The 1998 workshop, part 137:4939:34Jazz School Online (Howard Rees), Glossary of Terms ¶4

Step by step

  1. Build an arpeggio on a degree: take the triad from that degree (skip a scale note, take one, skip one, take one) and repeat the bottom note on top.

    On the third of B♭7
    𝄞♭
    1. D
    2. F
    3. A♭
    4. D

    The 1998 workshop, part 137:49Practising the blues with the horns, part 20:46My Chat With Chris Parks From Things I Learned From Barry Harris23:14

  2. Do it from every degree of the scale, one after another.

    On the second of B♭7
    𝄞♭
    1. C
    2. E♭
    3. G
    4. C
    On the third of B♭7
    𝄞♭
    1. D
    2. F
    3. A♭
    4. D
    On the fourth of B♭7
    𝄞♭♭♭
    1. E♭
    2. G
    3. B♭
    4. E♭
    On the sixth of B♭7
    𝄞♭
    1. G
    2. B♭
    3. D
    4. G

    The 1998 workshop, part 136:17

  3. Single out the three important ones: the major arpeggio on the tonic, the minor on the fifth and the major on the ♭7.

    B♭7, on the tonic: B♭ major
    𝄞♭♭
    1. B♭
    2. D
    3. F
    4. B♭
    B♭7, on the fifth: F minor
    𝄞♭
    1. F
    2. A♭
    3. C
    4. F
    B♭7, on the ♭7: A♭ major
    𝄞♭♭♭
    1. A♭
    2. C
    3. E♭
    4. A♭

    Practising the blues with the horns, part 20:130:46The 1998 workshop, part 139:01

  4. To run notes between an arpeggio’s notes, use the scale the arpeggio is standing in, here the dominant scale, not the arpeggio’s own major scale.

    A♭ to A♭ inside B♭7, filled with B♭7 notes
    𝄞♭♭♭♭
    1. A♭
    2. B♭
    3. C
    4. D
    5. E♭
    6. F
    7. G
    8. A♭

    The 1998 workshop, part 139:0139:34

How he said to practise it

  • Run an arpeggio up from each degree of a dominant scale in turn, as Barry’s class did on B♭7.

    The 1998 workshop, part 136:17

  • Invert an arpeggio so the same note is at the top and the bottom, and play each inversion up and down; Barry had the class do this with the one on D in B♭7.

    The 1998 workshop, part 137:49

  • Treat triads and arpeggios as basics to know cold, all your minor arpeggios and diminished chords included. Barry said these are the things players hate most, and that players learn by taking the basic things and making little things up from them.

    The 1998 workshop, part 31:131:45Jazz schools and the basics2:12

In Barry’s words

Each one plays from the moment he says it. Every other moment he teaches it is listed below.

There are three important arpeggios with a dominant seventh scale. One is the tonic, one is the fifth, and one is the seventh.

Practising the blues with the horns, part 2, The Hague, 1989–98. Barry stops a blues class with horn players to name the key arpeggios. 0:13 Watch on YouTube at 0:13

B flat major arpeggio on the tonic, the F minor arpeggio on the fifth, the A flat major arpeggio on... the seventh.

Practising the blues with the horns, part 2, The Hague, 1989–98. Naming them in B♭7, though he says he would rather not use names. 0:46 Watch on YouTube at 0:46

If you had to run the notes in between, you’d have to run B flat seven notes in between that A flat and that A flat.

The 1998 workshop, part 1, The Hague, 1989–98. On the A♭ major arpeggio inside B♭7, the one he finds most interesting. 39:01 Watch on YouTube at 39:01

I hate to call them by name, see. I even hate to call the chords by name on the scale, you know, because then you get confused.

Practising the blues with the horns, part 2, The Hague, 1989–98. He admits he dislikes naming chords and arpeggios at all. 0:34 Watch on YouTube at 0:34

Where this comes from

Everything above is drawn from these. Open any one to check it.

Every moment he teaches it9 moments in 4 recordings

Each time opens the transcript there; the video plays when you are online.

Practising the blues with the horns, part 2

The Hague, 1989–98 — 8 min On YouTube

  1. 0:13

    Names the three important arpeggios of a dominant seventh scale: on the tonic, fifth and seventh.

    Watch on YouTube at 0:13

  2. 0:46

    In B♭7: B♭ major, F minor, A♭ major; think of chords as skip-a-note shapes, not names.

    Watch on YouTube at 0:46

  3. 1:20

    Adds the augmented arpeggio as another pretty one inside the dominant.

    Watch on YouTube at 1:20

The 1998 workshop, part 1

The Hague, 1989–98 — 80 min On YouTube

  1. 36:17

    Has the class play an arpeggio on each degree of the B♭7 scale.

    Watch on YouTube at 36:17

  2. 37:49

    Points out the diminished arpeggio D F A♭ D among them and has it inverted, up and down.

    Watch on YouTube at 37:49

  3. 39:01

    The A♭ arpeggio on the seventh is most interesting; it means B♭7, so fill with B♭7 notes.

    Watch on YouTube at 39:01

  4. 39:34

    Contrasts an E♭ arpeggio filled with A♭ major; recaps tonic, fifth, seventh; adds the augmented.

    Watch on YouTube at 39:34

Jazz theory, part 7: Monk and Stella by Starlight

New York City — 14 min On YouTube

  1. 12:31

    Says the important minor is always found on the fifth of a dominant.

    Watch on YouTube at 12:31

The 1998 workshop, part 3

The Hague, 1989–98 — 76 min On YouTube

  1. 1:13

    Tells the class to know all their minor arpeggios, diminished chords and triads.

    Watch on YouTube at 1:13

From the lessons1 lesson, 2 points

Notes taken from Barry’s classes, each tied to the moment it comes from.

Arpeggios inside the dominant scale

  1. Idea

    A dominant seventh scale has three important arpeggios, built on the tonic, the fifth and the seventh. For B-flat 7 these are B-flat major (tonic), F minor (fifth) and A-flat major (seventh). Barry found the one on the seventh the most interesting: it is an A-flat major arpeggio, but it still means B-flat 7, so if you fill in between its notes, use B-flat 7 scale notes, not A-flat major. Another pretty one to add is the augmented arpeggio, which he called very important for going home (B-flat 7 resolving); the diminished can be used too.

    Practising the blues with the horns, part 20:130:46The 1998 workshop, part 139:0139:34

  2. Exercise

    Play an arpeggio on each degree of a dominant scale such as B-flat 7. Barry pointed out the diminished arpeggio on D (D, F, A-flat) that turns up among them, and had the class invert it so the same note is on top and bottom, playing it up and down.

    The 1998 workshop, part 136:1737:49

In writing5 notes

What his interviews, his students’ class notes and other teachers’ articles add.

How other teachers explain it10 videos, 17 series episodes

Barry’s students, and their students, teaching it their way. A second opinion, not Barry.

In the teaching series

Episodes on this idea in the long series by other teachers. Each name opens that whole series in order.

Bebop-JazzGuitarTV at NYC

Chris Juergensen

Connor Jones

DSG_Studio

Howard Rees Jazz Workshops

Isaac Raz

Mike Hayes Guitar

Pete Martin

The Labyrinth of Limitations

Things I’ve Learned From Barry Harris

Where the accounts differ1 point
Read further6 links

These open on the web.

Free to read

Books and paid courses