Barry HarrisThe method
Volume II · Lines Stage 6, line devices Idea 6 of 1012345678910
6.6

Chromatic pickups and the well-placed half step

A chromatic pickup puts a half step below the first note of a third, triad or chord. For Barry, soloing was putting a half step in at the right time and place; he also advised throwing in a little ‘wrong’, then making it right.

In plain words

The scale practice that opens Barry’s workshop video (its workbook calls it ‘the ABCs’) is outlined by one player as a scale in thirds, then thirds with a half step below the first note; triads, then triads with the pickup; four-note chords, then chords with the pickup. In C major the thirds become B–C–E, C♯–D–F, D♯–E–G and so on: the pickup is sometimes a scale note and sometimes a chromatic one, but it is always a half step under.

Barry Harris (on video); Howard Rees (producer, The Barry Harris Workshop Video ¶15jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), Official Barry Harris Thread (jazzguitar.be forum thread) ¶38jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), Official Barry Harris Thread (jazzguitar.be forum thread) ¶39jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), Official Barry Harris Thread (jazzguitar.be forum thread) ¶40jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), Official Barry Harris Thread (jazzguitar.be forum thread) ¶41Frédéric Galliano, Notes on the Method of Barry Harris ¶14Frédéric Galliano, Notes on the Method of Barry Harris ¶16Frédéric Galliano, Notes on the Method of Barry Harris ¶18jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), Barry Harris & Wes Montgomery (jazzguitar.be forum thread) ¶124

Barry used the same device when he built phrases with a band. In a 1998 workshop he had the players go up the chord on the tonic of B♭ major from a half step below its first note. Working on Confirmation, he called for the chord on the seventh of F7 the same way, followed by a chromatic run down to the tonic of B♭.

The 1998 workshop, part 154:08Confirmation5:276:05

In a 1998 workshop Barry said that all music, and soloing most of all, comes down to getting a half step in at the right time and in the right place. To show it he began at the top of the piano and ran down, adding half steps so the run fitted the song. However you run, he said, a half step has to go in somewhere for everything to come out right.

The 1998 workshop, part 128:3329:0529:3930:19

He wanted the placing felt, not looked up. When a student’s run started to go wrong and he straightened it out without thinking about half steps, Barry said that proved the point. You can be quite wrong and still make the line come out. He even used ‘wrong’ on purpose: listeners react most to diminished notes, which sound wrong, so throw a little wrong in and then make it right.

The 1998 workshop, part 120:0220:3833:36Let the body do it2:182:51

Step by step

  1. Thirds with a pickup: before each third of the scale, play the note a half step below its first note.

    C major
    𝄞♯♯
    1. B
    2. C
    3. E
    4. C♯
    5. D
    6. F
    7. D♯
    8. E
    9. G
    10. E
    11. F
    12. A

    jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), Official Barry Harris Thread (jazzguitar.be forum thread) ¶39Frédéric Galliano, Notes on the Method of Barry Harris ¶14jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), Barry Harris & Wes Montgomery (jazzguitar.be forum thread) ¶124

  2. Triads with a pickup: the same thing before each triad of the scale.

    C major
    𝄞♯♯
    1. B
    2. C
    3. E
    4. G
    5. C♯
    6. D
    7. F
    8. A
    9. D♯
    10. E
    11. G
    12. B

    jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), Official Barry Harris Thread (jazzguitar.be forum thread) ¶40jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), Official Barry Harris Thread (jazzguitar.be forum thread) ¶41Frédéric Galliano, Notes on the Method of Barry Harris ¶16

  3. Four-note chords with a pickup: go up the chord from a half step below its first note. Barry’s two calls were the chord on the tonic of B♭ major and the chord on the seventh of F7.

    Chord on the tonic of B♭ major
    𝄞♭
    1. A
    2. B♭
    3. D
    4. F
    5. A
    Chord on the seventh of F7
    𝄞♭♭
    1. D
    2. E♭
    3. G
    4. B♭
    5. D

    The 1998 workshop, part 154:08Confirmation5:27jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), Official Barry Harris Thread (jazzguitar.be forum thread) ¶41Frédéric Galliano, Notes on the Method of Barry Harris ¶18

  4. In a line (Howard Rees’s worksheet and video): on the C7 scale, rest for an eighth, then play C♯ on the ‘and’ of one and go up the chord on the second (D–F–A as a triplet) to its top note, C. That C then decides the way down: one extra note, B, between C and B♭.

    C7 scale, chord on the second from C♯
    𝄞♯♭
    1. C♯
    2. D
    3. F
    4. A
    5. C
    6. B
    7. B♭
    8. A
    9. G
    10. F
    11. E
    12. D
    13. C

    How to Apply the “Rules” to Build Lines1:13Howard Rees’ Jazz Workshops, Using the Extra Note Rules to Build Lines ¶3

an added note, outside the scale

How he said to practise it

In Barry’s words

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

If you’re going to be a soloist, that’s all there is. You got to put a half step in at the right time with the right place.

The 1998 workshop, part 1, The Hague, 1989–98. Barry sums up soloing during a 1998 workshop. 28:33 Watch on YouTube at 28:33

I can just keep running, and a half step has got to be put in there somewhere to make everything come out right, no matter what you do.

The 1998 workshop, part 1, The Hague, 1989–98. After running down from the top of the piano to fit a song. 30:19 Watch on YouTube at 30:19

The audience reacts to wrong... You have to throw the little wrong in, then you make it right.

Let the body do it, The Hague, 1989–98. On why diminished notes catch listeners’ attention. 2:18 Watch on YouTube at 2:18

Do the chord on the seventh of an F7 with a [half] step below the first note.

Confirmation, The Hague, 1989–98. Building a phrase with the band on Confirmation. 5:38 Watch on YouTube at 5:38

Where this comes from

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

Every moment he teaches it9 moments in 3 recordings

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

The 1998 workshop, part 1

The Hague, 1989–98 — 80 min On YouTube

  1. 28:33

    Sums up soloing as a half step at the right time and place; starts running down from the top.

    Watch on YouTube at 28:33

  2. 29:39

    Runs down the piano to fit a song; a half step has to go in somewhere.

    Watch on YouTube at 29:39

  3. 33:36

    Even a wrong run can come out; plays a B♭7 run from the third with and without a half step.

    Watch on YouTube at 33:36

  4. 54:08

    Calls the chord up on the tonic of B♭ major, starting a half step below its first note.

    Watch on YouTube at 54:08

  5. 20:02

    A student fixes a run by feel; Barry says that proves you put half steps in by feel.

    Watch on YouTube at 20:02

  6. 14:41

    Practise putting half steps in so you can pick your own spots.

    Watch on YouTube at 14:41

  7. 21:11

    Asks for half steps between 1–♭7, 5–4 and 2–1 from each degree to break habits.

    Watch on YouTube at 21:11

Let the body do it

The Hague, 1989–98 — 6 min On YouTube

  1. 2:18

    Audiences react to diminished ‘wrong’ notes: throw a little wrong in, then make it right.

    Watch on YouTube at 2:18

Confirmation

The Hague, 1989–98 — 15 min On YouTube

  1. 5:27

    Chord on the seventh of F7 from a half step below, then chromatic down to B♭.

    Watch on YouTube at 5:27

From the lessons1 lesson, 4 points

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

Surrounding notes and the well-placed half step

  1. Idea

    Everything is connected, Barry says: if you play a scale and add just one note, there is a note of another scale nearby. To get from a dominant to where it resolves, he simply surrounds the target note.

    The 1998 workshop, part 15:436:14

  2. Exercise

    Learn surrounding notes: approach a target from the notes on either side of it. Barry’s example is the fifth of A flat, E flat, surrounded by E and D. In another demonstration he said he already had half of the surrounding notes, so all he had to add was the C and the C sharp.

    The 1998 workshop, part 317:33The 1998 workshop, part 113:58

  3. Idea

    Barry sums up music, and soloing above all, as putting a half step in at the right time and place. He can start at the top of the piano, run down and add half steps to fit any song, such as I Got Rhythm or All God’s Children. Whatever you do, a half step has to go in somewhere to make the line come out right.

    The 1998 workshop, part 128:3329:0530:19

  4. Idea

    Barry has found that audiences react most to diminished notes, because against the harmony they sound wrong and ears respond to wrongness. His advice: throw a little wrong into the line, then make it right. Listeners don’t know what to think, but you have their attention.

    Let the body do it2:18

In writing2 notes

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

How other teachers explain it3 videos, 13 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.

Chris Juergensen

Isaac Raz

Mike Hayes Guitar

Pete Martin

The Labyrinth of Limitations

Things I’ve Learned From Barry Harris

Read further4 links

These open on the web.

Free to read

Books and paid courses