Barry HarrisThe method
Volume II · Lines Stage 6, line devices Idea 7 of 1012345678910
6.7

Pivoting

Pivoting is Barry’s octave switch inside a line: keep the first note of a chord or diminished where it is and play the rest an octave lower, or take the next part of a phrase up an octave. It keeps phrases going and in range.

In plain words

Barry called the diminished chord ‘a pivotal thing’. Play it straight up, then play it again with the first note where it was and the other three notes an octave down, so the line turns back instead of climbing on. He then did the same with every chord of a scale, and with the chord on the seventh of F7 inside a blues phrase.

Practising the blues with the horns, part 112:0212:4014:2615:4716:2218:22

The point is range. A horn has only about two and a half octaves against the piano’s many, and Barry knew horn players grumbled about it; a horn, he said, can still play a phrase as long as his, or longer, and he went straight on to teach pivoting. A line never has to run out: when you think it is about to, you pivot and keep going.

Practising the blues with the horns, part 113:5215:1315:47Confirmation7:57

Pivoting also has its moment. On Confirmation a tenor player’s phrase stayed low and then leapt to a high E♭, which Barry disliked. He had him play the E♭ triad in the low register and move up an octave when the next part, from E♭ to D, came in, so the phrase kept to one range and sounded joined up.

Confirmation7:227:578:319:049:39

Step by step

  1. Play a chord or diminished straight up. Then pivot it: the first note stays where it is and the other three notes come an octave lower, so the first note is now the top of the shape.

    Chord on the seventh of F7, pivoted: E♭ stays, then G, B♭, D an octave lower
    𝄞♭♭
    1. E♭
    2. G
    3. B♭
    4. D

    Practising the blues with the horns, part 112:0215:4716:22jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), Official Barry Harris Thread (jazzguitar.be forum thread) ¶150

  2. Do it for every chord on the scale, then in phrases: a pivot can drop the line an octave or lift its next part an octave, whichever keeps it in range.

    Practising the blues with the horns, part 114:26Confirmation8:31Vera Marijt (research coach Jarmo Hoogendijk), Barry Harris: Exploring the Diminished (MA research paper) ¶196

  3. Choose where to pivot so the phrase stays connected; avoid drifting low and then leaping up late.

    Confirmation9:049:39

How he said to practise it

  • Play the C major scale up and down, tonic to seventh. Then take every chord on the scale, play it straight up, and play it again pivoted.

    Practising the blues with the horns, part 114:26

  • Work pivots into phrases. In a B♭ blues Barry had the horns run up the B♭ major scale and down to the third of G, go up the diminished, come down the scale to E♭, the seventh of F7, and pivot there.

    Practising the blues with the horns, part 117:5018:22

  • Take it seriously: Barry told the class pivoting is something you really should practise, not a joke.

    Practising the blues with the horns, part 115:13

In Barry’s words

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

Some horn players might complain because they only have two and a half octaves. And the piano’s got, I don’t know how many... Okay, to learn pivoting, this is what you have to do.

Practising the blues with the horns, part 1, The Hague, 1989–98. Barry, at the piano, explaining pivoting to a band of horn players. 13:56 Watch on YouTube at 13:56

Believe me what I tell you, that [pivoting] is something you really should practice. Don’t think that’s no joke, because that can keep you playing when you think it’s going to run out. It never runs out if you know when to do it.

Practising the blues with the horns, part 1, The Hague, 1989–98. After the class pivots each chord of the C major scale. 15:40 Watch on YouTube at 15:40

A horn is just as many octaves... as a piano is. All you have to do is just pivot.

Confirmation, The Hague, 1989–98. Coaching a horn player through a phrase on Confirmation. 7:57 Watch on YouTube at 7:57

There’s a time to pivot... If you play it down low and then all of a sudden you jump up high, it... sounds sort of funny. We don’t want you to solo like that, so you learn to pivot.

Confirmation, The Hague, 1989–98. Barry objects to a phrase that sits low, then grabs a high E♭. 9:39 Watch on YouTube at 9:39

Where this comes from

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

Every moment he teaches it9 moments in 2 recordings

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

Practising the blues with the horns, part 1

The Hague, 1989–98 — 26 min On YouTube

  1. 12:02

    The diminished as ‘a pivotal thing’: first note in place, the other three notes down an octave.

    Watch on YouTube at 12:02

  2. 13:52

    Horns have two and a half octaves, but pivoting lets them play phrases as long as a pianist’s.

    Watch on YouTube at 13:52

  3. 14:26

    Drill: C major up and down, then every chord on the scale straight up, then pivoted.

    Watch on YouTube at 14:26

  4. 15:47

    Pivoting keeps a line from running out; sets up the chord on the seventh of F7.

    Watch on YouTube at 15:47

  5. 18:22

    A B♭ blues phrase that comes down to the seventh of F7 and pivots.

    Watch on YouTube at 18:22

Confirmation

The Hague, 1989–98 — 15 min On YouTube

  1. 7:57

    Explains what a pivot means: a horn has as many octaves as a piano if it pivots.

    Watch on YouTube at 7:57

  2. 8:31

    Play the E♭ triad low, then take the next part up an octave to stay in range.

    Watch on YouTube at 8:31

  3. 9:04

    ‘There’s a time to pivot’: has the player repeat until the phrase sounds connected.

    Watch on YouTube at 9:04

  4. 0:03

    E♭ triad up, then on to D; asks the player to do the pivot (the request is in the old captions only).

    Watch on YouTube at 0:03

From the lessons1 lesson, 3 points

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

Pivoting: lines that never run out

  1. Exercise

    A diminished chord works as a pivot: play it up, then hit its first note and bring the other three notes down, so the line turns around instead of running out of range. To practise, play the C major scale up and down (tonic to seventh), then take each chord built on the scale, play it straight up, and pivot. Try it also on the chord on the seventh of F7 (the F7 scale has E flat and B flat in it).

    Practising the blues with the horns, part 112:0213:5215:47

  2. Idea

    Practise pivoting seriously, Barry says: it keeps you playing when you think the line is going to run out. Horn players complain they only have about two and a half octaves while the piano has many more, but if you pivot you can make a phrase as long as you like.

    Practising the blues with the horns, part 113:1213:5215:13

  3. Exercise

    Pivoting also keeps you in the right range. In a class on Confirmation, Barry disliked a phrase that sat low and then suddenly jumped to a high E flat: unless you pivot, that sounds disconnected. Play the E flat triad low, and when the E flat to D arrives, take it up an octave. There is a right moment to pivot, and finding it makes your line sound connected instead of jumpy.

    Confirmation7:578:319:39

In writing6 notes

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

How other teachers explain it8 videos, 22 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

DSG_Studio

Isaac Raz

JazzSkills

Mike Hayes Guitar

The Labyrinth of Limitations

Things I’ve Learned From Barry Harris

Read further5 links

These open on the web.

Free to read