Barry HarrisThe method

Tunes he taught

78 tunes that come up in Barry’s classes: what he teaches through each, every moment he works on it, and recordings of him playing it.

Sorted by how often they come up.Colour: the part of the method they come up in most

  1. Stella by StarlightStella by Starlight was one of Barry’s main examples against two-five thinking. He taught its opening as a movement (major, relative minor, minor with the sixth in the bass), insisted the original first chord is a diminished with a major seventh, and wanted the tune known well enough to play in any key.30 moments in class
  2. Chi ChiThe uploader of Barry’s 1998 workshop in The Hague says this part explores Charlie Parker’s Chi-Chi, a blues in A-flat, along with Cherokee. Barry never says the title in the captions, but he spends much of the class on the A-flat blues: its chords, the half-step rule on the A-flat major scale, an offbeat phrase, and a link to Cherokee.22 moments in class
  3. Dance of the InfidelsThe opening half hour of Barry’s 1998 workshop in The Hague is labelled by its uploader a Dance of the Infidels workout: F major and B7 scale ideas for bars three to five, worked through half-step rules and surrounding notes, though the captions never name the tune. A JazzTimes report puts the tune in a New York piano class where Barry asked for little chords played low.22 moments in class
  4. CherokeeBarry used the bridge of Cherokee as a drill: a chain of major scales that turns into two dominants, played in time and then broken up with his descending-scale rules and 5-4-3 phrases. In interviews the tune stands for playing in every key, and for the fast dance numbers of his Detroit youth.21 moments in class
  5. ConfirmationBarry used Charlie Parker’s Confirmation in one filmed band class at The Hague to build lines a few bars at a time: pieces of line over the changes, a pickup, a triplet where the rhythm needs one, and a pivot to keep a horn line in range. The bass player had to learn the phrases too.20 moments in class
  6. Giant StepsBarry used Giant Steps to show why thinking chord by chord fails: you have to move from key to key at once, about a beat at a time, using the notes the keys share, and still sound melodic. He admitted he never wanted to learn the tune.17 moments in class
  7. IndianaBarry used Indiana, in A♭, to drill scale outlines and to show that a half-diminished chord means the dominant whose third it is. He also used it to show a Charlie Parker tritone line, a whole D7 played against E♭ minor to A♭7.17 moments in class
  8. ‘Round MidnightBarry treated ‘Round Midnight less as a blowing tune than as one of Monk’s songs to be played right. Monk showed him parts of it, and Barry passed on Monk’s name for what he called its first chord, a minor with the sixth in the bass, and how to reach that kind of chord by movement.15 moments in class
  9. PassportBarry recorded Charlie Parker’s blues Passport on his 1958 trio album Breakin’ It Up and used it as a band tune in his workshops. In a Hague class he taught the head a part at a time and coached each player on it, from the changes to the drummer’s hi-hat and the pianist’s small chords; in Rome in 2016 he led a workshop band through it.14 moments in class
  10. April in ParisBarry rehearsed April in Paris with his singers at a Hague workshop, using it to teach part-singing, balance, phrasing on one breath and singing with real feeling. He also named it among the beautiful songs Americans wrote, and played on it for the soundtrack of the film Bird.12 moments in class
  11. Embraceable YouBarry used Embraceable You to show tritone substitution as Charlie Parker played it on the tune, and as his example of why horn players should know a ballad’s words. He also wrote his own lyric to it, which he sang on stage under a punning title.11 moments in class
  12. All the Things You AreBarry used All the Things You Are to teach that a chord belongs to a key: its C minor 7 sits in A♭, so it takes no D natural. He also used it to show borrowed diminished notes, and he tied the tune to Coleman Hawkins, whose playing of it changed his idea of how much there is to play.9 moments in class
  13. MistyBarry used Misty in a Hague ensemble class to teach singers to come in on the ‘and’, stopping along the way to fix the pianist’s chords.9 moments in class
  14. Ruby, My DearBarry counted Ruby, My Dear among the Monk pieces he called works of art and played it often in concert. In class it comes up only as one of the Monk songs he told students to play, rather than trying to copy Monk’s playing.8 moments in class
  15. I Got RhythmFor Barry, I Got Rhythm mostly meant ‘rhythm’, the chord form that Monk and others wrote new tunes on. He told how, as a young Detroit pianist, he was put right about its form; in class he wanted players to phrase through it from any note, and he even heard it in classical music.7 moments in class
  16. I Should CareIn a short class clip titled after I Should Care, Barry has just used a scale of chords on it and then shows a trick with two tritones; in a talk in Almería he uses its opening chord to argue against turning every tune into ii-V’s. The Barry Harris Workshop Video Part Two features his performance of the tune, with an analysis of his voicings, in its harmony chapter.7 moments in class
  17. My IdealMy Ideal is the song Thelonious Monk had Barry play with him, chorus after chorus, one day at the piano in the house they shared. Barry retold the story often, in lessons and interviews, and drew from it the lesson that you must practise playing, not only practise.7 moments in class
  18. Sometimes Today Seems Like YesterdayBarry’s own song, which he taught to his classes and to concert audiences so that everyone sang it with him. He presented it as a hopeful message: remember childhood, and keep looking for your path.7 moments in class
  19. PerdidoIn a short Hague class Barry used Perdido as a fast tune for quick phrases: down the B♭ chord, a chord on the third of B♭ with a chromatic run, a triplet rhythm counted aloud, and a run down the F7 scale to B♭. He also played it as a sideman, on record with Sonny Stitt and at North Sea Jazz in 2005.6 moments in class
  20. RepetitionBarry arranged Neal Hefti’s Repetition for his 1998 workshop band in The Hague; the class footage shows him explaining the plan for the solos and adding a D♭ minor seventh chord for the last time through, though the captions are thin. He also played the tune in concert, from a 1992 Charlie Parker birthday set to trio gigs in 2017.6 moments in class
  21. I’ll Keep Loving YouBud Powell’s ballad was one Barry played again and again in concert, and at his 2008 clinic in Spain he worked on it at the piano, with chord movement and borrowed notes.5 moments in class
  22. My Funny ValentineBarry used My Funny Valentine as his example of a title that must be sung the way it is spoken, and in a Hague class as a melody to harmonise with the chords of the sixth diminished scale.5 moments in class
  23. A Time for LoveBarry played Johnny Mandel’s A Time for Love in concerts from 1995 to 2017, but we found no class in which he teaches through it. On Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz in 2002, just after playing it, he said he had only started playing it in roughly the last ten years.4 moments in class
  24. All God’s Chillun Got RhythmBarry played All God’s Chillun Got Rhythm often in concert, and in a 1998 Hague workshop he used it to show that a soloist can run down from the top of the piano and keep the line right by putting half steps in the right places.4 moments in class
  25. Body and SoulNo captioned class in the archive shows Barry working through Body and Soul, but both of his workshop videos use it for chord movement on the sixth diminished scales, and in talk he held up Coleman Hawkins’s recording of it as the greatest ever made.4 moments in class
  26. Prelude to a KissBarry played Duke Ellington’s Prelude to a Kiss as a solo on Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz and in concert, where he paired it with his own waltz for Duke. No class or lesson in which he teaches through it has been found.4 moments in class
  27. Star EyesBarry used one spot in Star Eyes to show the minor sixth diminished scale at work: where most players think G half-diminished, he hears B♭ minor with its sixth in the bass and plays that scale.4 moments in class
  28. 52nd Street ThemeIn a 1998 workshop in The Hague Barry tried his half-step rule on Thelonious Monk’s 52nd Street Theme, imagining its bridge filled with half steps, and said rules like this upset every ready-made idea. Moments before, he had said that anything which breaks a habit means he is doing something right.3 moments in class
  29. A Night in TunisiaBarry’s classes in the archive touch A Night in Tunisia only briefly: a short clip from his 2007 clinic in Spain is about the tune’s break, and at a 2004 master class in New York he asks the student band to play it with a Latin feel. Both are captioned almost entirely as music, so what he taught about it cannot be recovered. In his oral history he remembered that when Art Blakey let him sit in, they always played it fast.3 moments in class
  30. Bird FeathersBarry used Charlie Parker’s Bird Feathers in a Hague class to make a point about rhythm: sing the line and think of its rhythm rather than its notes. A 1998 JazzTimes profile also finds him writing words for it.3 moments in class
  31. ClockwiseClockwise is on Barry’s 1968 Prestige album Bull’s Eye!, credited to the Barry Harris Sextet, though one upload lists the track as a trio with Paul Chambers and Billy Higgins. A clip from his 2016 Rome workshop is titled ‘Clockwise’, but its garbled, partly Italian captions never name the tune, so we cannot say what he taught through it.3 moments in class
  32. East of the SunEast of the Sun was a song Barry recorded and played in concert over many years, and a clip from Rome in March 2017 has it sung in what sounds like a class. On Piano Jazz he told the story of its composer before playing it as a duet with Marian McPartland. No class was found in which he works on its harmony or lines.3 moments in class
  33. Light BlueBarry played Monk’s Light Blue in concert and called it a very pretty song, but no class was found in which he teaches through it. In a 2016 Rome class on Monk’s music the title comes up only in garbled captions.3 moments in class
  34. Like Someone in LoveBarry played Like Someone in Love often with his trio, and in teaching he named it as a song where one of his key movements happens: a major chord, to its relative minor, to that minor with the sixth in the bass. The workbook to his first workshop video applies that movement to the tune.3 moments in class
  35. My RomanceNo class in the archive clearly has Barry teaching through My Romance. One short clip filmed in Bilbao in 2016 has him playing it while an unidentified voice speaks in Spanish of the family and of triads, but the captions are too thin to say what was taught.3 moments in class
  36. OblivionBarry often played Bud Powell’s Oblivion with his trio. The one class moment found is a Hague workshop clip in which he plays it and talks about the left hand: no chords there.3 moments in class
  37. Off MinorBarry recorded Monk’s Off Minor in 1968 and played it in concert into his eighties, and he remembered it as one of the Monk tunes he first knew from 78 records. No class or lesson in which he teaches through it has been found.3 moments in class
  38. On Green Dolphin StreetBarry recorded On Green Dolphin Street and played it in concert. The only class footage is a short Hague clip in which he names it as a tune a student might bring to play for him, in a lesson about the left hand; its captions are fragmentary.3 moments in class
  39. Out of NowhereBarry’s one captioned class moment on Out of Nowhere is a short Hague clip in which he uses the tune to teach the tritone: while he plays E7, the student plays F minor, taken from B♭7, the tritone of E7.3 moments in class
  40. Rhythm-a-NingBarry named Monk’s Rhythm-a-ning among the Monk tunes his generation took to and among Monk’s pieces he admired, and a 1998 profile says he held that small children could learn it by ear. No class in the archive shows him working on it.3 moments in class
  41. Strictly ConfidentialBud Powell’s Strictly Confidential turns up in Barry’s teaching only in small pieces: an excerpt in the rhythm-section chapter of his second workshop video, a one-line class remark, probably his, about the last chord on the record, and a 2016 masterclass in Rome where he played and sang it. No class where he works through the tune was found.3 moments in class
  42. Sweet Georgia BrownIn his Hague workshops Barry used Sweet Georgia Brown for a scale exercise through the tune and to show singers a Monk theme on it. In an interview he held up an old record of it as proof of how brilliant the earlier players were.3 moments in class
  43. Woody’n YouBarry recorded Dizzy Gillespie’s Woody’n You on his 1960 live trio album At the Jazz Workshop and was still playing it in concerts decades later. At a workshop in The Hague he called it really pretty and then put borrowed diminished notes into it, and teachers of his method use the tune and his recorded solo as models.3 moments in class
  44. EpistrophyEpistrophy is a Monk tune Barry played and recorded several times. We found no class, talk or interview in which he teaches through it or says anything about it; the only spoken mentions come when his recordings of it are introduced on a 1988 radio programme.2 moments in class
  45. Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My BabyBarry used Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby as a listening assignment: on a Cootie Williams band record of it, under the vocal, the young Bud Powell can be heard double-timing minor arpeggios, and Barry recalled the thrill of first hearing him there. Barry also recorded the tune with his trio in 1960, where Tom Cleary hears his minor ii-V approach at work.2 moments in class
  46. Lady BirdBarry recorded Tadd Dameron’s Lady Bird and used its changes in teaching: his second workshop video develops a solo on the Lady Bird changes, with its turnback and a scale outline, and students recall him teaching 1-2-3-5 figures on its turnaround. No captioned class shows him working through the tune itself.2 moments in class
  47. OrnithologyBarry recorded and performed Ornithology, but in the transcribed classes he names it only once, in passing, and no lesson built on the tune was found.2 moments in class
  48. ReflectionsBarry named Monk’s Reflections among Monk’s beautiful ballads, and he played it in a Monk medley on a live record. No class has been found in which he teaches through it.2 moments in class
  49. Scrapple from the AppleScrapple from the Apple appears in Barry’s teaching only briefly: his second workshop video sets an excerpt of Parker’s tune among its improvisation lessons, and a 77-second Hague clip shows him playing it with a class, with almost no usable captions.2 moments in class
  50. Smoke Gets in Your EyesBarry recorded Smoke Gets in Your Eyes on First Time Ever, a trio album made in 1996. In class it turns up only briefly: a question about it in a 2020 Zoom class, and a short clip of singers on it in his Manhattan class.2 moments in class
  51. Someday My Prince Will ComeBarry did not teach this tune. It comes up in his own words only in his Almería talk, where, complaining that Miles Davis’s band had started playing straight, he asks what Miles was doing playing it.2 moments in class
  52. Take the ‘A’ TrainNo moment was found where Barry teaches, plays or even names Take the ‘A’ Train; in the archive it comes up only in other people’s words.2 moments in class
  53. All of MeWe found no class in which Barry teaches through All of Me. He mentions it once, in passing, remembering the first time Coleman Hawkins called a tune on him.1 moments in class
  54. Au PrivaveAu Privave, Charlie Parker’s blues, turns up in Barry’s archive as music, not as a lesson: he and Marian McPartland close their 2002 Piano Jazz programme with it as a duet. We found no class in which he teaches through it.1 moments in class
  55. Easy LivingBarry recorded Easy Living, but no class where he teaches through it was found; the one workshop clip is a New York class singing the song through.1 moments in class
  56. First Time EverFirst Time Ever is the title track of Barry’s 1996 trio album with George Mraz and Leroy Williams, a blues in F according to one uploader. We found no class, talk or interview in which he teaches through it or speaks about it.1 moments in class
  57. It Could Happen to YouIt Could Happen to You was a tune Barry played on record and in concert for decades, and he chose it for his first solo on Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz, but we found no class in which he teaches through it.1 moments in class
  58. Just FriendsNo class in the archive has Barry working on Just Friends. He recorded it with Sonny Stitt, and in the Spirit of Bebop documentary it comes up as the Charlie Parker record that came nearest to a hit, just before Barry recalls hearing Bird with strings.1 moments in class
  59. Just One of Those ThingsBarry played and recorded Just One of Those Things often, but no class in the archive has him working through it. The one teaching clip filed under it, from a 2008 clinic in Spain, is about grooving and keeping time rather than the tune itself.1 moments in class
  60. K.G.K.G. is Barry’s own tune, recorded with George Mraz and Leroy Williams on his trio album First Time Ever. No class, talk or interview in the archive has him playing, teaching or explaining it; it is mentioned once, in a podcast’s introduction to an interview with him.1 moments in class
  61. Never Let Me GoBarry used Never Let Me Go with singers: his Vocal Workshop video places it in the opening part, on singers as rhythm instruments, and a student’s clip of his New York class seems to have it being sung. Neither shows what he said about it.1 moments in class
  62. The SidewinderBarry was the pianist on Lee Morgan’s 1963 album The Sidewinder and said he made up the introduction to the title tune. No class or lesson in which he teaches through it has been found.1 moments in class
  63. West Coast BluesWes Montgomery’s West Coast Blues is the title tune of Harold Land’s 1960 album, on which Barry plays piano. No class, talk or interview in which he teaches through it or speaks about it was found; the one spoken mention is a radio host introducing the record.1 moments in class
  64. What Is This Thing Called Love?Barry’s early trio recorded What Is This Thing Called Love?. In the classes found it comes up only once, in passing, when he says the standard songs teach us.1 moments in class
  65. YesterdaysBarry recorded Yesterdays with Sonny Stitt in 1981. The only trace in his classes is a short clip from his 2014 Almería workshop titled as an introduction for the tune, whose captions are unusable; no teaching on it was found.1 moments in class
  66. But BeautifulBut Beautiful appears in the archive only as a performance: it is the last tune listed for Barry’s 2018 concert at the Jazz Room in Wayne, New Jersey. We found no class, talk or interview in which he teaches through it or mentions it.0 moments in class
  67. Donna LeeBarry recorded Donna Lee and worked on it at his 2017 master class in Argentina, but those class videos have no transcript yet, so what he taught through it cannot be checked here. The one teaching point we have comes second-hand, from Chris Parks.0 moments in class
  68. Even StevenEven Steven is Barry’s own tune, recorded on his 1967 sextet album Luminescence!. We found no class, talk or interview in which he teaches through it or speaks about it.0 moments in class
  69. I Want to Be HappyBarry played I Want to Be Happy in concert and on record, and a short clip from Frans Elsen’s films of his Hague workshops shows him playing it, but we found no class, talk or interview in which he teaches through it or says anything about it.0 moments in class
  70. LuminescenceLuminescence is Barry’s own tune, the title track of his 1967 sextet album Luminescence!. No class, talk or interview in the archive has him teaching through it or speaking about it.0 moments in class
  71. One DownOne Down is one of Barry’s own tunes, known in the archive only from his 1961 Riverside trio album Preminado. No class, talk or written source found here mentions it, so nothing is known of how he used it in teaching.0 moments in class
  72. RememberBarry recorded Irving Berlin’s Remember on his 2000 trio album The Last Time I Saw Paris. Nothing has been found of him teaching or talking about it.0 moments in class
  73. RenaissanceRenaissance is one of Barry’s own tunes, known in the archive only from his 1972 trio album Vicissitudes. Nothing found in his classes, talks or the written sources shows him teaching through it or talking about it.0 moments in class
  74. RougeRouge is Barry’s own tune, recorded with his trio for the album Magnificent!. We found no class, talk or interview in which he teaches through it or speaks about it.0 moments in class
  75. Sweet and LovelyBarry played Sweet and Lovely on records and in concerts over many years, from a 1952 Detroit session with Frank Rosolino to a trio date in Bologna in 2016. No class, talk or interview in which he teaches through it or speaks about it was found.0 moments in class
  76. The Last OneThe Last One is Barry’s own tune, recorded on his 1961 Riverside quintet album Newer Than New. No class, talk or interview in which he teaches through it or speaks about it was found.0 moments in class
  77. Tune UpBarry played piano on Sonny Stitt’s 1972 album Tune-Up!, whose title track is this tune. No class, talk or interview in which he discusses or teaches it has been found.0 moments in class
  78. With a Grain of SaltWith a Grain of Salt is Barry’s own tune, recorded with his trio for the 1972 album Vicissitudes. We found no class, talk or interview in which he teaches through it or speaks about it.0 moments in class