Barry Harris Ott

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Barry Harris: Exploring the
Diminished
How can the transcriptions I made of Barry Harris'
workshops and recordings be incorporated in my
playing, in order to develop myself in a bebop style?
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MA-Paper
Royal Conservatory The Hague
February, 2014
Vera Marijt
Jazz Piano
Research coach: Jarmo Hoogendijk
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Table of contents
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Introduction 3
Harmony 5
Fragment of Barry Harris' workshop in 2003 5
The Diminished and it's Related Chords 9
6th Diminished Scale 14
6th Diminished Scale applied to Tunes 19
Borrowed Notes 20
Transcription of Barry Harris' "A Time For Love" 22
Conclusion 26
Barry's method applied to my own playing 26
Research Result: "Homage" 27
Appendices 33
Notes on Appendices 33
Bibliography 51
BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

THE DIMINISHED VERA MARIJT "2
Introduction
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You've got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice,
practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up
there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail. -
Charlie Parker
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Most of the modern jazz pianists I like, say that their roots are in bebop and that bebop is the
foundation on which modern jazz was built. Reading that, I figured I needed to get deeper
into that style as well if I ever wanted to be as good as those guys.
In the summer of 2012, I read a book about the life and music of pianist Bud Powell and
developed a great sense of respect for him, his type of music and the era in which bebop was
rising.
Since then I've been reading books about Charlie Parker, Lee Konitz and Lennie Tristano and
watching documentaries about these musicians, amongst others such as Thelonious Monk,
Pannonica Koeningswarter (who is not a musician but a very inspiring lady), Barry Harris,
etc.
Art Kane, Harlem 1958
Before starting this research, I found my harmonic knowledge a bit shallow and my technique
and improvisational lines could be improved as well.
I strongly believe that I not only gained a lot of knowledge, concerning harmonic, rhythmic
and technical skills from it, but that it is valuable for others as well.

In short, this paper is a reflection of Barry Harris' method, written in my own words and
applied to my playing. In this report I want to show you some of the important things I
learned from Barry Harris, all related to one important chord: the diminished.
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Barry Harris is a piano player from the bebop era and besides that a great educator, who still
travels the world at the age of 84 to teach vocalists and instrumentalists about Jazz.
Three years ago, I participated in his 3-day workshop in The Hague and got introduced to his
approach to jazz harmony; the diminished chord and its relationship to the twelve keys.
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Recently, a website was dedicated to good friend of Barry and former teacher at the Royal
Conservatory of the Hague, Frans Elsen on www.franselsen.com. This website contains 54
videos, varying in length from about 2 minutes to 45 minutes per video, stemming from
Frans' personal collection.
He recorded these video's during workshops that Barry gave at the Royal Conservatory of
The Hague between 1989 and 1998.
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Besides that, Canadian pianist Howard Rees collaborated with Barry Harris and released 2
DVD boxes that contain 8 discs with over 8 hours of lessons per disc and books of workshop
video's, nicknamed by pianist Tommy Flanagan as 'the Bebop Bible'.
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From a friend, I borrowed these DVD's and during the Master Program I transcribed all of
them plus the video's I found on the website of Frans Elsen. Furthermore, I transcribed
several solo's of Barry Harris.
Especially the second DVD box is very interesting and goes a lot deeper into the material
then the workshops I saw in The Hague or on Youtube.
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This work resulted in over 35 pages of transcribed material.
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In the second part of the Master Program, I organized the transcribed material, practiced it
and tried to apply it to songs to make it my own and to fully understand and master the
principle of Barry's method.
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The main question of my research is the following:
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How can the transcriptions I made of Barry Harris' workshops and recordings be
incorporated in my playing, in order to develop myself in a Bebop style?
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Harmony
Fragment of Barry Harris' workshop in 2003
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Barry Harris believes chords come from scales. To get deeper into the harmonic possibilities,
you have to start with the basics.
Below, is a fragment of Barry Harris' workshop from 2003 in The Hague recorded and
written out by Howard Rees. Barry explains clearly how chords are related1 and often refers
to this metaphor.
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"… Our music is perfect. It follows a pattern, it starts off very simply, it starts off with the
chromatic. The chromatic is God creating the earth, creating the world. God created the
world and our world is the chromatic scale (1.), and that’s 12, which is like the twelve
disciples, 1 and 2 is 3 and that equals the trinity, and then after God created the world, do
you know what happened? He looked around and he said - oh! this is beautiful, but I’m still
lonely - so you know what he made next, woman and man. He made man and woman. And
what is man and woman then. Man (2.) and woman (3.) are the 2 whole tone scales. 2 whole
tone scales come first. After the chromatic, come 2 whole tone scales. After the 2 whole tone
scales, you know what happened to man and woman - they had babies - and the first thing
they have is 3 diminishes (4.). They had 3 diminishes - and the DNA is perfect. The DNA is
perfection. Because with each diminished, 2 notes belong to one whole tone scale and 2 notes
belong to the other. That is perfect DNA. So, now here we have the beginning of the music.
The music is 2 going into 12, six times, 2 sixes is two whole tone scales, the two whole tone
scales have babies, 3 goes into 12, four times, so you have 3 fours - that’s 2 diminishes, now -
we make the world.
See after those babies start crawling around, and messing around, suddenly we get more
babies - and more babies - and more babies. Now from these diminishes, comes the world.
The diminishes start branching out. And when the diminishes start branching out, you start
getting dominants - see for one thing with the whole tone you’ve got major thirds, with the
diminished you’ve got minor thirds, and then you start putting that stuff together. And then
you start thinking - how am I going to get everything? So you take a diminished and you say,
how can we get everything - so you say, maybe I’ll lower a tone. So you lower a tone first and
you find out - oh, dominants, you find 4 dominants (5.).
And then after you find those 4 dominants, you say - ah ha- their tonics form a diminished
and that’s how you get a diminished scale. A diminished scale isn’t half step - whole step.
Don’t believe that nonsense, man is better than that. Man does not name things by saying oh
that’s a half step, a whole step or it’s the whole step, half step - (bull) - it's 2 diminishes put
together. The diminished, the 4 dominants that come from it, you put it together, their tonics
form a diminished, you put it together, you’ve got a diminished scale (6.). So everything starts
coming.
1" By using the indication '(...)', I explain certain sections in the analysis on pages 7 and 8.

If you raise a tone a half step, ah - minor sixes (7.). Now you’ve got minor sixes, you’ve got
dominants, then you say - oh, I wonder what would happen if I take 2 tones and lower them.
I’ll try 2 consecutive tones. So you take 2 consecutive tones and suddenly you get a major
sixth (8.). And the odd thing about it is when you take those diminishes and you raise those 2
consecutive tones - you’ve got another sixth, a major sixth - so you’ve got 2 major sixes (9.).
(Frans2 plays some examples). Our first movement would be when you raised that tone and
got the minor sixth and then you lowered that tone and got that dominant, your first move
should be minor sixth to diminished to dominant (10.). (Frans plays example). Now you see
that is the first movement. That is the start of music. Our first move almost - that’s it. See,
when we mess with the major sixes, we get another kind of move. See when you move the 2
consecutive tones up, (Frans starts with C diminished) now raise 2 consecutive tones (Frans
raises F# and A), now our next progression is going to be, hit that chord (C - Eb - G - Bb),
then move them (G & Bb) back down (to form the diminished) and then move them down one
(C - Eb - F - Ab). That’s our next move (11.). See everything comes from this stuff. There’s 1
strange chord that comes in. When I say move consecutive - if he moved non-consecutive
tones, he’ll end up with a different chord. Play that diminished again - take the C and the F#
- hit that chord - you end up with a seventh with a flat five, 2 - because every seventh with a
flat five is 2 dominants (12.). See most people don’t even know that. That’s why the seventh
with a flat five, that scale you always want to learn - because… nothing to it. You learn 6 and
you know all 12. It’s like that. But see all of the music comes from that kind of stuff. I’ve got it
where - see I think you learn these kind of scales for chording. So you learn how to chord."
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2" Frans Elsen

Note:
From point 5 on, I use the example of C diminished. Of course this should be applied to all
diminishes. So at 6 I explained only one of the three diminished scales.

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The Diminished and it's Related Chords
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The written above, gives us a lot of information and we can draw some conclusions. For
example, the diminished chord belongs to four different dominants that together make the
diminished scale (the roots of the dominants + the diminished chord).
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The dominants C7, Eb7, Gb7 and A7 share the Db diminished and are related, 'family' to each
other.
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The Relationship of the Dominants
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C7 and Eb7
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G half diminished is in fact the same as the Eb7 scale but started on the G. Because the half
diminished chord appears on the VII of the major scale, in this case the Ab major scale. Eb7
is the dominant of Ab major. This will be explained more in the upcoming subchapters.
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G half diminished to C7 is the II - V going to Fm. Playing the Eb7 scale into the C7 scale is
therefor not that complicated anymore; when you're playing the Eb7 scale down from the 7 to
the 3 of C7, you're actually playing Gm7b5 to C7.
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C7 and Gb7: Tritone
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C7 and Gb7 are both dominants for Fmaj7. C7 is the V of Fmaj7 and Gb7 is tritone related to
C7.
Superimposing a tritone substitution line over a normal II-V sounds as if you're playing
'outside' the chord changes. Its important to resolve the tritone line in a nice way. On the next
pages are some example tritone lines over a II-V to Fmaj7.
On pages 11 and 12 are some interesting tritone lines that players such as Charlie Parker and
Barry Harris used in jazz standards.
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C7 and A7
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On the III of the C7 scale, you will find the Em7b5 chord. So, a half diminished chord is the
same as the dominant a major third below. When soloing, you can play a C7 scale over the
Em7b5.
Em7b5 - A7 is a II - V progression to Dm. Since we know that C7 and Em7b5 are almost the
same, it makes sense that C7 and A7 are related.
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I made this chart to have a clear overview of the chords you get when you move the
diminished one or two notes up and down. (Explained on pages 5-8).
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Major 6 A6 (F#m7) C6 (Am7) Eb6 (Cm7) Gb6 (Ebm7)
! Minor6
Gbm6 Am6 Cm6 Ebm6
(Ebm7b5) (F#m7b5) (Am7b5) (Cm7b5)
! Dimished C Eb Gb A
! Dominant B7 D7 F7 Ab7
! D6 (Bm7) F6 (Dm7) Ab6 (Fm7) B6 (Abm7)
! Major 6
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The notes of the diminished are written in the blue line of the chart. If you move one note of
the diminished up, you get a minor 6 chord (which is an inversion of a half diminished chord,
written in brackets).
If you move two consecutive notes up, you get a major 6 chord (which is an inversion of a
minor 7 chord). So in the chart I wrote it like this; if you move C and Eb up you get A6, if
you move Eb and Gb up you get C6, etc.
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If you lower one note of the diminished, you get a dominant. If you lower two consecutive
notes, you get another major 6 chord. In other words, the chords in the chart are all related
because of the C dim chord.

6th Diminished Scale
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The Barry Harris method is based on the believe that chords come from scales. He uses two
important scales that consist of a 6th chord and a diminished, the so called 'major 6th
diminished' and 'minor 6th diminished scale'.
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Major 6th diminished scale
The major 6th diminished is composed of elements of all three diminished scales. In the C6
diminished scale the E and G come from a diminished and C and A from the other. The
remaining diminished is the diminished of the key and provides the other 4 notes of the scale.
In other words, the major 6th diminished scale consists of a major 6th and a diminished. In
the example below, the C major 6 diminished scale is written out. The diminished that
belongs to this scale is B diminished.
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C6 with the six in the bass gives the Am7 chord and the related G# (Ab) diminished.
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Minor 6th diminished scale
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The tonic in minor is generally not a minor 7th but a minor 6th chord. The minor 6th
diminished scale consists of a minor 6th and a diminished. The scale is similar to the major
6th diminished scale, but has a minor 3rd. Below is an example of the C minor 6 diminished
scale.
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Cm6 with the six in the bass gives the Am7b5 chord and the related Ab diminished.
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You see that instead of just playing a line, you get a lot more harmonic possibilities by using
the 6th diminished scale with the extra note between the 5th and 6th.
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The next illustration shows the chords that can be found in the Cm6 diminished scale.
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It's important to master these scales and practice them in different ways. For example like
this:
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The next page shows some interesting ways to practice the 6th dim scale. For example, play
it in contrary motion, in drop two or with a particular voicing.3
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3" I recorded these examples and they can be found on the attached CD (track 1-6).

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By playing the 6th dim scale with the left hand, you can create a nice line in the bass. Below
are some examples on how to do that.4
DØ7 G7½ CŒ„Š7
& bw
w
ww bbbw
w
ww nw
ww
? ‰ œ bœ bœ nw
j œ bœ bœ bœ bœ bœ nœ œ w
#œ œ œ œ
Fm6 dim scale Abm6 dim scale
In the previous example we see something interesting; for the D half dim chord, you can play
the Fm6 diminished scale. We already saw this on page 14.
For the G7 altered chord, you can play the Abm6 diminished scale. Because G7 altered is in
fact the Ab minor melodic scale started from the G.
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In the chart on the next page, you can see clearly which 6th diminished scale you can use for
the different type of chords.
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4" CD track 7 and 8

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Which 6th Diminished scale should I use?
See: Think:
6 G6 G6
Major 7 Gmaj7 Maj6 built on 5th (D6) or on tonic (G6)
Minor Am Am6
Minor 7 Am7 Maj6 minor third up (C6)
Half diminished Am7b5 Min6 minor third upCm6
Dominant D7 Min6 built on 5th (Am6)
Dominant altered D7alt Min6 half step up (Ebm6)
Dominant suschord D7sus Maj6 half step below (C6)
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6th Diminished Scale applied to Tunes
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Now of course, it get's more interesting if we find out how to use the 6th dim scale in tunes.
But first some conclusions we can draw so far:
The Major 7 chord is in 2 keys (for example; Cmaj7 is the I of Cmaj7 or IV of Gmaj7
The Minor 7 chord is in 3 keys (Cm7 is the II of Bbmaj7, III of Abmaj7, VI of Ebmaj7
The Dominant 7 chord is in 1 key (C7 is V in Fmaj7)
The Half diminished chord is in 1 key (Cm7b5 is VII of Dbmaj7)
Below are two examples of the diminished used in a tune. In the following chapters we'll
come across more examples.5
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5" Body and Soul can be found on the CD (track 9).

Borrowed Notes
Barry talks in his lessons a lot about 'movement'. With movement he means connecting the
chords instead of just playing them. A way to do that is to use the diminished.
A 6th chord is surrounded by notes from the diminished that belong to that scale. The 6th
diminished scale consists of notes from the 6th chord alternated by notes of the diminished
(see chapter 6th diminished scale).
In your voicing you can borrow notes from the diminished. After all, they all belong to the
same scale.
Mixing these diminished notes with the 6th chord, creates new sounds and lines to connect
your chords.6
Borrowed Notes
Am7 is the same as C6. Bdim (or G#dim)
is the related diminished
A‹7 D7½ A‹7 3 D7½
4
& 4 œ̇˙ œ œ̇ œ œ
bb˙˙˙ ˙ bb˙˙˙
œ
3
? 44 #œ̇ nœ #˙˙ #œ̇ œ #˙˙

The notes colored in blue are
borrowed from the diminished
A‹7 3 D7½ A‹7 D7½

œ œ
& œœ̇ #œ nœœ œœ œœ bb˙˙ #œ̇ nœœ œœ nœœ bb˙˙
˙ ˙
3
? #œ̇ œ œ œ nœ #˙˙ œ˙ œ #œ nœ #˙˙

˙
AØ7 D7½ G‹6
& n˙‰ j œœ bbœœ bœœ œœ œœ

bœœ œœ œœ œœ bw
w
? ‰̇ œj #œ œ ##˙˙˙ nw
nw
For D7alt use the Ebm6 scale (so Ddim)
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6" CD track 10.

Think of 6-chords when you play a II - V progression. So for minor 7, you can use the major
6th chord a minor third up (Cm7 = Eb6) and for F7alt you can use the minor 6th chord a half
step up.
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Practice these voicings through the circle of fifths or for example on a piece such as the
bridge of "Cherokee".

Transcription of Barry Harris' "A Time For Love"
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I made a transcription of Barry Harris playing "A Time For Love" written by Johnny Mandel
from the album "Live in Rennes". The album was recorded in 2009 with bassist Mathias
Allamane and drummer Philippe Soirat, but on this piece he plays solo.7
Because Barry plays the theme rubato, his timing was sometimes hard to put on paper and I
decided to leave some rolls and ornaments out, so that the basics and his harmonic thinking is
more understandable.
I highlighted some parts which were interesting to me and where I wanted to know what
Barry was thinking harmonically.
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Bar 9
The F# is borrowed from the F#dim that belongs to Gm6
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Bar 17
In Bar 17 Barry plays an interesting voicing for the Gm. He borrows the A and F# from the
F# diminished and ends up with a Gm chord without the third. Still you can clearly hear a
Gm.
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Bar 20
The C# and E are borrowed from the C#dim that belongs to Fm6. Dm7 is the same as Fm6.
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Bar 21
Barry plays on the first beat a Gm chord with notes borrowed from the F#dim. This resolves
to a Gm chord on the second beat. On the third beat he plays a F#dim chord that resolves on
the fourth beat to Gm, creating a tension - release effect.
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Bar 22
Barry plays a voicing for the E half diminished chord with an 11 in it. The 11 (A), is
borrowed from the diminished that goes with Gm6, F#dim.
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7" CD track 11.

Bar 26
Same voicing on a half diminished chord as in bar 22.
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Bar 27
The C and F# are borrowed from the F#dim.
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Bar 28
F#dim chord with the C in the bass resolves to Gm.
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Bar 32
Again a Gm chord with notes borrowed from the F#dim chord.

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Conclusion
Barry's method applied to my own playing
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This research has completely changed my view on the harmonic possibilities of a tune. Going
through the DVD's and youtube video's was for me one eyeopener after the other.
I've learned that music, it's harmony, is a genius system; somehow everything is connected -
beautiful!
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I found some interesting voicings with mixing and matching with borrowed notes of the
diminished chord. Below are some examples.
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It often sounds great to play a 6th diminished line at the end of an A-part going to the B-part.8
I'll Keep Loving You - Bud Powell

B
B¨Œ„Š7 D¨7 G¨Œ„Š7 FØ7 B¨7
b4
& b 4 ˙˙˙ ™™ ‰ œj bœ œ œ œ bœ bœ bbœœœ Œ Ó
˙ ™™ b w
n œœ bb ww œ
œ œ œ
œ
? b 44 œ #œ nœœ #œœ nœœ #œœ nœœ w bœ Œ Ó
b bœ bw œ
bœ
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - Jerome Kern

B
####
E¨Œ„Š7 G¨7 BŒ„Š7
b4
& b b 4 œœ œ œ œœœ œœ # w
w
œ nœ b œœ n œœœ œ œ
b œœ n œœ b œ œ ww
? bb 44 w
b w ˙˙ ™™ nœ
bœ
#### w
# w
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8" CD tracks 12 and 13.

Research Result: "Homage"
I wrote a tune called "Homage" in which I apply voicings, borrowed notes of the diminished
and other material that I learned from Barry Harris.
On page 29 is a lead sheet of the tune and on pages 30 and 31 a full transcription.9
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Below is an analysis of the voicings I use on pages 30 and 31.
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The notes in blue are the notes that are borrowed from the diminished.
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Introduction
I use voicings of Barry Harris that consist of the 1, 3 and 7, move it up the scale and
modulate it a minor third up. Eventually I stay in C and end on C7alt to go to the first chord
of the tune, Fm.
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Bar 7
D half diminished is Fm6 with the six in the bass. I play the melody in thirds and use notes
from the E diminished that belongs to Fm6.
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Bar 11
For Bb7 I use Fm6, because Fm is the important minor of Bb7, and make a line to E7#11.
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Bar 12
An Eb diminished chord that resolves to Eb major 7. On the third and fourth beat I use the
Dbm6 and the Cdim that goes with that for the C7alt chord.
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Bar 15
For D half diminished I play Fm6 and Edim in the same voicing Barry uses in Cherokee
(page 21).
For G7alt I use Abm6.
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Bar 23
Notes borrowed from Adim. G half diminished is Bbm6 and goes with Adim.
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Bar 25 - 27
Ebm7 is Gb6. I borrowed notes from Fdim. The same principle is applied in the other bars.
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9" CD track 14.

Bar 28
A Barry voicing moved up in the key.
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Bar 29 - 31
On the half diminished I add an 11 in the voicing. This is borrowed from the diminished that
belongs to the minor 6 a minor third up. Barry does this in "A Time For Love".
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Bar 32
A roll down to fill up the bar.
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Bar 33
The diminished scale in the left hand resolves to the third of A7 (in the right hand).
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Bar 35
The melody played in 10ths.

Homage
Vera Marijt
nnœœ œ œ nœ bU
G¨Œ„Š7 AŒ„Š7 CŒ„Š7 C7½
b nœ nœ nœ œ nœ œ œ œ œnœ œnœb œœbœ

& b b œœ œbbœœ œbœ œn œ#œ ##œœ#œnœ œn œ œn œ œ n œnœ œ œ œ
œ nœ œ œ
nœ
#œ œ nœ œ nœ œ nœ œ œ U
? bb bœ œ œ nœ nœ nœ œ
œ
b
n œœ̇˙ œœ œœ œœnn œœœ ™™bœ œ

5 F‹7 B¨7 E¨Œ„Š7 A¨Œ„Š7 DØ7 G7½ C‹7 C‹7/B¨
b j
& b b b˙˙˙ œ œ œ w
3
n˙˙ ˙˙ ˙˙˙ œ b ˙˙
˙
˙˙
˙
? bb ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙˙ ˙ ˙˙ ˙˙
b˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
˙
Eº F‹6 Eº F‹6
Cº D¨‹6 Cº D¨‹6
bœœ b nœœ̇ nœœœ bb˙nœœ bbœœ œœ œœ

9 F7/A A¨‹6 G‹7 C7½ F‹7 B¨7 E¨Œ„Š7
b
& b b œ̇ œœœb œ ™œj
C7½
œb œ œ
œœ œœbb ˙˙˙ œ̇ œ œ # œ nn œ˙ nœ œ
œ # œ b œ n ˙
n˙ ˙
œ™ j nœ nœ ˙
œ™
? bb ˙ ˙ ˙ n˙ b˙ # œ ˙
b n˙ b˙ ˙ ˙ n œ b œ
˙
F‹6 Eº F‹6 E7(#11) E¨º E¨Œ„Š7
A
13 F‹7 B¨7 E¨Œ„Š7 A¨Œ„Š7 DØ7 G7½ C‹7 F7(#11)
b ˙˙œ œ œ œ b˙˙œ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ
& b b bb˙˙˙ nn˙˙œ œ œ ˙w ˙˙˙ œ œœœ
˙
b˙ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ bœ œ
nœ œ
? bb ˙ ˙ ˙
b ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ
Eº F‹6 Eº F‹6 Gº A¨‹6 Gº A¨‹6
17 B¨‹7 E¨7(#11) A‹7 D7(#11) G‹7 C7(#11) F©‹7 B7(#11)

b œ bœ œ nœ bb
& b b b˙˙ œ œbnœ̇˙ œ œ ˙˙ œ nœ œb#œ̇ nœ œ˙ œ œ #œ̇ nœ
nnnœ˙ nœ# œ nœnn˙˙˙
˙ ˙ œ b˙ ˙
? bb b˙˙ ˙˙ ˙ #˙˙ n˙ n˙˙ n˙
b n˙ ˙ #˙ n#˙˙ bb

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2 B
B¨‹7 E¨7 A¨Œ„Š7 D¨6 GØ7 C7½ G¨7(#11) F‹7 B¨7(#11)
b ˙ œ œ
21
œ̇ ẇ œœ œ #œœ bœ bœ̇
& b b˙ ˙ ˙˙˙ nœ n˙
œ
bbẇ
˙ nn˙˙˙
b˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ œ bœ œ œ ˙ b˙˙ ˙
?b ˙ b˙ b˙
b ˙ b˙ ˙
notes borrowed
from Adim
E¨‹7 A¨7[âÅ] D‹7 G7[âÅ] C‹7 F7(#11) B¨Œ„Š7
b bnœœ̇ bbœœ nœœbbœœ nœ œ #nœœ̇ nœœ nœœ œ #œ̇ œ nœœ̇ bbœœ œ œ nœ̇ œ œ œ nœ
25
b
& b n œ˙ œb œ b bœ œb œ nœ bœœœ œœ nœœ
œ
œ œ œ bœ ˙ n œ œ # œ n œ n˙ œ
? bb ˙˙ ˙˙ ˙˙ œ nœ bœ ˙ œœ œœ œœ œœ
b˙ ˙ ˙
notes borrowed from
Fdim
”
™ j Œ “œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
EØ11 A7[âÅ] DØ11 G7(#11) CØ11 F7(#11) B¨Œ„Š7
29 œ™
˙ j œ œ b œ
˙
3 3
œ b œ™ j 3
w œœœ
b ˙ œ œ nœ n˙˙ nœ nb#˙œ˙ œbœ b ˙˙ bœ bn˙œ˙ œ œ œ
& b ˙ ##˙˙˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ww
w œ
˙ #˙ bn ˙˙˙ w
? bb n˙˙ n˙ bb˙˙˙ n˙
w
˙ ˙ ˙
the 11 borrowed
from the dim
œ ™ j bw
33 EØ7 A7(#11) D‹7 G7½ C‹7 F7[âÅ] A¨6 A6 B¨6
b˙ nœ 3 bœ œ
œ̇ nœ œ œbbœ̇˙ ˙ œ Œ œœ ##œœ ™™ nœœ
b b œ n˙ w
3
& ˙˙ œ œ b ˙ w
## œœnœ œ n œœ
J w
? bb ≈#œnœ#œœœœ œ ˙ Œ bœœ nnœœ ™™ œœ
˙
˙ ˙ ˙ œ œœ œ ˙ w
w
˙ ˙ J
Diminished scale in LH melody in 10ths

!
Learning about the 6th diminished scales changed my way of playing. Barry taught me a
deeper knowledge and understanding of harmonics, voicings and improvisational lines by
using these important scales.
The eighth and last disc of the workshops ends with Barry saying, "Practice your scales, play
a chord, find out what scale it belongs to and move it up the scale".
!
At the moment I still have to think a lot about using the things I learned from the workshops.
The coming future I want to work on mastering Barry's principles and incorporate them fully
in my playing.
!
Furthermore, I recently learned about some new scales, at least new to me, through musicians
as Udo van Boven and Simon Rigter.
I want to experiment with these scales and find out if I can apply the Barry Harris method on
them.
!
Besides the written above, I also learned a lot of other important elements that were
mentioned in the workshops, such as: basic scale exercises, 'half step' rules, rhythmic
exercises and many more. These transcriptions are to be found in the appendices.
!
!
!

Appendices
Notes on Appendices
The transcriptions in the appendices are not directly related to the main topic of my paper; the
use of the diminished. Still they are of great value for my development as a pianist and for the
completeness of transcribing the DVDs, I decided to add them as an appendix.
Below are some notes on the appendices.
!
Barry Harris - Basics, Scales
These exercises should be applied to any scale.
Barry says that there are 3 important triads on the dominant; the tonic, fifth and seventh. He
often refers back to this.
!
Barry Harris - Basics, Arpeggio's
These exercises should also be applied to the minor and augmented arpeggio's.
!
Barry Harris - Basicis, Rhythm
This is a great exercise for practicing to start on different beats of the bar.
!
Barry Harris - Basics, Half Step Rules
The half step rules are intended to get the important notes of the chord on the strong part of
the bar (the downbeat). So for the C7 you see by playing an extra note, a half step between
the one and the seven of the chord, you get the C, Bb, G, E and C on the downbeats.
The transcriptions on pages 39 and 40 are just examples of half steps that you can use. In
fact, you can use any extra note as long as you get the important notes of the chord on the
downbeat.
This becomes clear on page 40 with the half step rules for the minor; between the three (Eb)
and the two (D) is not a half step possible so the F is used as the extra note.
!

Half step10 rules are applicable to any scale. For instance when you're scales looks like these
examples:
Scale of the fifth (G7) on C melodic minor

œ bœ œ #œ œ
& œ bœ œ œ Œ Ó
Extra not F# to emphasis chord G, B, D, F
œ bœ œ bœ œ
From the 1: 1 halfstep From the 5: 3 'halfsteps'
œ œ bœ nœ Œ Ó œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ bœ
& œ œ œ Ó
You can make up any scale and

put an extra note in to make it 8 notes
bœ bœ œ
& bœ œ œ
œ bœ
œ b œ œ œ bœ
1 'halfstep' (extra note) 2 'halfstep' (extra notes)
œ œ bœ bœ bœ œ œ
œ œ bœ
& bœ œ Œ Ó bœ bœ œ Ó
!
Barry Harris - Basics, Pivoting
With pivoting, you break a pattern by playing the next note in the sequence an octave up or
down.
!
!
" The 'half step rules' should actually be called 'extra note rules' since you can put any extra note in that you
10
wish.

!
!

!

!

!

!
!
!
!
!
!

!
!
!
!
Barry Harris - Long Short
4 œ̇
& 4 œ̇ œœ œ̇œ̇ œœ œ̇ œ œ̇ œ
˙ ˙
œ œ œ œ
? 44 ∑
Drop the red notes an octave
Long Short
Long-short pattern through the C major scale

CŒ„Š7 D‹7 E‹7 FŒ„Š7
œ̇ œ̇ œ œ̇ œ œ̇
& œ̇˙ œ œ̇
˙ œ ˙
œ œ̇
˙ œ ˙ œ̇˙ œ ˙ ˙ œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
? œ œ œ
G7
œ̇ œ
Etc.
œ̇ œ
& ˙ ˙
œ œ œ œ
?
II - V - I drop 2 with Tritone

D‹7 G7 A¨‹7 D¨7 C%
œ̇ œ œ̇ œ
& ˙ ˙ bbbœ̇˙ bœ bœ̇
b˙
bœ w
w
œ w
œ œ œ bœ bœ bœ
? œ w
w
!

Barry Harris - Application
Chords come from scales Scale outline on a Blues
Practice scales in songs!
C7 F7 C7
4
& b4 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ bœ
œœœœ œœœœœ
œœœ œœœœ Œ
œ
*
F7 A7
bœ
CŒ„Š7
&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ Œ
œœœœ #œ
œœœ
G7 CŒ„Š7 G7
&b œ œ œ œ œnœ Œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ nœ œ
œ œnœnœ œ œœ œ œ
* Lines on bar 7 and 8
CŒ„Š7 A7 CŒ„Š7 A7
&b ‰ j œ œ œ œn œ œ œ œ œ# œ
‰ j
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ# œ œ œbœ œ Œ Ó
œ œ n œ œ œ œnœ œ
On the third of a dominant you can play a diminished

Sweet Georgia Brown
Scale Outline
& b bb ™™4 œ œ nœ œ œ
F7
b 4 nœ œ œ œ œ nœ œ nœ œ œ œ œ nœ
œœ Œ œ œ nœ œ œœ Œ
B¨7
b
& b bb nœ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ
nœ
Œ
nœ œ œ œ œœ œœ
nœ
Œ
œœ œœ œœ œœ
1.
E¨7
b
& b bb œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ œœœœ
œœœœ œœœœ Œ
œ
œ œ nœ ™™
A¨Œ„Š7 A¨Œ„Š7 GØ7 C7(b9)
b
& b bb Œ œœœœ
œ œ œœœ œœœ œœœ
œœ œ œœ œœœœ
2.
F‹ GØ7 C7(b9) F‹ C7
b
& b bb œ œ œ œ œ #œ
nœ bœ nœ œ œ nœ bœ nœ œ œ
œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ nœ
A¨7 G7 G¨7 F7 E7 E¨7 A¨

bb bœ nœ bœ
& b b œ œ œ œ nœ nœ bœ bœ bœ œ nœ nœ œ nœ#œ#œ nœ bœ nœ nœ bœ œ Œ Ó
Monk's theme on Sweet Georgia Brown
bb œ nœ ‰ œ œ
F7
&b b œ Œ nœ Œ œ nœ œ Ó ∑
J
B¨7
bb j
Etc.
&b b Œ
nœ
Œ œ œ ‰ œ œ œ nœ
Ó ∑
œ œ
!
How High The Moon
& ™™4 œ œ œ œ
# 4 œœœœ œœœœ Œ
GŒ„Š7 G‹7 C7
œ œ bœ œ œ nœ œ œ Œ
œ œ œ nœ œ œ
II = V play C7 over Gm7
#
FŒ„Š7 F‹7 B¨7
œ
& nœ œ œ bœ œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ nœ Œ œ b œ nœ œ bœ œ nœ bœ œ Œ
bœ œ œ bœ
1.
#
E¨Œ„Š7 AØ7 D7 G‹6
bœ œ œ bœ nœ nœ
& bœ nœ œ bœ bœ œ œ œ #œ œ œ bœ œ œ #œ œ nœ œ bœ œ œ Œ
Ahalfdim = F7 play F7 down to 3 of D7
# œœœœ œœœœ Œ Œ ™™
GŒ„Š7 E‹7 A‹7 D7
& œ œ nœ œ œ œœœœœ
œœœ œœœ
œœ
2.
# œ nœ œ
E¨Œ„Š7 AØ7 D7 GŒ„Š7 A‹7 D7
œ bœ œ œ bœ nœ
& bœ nœ œ bœ bœ œ œ #œ œ œ nœ œ œœœœœ
œœ
# œœ œœ
B‹7 E7 A‹7 D7 GŒ„Š7 A‹7 D7
& œœœœœ œœœœœ

œœ œœœœœ œœœœœ
œœ
Example bars 9-12
#‰
E¨Œ„Š7 D7 G‹6 D7
œbœ œ #œ œ nœ œ œ Ó Œ œœœœ œ
3
& j
n œ œ bœ n œ œ bœ œ œ b œ nœ œ
!
Cherokee Bridge
F©7 BŒ„Š7
b4 #œ nœ œ #œ nœ#œ
& b 4 #œ#œ#œ nœ#œ #œ#œ Œ #œ #œ œ #œ nœ#œ Œ
n œ # œ #œ nœ#œ #œnœ
E7 AŒ„Š7
b nœ
& b nœ #œ #œ œ nœ #œ œ nœ œ #œ #œ nœ Œ œ nœ #œ #œ œ nœ œ
Œ
œnœ#œ #œnœ œ
D7 GŒ„Š7
b nœ nœ œ œ œ #œ
&b œ nœ #œ œ œ nœ œ
Œ
œ nœ #œ œ œ œ Œ
œ œnœ œ nœ œ œ
C7 F7
b œ œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ Œ
&b œ œ nœ œ œ
œ bœ œ œ œ nœ
œœ
Œ œœœœ œ
Exercises:
Scales down and up
b nœ #œ #œ nœ nœ
F©7 BŒ„Š7
&b #œ #œ #œ #œ #œ nœ #œ #œ Œ #œ #œ #œ nœ #œ #œ #œ Œ
# œ n œ œ #œ nœ #œ
Scales in thirds
b
F©7
#œ
#œ nœ#œ nœ#œ#œ
BŒ„Š7
& b #œ#œ#œ nœ#œ#œ œ #œ # œ# œ nœ#œ#œ nœ#œ #œ#œ#œ nœ#œ#œ nœ

nœ
Scales playes 1 to 5, 3 to 7
b #œ nœ Ó
F©7 BŒ„Š7
& b #œ #œ #œ nœ #œ œ œ #œ #œ œ œ #œ #œ #œ Ó
n œ # œ #œ nœ
Scales playes 1 to 5, 3 to 7, 5 to 7
b #œ nœ #œ œ œ
& b #œ #œ #œ nœ #œ œ œ #œ
F©7 BŒ„Š7
#œ nœ #œ œ œ #œ #œ #œ œ œ œ
nœ # œ
!
!
Rhythm Changes
Scale outline
A
B¨Œ„Š7 F7 B¨Œ„Š7 F7
b4 œœ œœ
&b 4
œœœœœ
œœ œœœœœ œœœœœ
œœ œœœœœ
1.
B¨7 E¨7 B¨Œ„Š7 F7
b œ œ bœ œœ
&b œ œ bœ œ œ œ bœ œ œ nœ œœœœœ
œœœœ œ œ nœ œ
2.
B¨Œ„Š7
b
&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
Œ
œ œ œ œ
B
nœ nœ œ œ œ nœ
D7 G7
b œ
&b œ nœ œ œ œ œ #œ nœ Œ œ nœ œ œœ Œ
œ nœ #œ œ œ œ
C7 F7
b œ œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ Œ
&b œ œ nœ œ œ
œ bœ œ œ œ nœ
œœ
Œ œ œ œ œ œ
A
B¨Œ„Š7 F7 B¨Œ„Š7 F7
b œœ œœ
&b œœœ œœœœœ œœœ œœœœœ
œœœœ œœœœ
B¨7 E¨7 B¨Œ„Š7 F7
b œ œ bœ œ œ bœ
&b œ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œ bœ œ œ œœœ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ
The 'important minor' is found on the 5th degree of a dominant 7th scale.
Barry gives an example, saying that the bIIm7 (C#m7) is the important minor of the bVI7 (F#7) in the key of Bb.
Similarly, the IIm7 (Cm7) is the important minor of F7.
B¨Œ„Š7 D‹7 C©‹7 C‹7 D‹7 G7 3 C©‹7 C‹7

b œ nœ #œ
&b Ó œœœ nœ# œ n œ bœ nœ bœ Ó œ œnœnœ bœ nœ #œ nœ b œ nœ bœ
#œnœ
Examples of bar 3-4 in a Rhythm Changes
œ œ
B¨7 E¨7
bœ œ œ œ œ bœ
&b œ œ bœ œ Ó
Example of bar 5-6, outlining the I7 to IV7 (or IVmaj7)
!
2 Applying the rules for 'breaking up the scale' to the Bridge of Rhythm Changes
œ nœ nœ œ œ œ œ #œ nœ Œ
D7 G7
b
& b œ nœ #œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ nœ nœ #œ Œ œ œ nœ œ
Rule of the 4
D7 D7
b nœ nœ œ œ œ œ nœ œ
&b œ nœ #œ œ œ Œ œ Ó
# œ œ #œ # œ œ nœ œ #œ œ n œ nœ
Rule of the 5 Rules of the 5, 4 and 3 combined
D7 D7
b
& b œ nœ œ œ#œ nœ œ œ #œ œ nœ nœ#œ Œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ #œ Œ
œ#œ nœ
œœ œ
Make lines
b j 3
B D7 G7
&b Ó œ nœ œ œ #œ œ ‰ j ‰
3
œ
nœ œ œ bœ œ œ n œ œnœ œ œ œ œ b œ n œ nœ œ bœn œ
œ
C7 F7
b
&b œ
Ó ∑ ∑ ∑
œ œ bœ
Alternative chords for the A part
& b #œ ™ nœJ #œ #œ nœ ™ nœ #œ nœ œ™ nœ #œ œ œ ™ nœ nœ œ œ™ bœj

j
F©7 B7 E7 A7 D7 G7 C7 F7
b j j
A
B¨ B¨/D E¨Œ„Š7 Eº B¨/F G7 C‹7 F7

b
&b œ
Ó ∑ ∑ ∑
œ
Other examples on these chords
œ œ B7 œ
nœ œ #œ nœ Œ
#œ
nœ #œ œ nœ nœ Œ bœ nœ œ œ bœ Œ
A F©7 E7 A7 D7 G7 C7 F7
b nœ #œ Œ
&b
A
#œ#œ
F©7 B7 E7 A7 D7 G7 C7 F7
bb #œ#œ nœ œ nœ nœ œ#œ nœ œ œ nœ œ œœ
& #œ#œ nœ#œ#œ œ nœ#œ nœ œ œ nœ œ nœ œ
A F©7 B7 E7 A7 D7 G7 C7 F7
b
& b #œnœ #œ#œ#œnœ#œ#œnœnœ #œ#œnœnœ# œ œnœnœ #œnœ œn œ œ œnœ nœ œ œ œ
nœ b œ œ œ bœ
!
Example on the B part 3
œbœ œ nœ œ
D7 E¨7 D7 D7½ G7 A¨7 G7 G7½
b nœ
& b œ œ#œ œ œ#œ œ œbœ œ nœ œ œbœ œ œ œ œ œ
œ nœ œ nœ œbœ œ
C7 D¨7 C7 C7½ F7 G¨7 F7 F7½
b œ
& b œ œ œ nœ bœbœ œ œ œ œ nœbœ œbœ œbœ œ bœbœbœ œ œ œ bœ nœbœ œ
œ nœ œ nœ

Bibliography
!
DVDs
Rees, H. 1994. The Barry Harris Workshop part 1. Bop City Productions.
Rees, H. 2005. The Barry Harris Workshop part 2. Jazzworkshop Productions.
Howard, E. Barry Harris Spirit of Bebop. Rhapsody Films
Rothchild, H. 2009. The Jazz Barones. Co-produced by BBC.
Oliansky, J. 1988. Bird. Clint Eastwood
Tavernier, B. 1986. Round Midnight. Warner Bros.
!
Books
Paudras, F. 1998. Dance of the Infidels - A Portrait of Bud Powell. Published by Da Capo
Press, Inc. English translation by Rubye Monet.
Pullman, P. 2012. Wail - The Life of Bud Powell. Peter Pullman, LLC.
Hintz, B. The Bud Powell Real Book. Hal Leonard.
Woideck, C. 1998. Charlie Parker - His Music and Life. Published by The University of
Michigan Press.
Aebersold, J. 1978. Charlie Parker Omnibook. Atlantic Music Corp.
Rees, H. 1994. The Barry Harris Workshop Video. Bop City Productions
Rees, H. 2005. The Barry Harris Workshop Video Part 2. Jazzworkshop Productions.
Hamilton, A. 2007. Lee Konitz - Conservations on the Improviser's Art. Published by The
University of Michigan Press.
Shim, E. 2007. Lennie Tristano - His Life in Music. Published by The University of Michigan
Press.
!
Other Sources
Jarmo Hoogendijk; monthly master coach meetings.
Juraj Stanik; weekly jazz piano lessons.
Simon Rigter; lesson on january 31, 2014.
Udo van Boven; lessons on january 23 and 28, 2014.
Eric Doelman; lessons in 2013
!
!
Internet
Barry Harris in the Hague, Frans Elsen. http://www.franselsen.com/?page_id=32
Howard Rees' Jazz Workshops, Howard Rees. http://jazzworkshops.com
The Official Barry Harris Website for Jazz Education and Information, Barry Harris.
http://www.barryharris.com
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BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

Art Kane, Harlem 1958

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

2" Frans Elsen

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

DØ7 G7½ CŒ„Š7

4" CD track 7 and 8

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

Major 7 Gmaj7 Maj6 built on 5th (D6) or on tonic (G6)

Minor 7 Am7 Maj6 minor third up (C6)

Half diminished Am7b5 Min6 minor third upCm6

Dominant D7 Min6 built on 5th (Am6)

Dominant altered D7alt Min6 half step up (Ebm6)

Dominant suschord D7sus Maj6 half step below (C6)

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

5" Body and Soul can be found on the CD (track 9).

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

? 44 #œ̇ nœ #˙˙ #œ̇ œ #˙˙

A‹7 3 D7½ A‹7 D7½

? #œ̇ œ œ œ nœ #˙˙ œ˙ œ #œ nœ #˙˙

AØ7 D7½ G‹6

& n˙‰ j œœ bbœœ bœœ œœ œœ

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

I'll Keep Loving You - Bud Powell

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - Jerome Kern

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

b nœ nœ nœ œ nœ œ œ œ œnœ œnœb œœbœ

n œœ̇˙ œœ œœ œœnn œœœ ™™bœ œ

bœœ b nœœ̇ nœœœ bb˙nœœ bbœœ œœ œœ

17 B¨‹7 E¨7(#11) A‹7 D7(#11) G‹7 C7(#11) F©‹7 B7(#11)

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

E¨‹7 A¨7[âÅ] D‹7 G7[âÅ] C‹7 F7(#11) B¨Œ„Š7

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

Scale of the fifth (G7) on C melodic minor

You can make up any scale and

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING

BARRY HARRIS: EXPLORING