Barry HarrisThe method

Learn with Chris Parks · Volume IV of XIII

4The chromatic scale, the ‘and’, triplets and space

Barry’s chromatic scale, then rhythmic freedom: the rules reversed off the beat, phrases started on every eighth note, triplets and space.

Show
Map of this module what each idea builds on
Barry's chromatic scaleStart on the 'and' and …Skip the first half stepFeel the 'and'Take off one note: Barr…Starting phrases on dif…Eighth- and sixteenth-n…Space, the most importa…Coming out right: why h…The descending half-ste…Rhythm, rhythm, rhythmScale outlinesTriplets and the half-s…
Ideas in this module 8
  1. 1Barry’s chromatic scale
  2. 2Start on the ‘and’ and the rules reverse
  3. 3Skip the first half step
  4. 4Feel the ‘and’
  5. 5Take off one note: Barry’s rhythm exercise
  6. 6Starting phrases on different beats
  7. 7Eighth- and sixteenth-note triplets in lines
  8. 8Space, the most important puzzle piece

Idea 1 of 8

Barry’s chromatic scale

A chromatic scale built so the scale tones stay on the beat: wherever two scale notes are a whole step apart, put the half step between them, and where they are already a half step apart, jump ahead to the next scale note and come back. In a major scale the jumps come at 3 to 4 and 7 to 1; on F7 the run goes F, F sharp, G, G sharp, A, C, B flat, B, C, C sharp, D, F, E flat, E, F. Barry came up with it late in his teaching, around the late 1990s, it works on any scale and in thirds, triads and chords, and Chris says it gets you out of trouble.

Practise it: Play it up and down on major and dominant scales, then in thirds and triads, then use pieces of it inside lines and through a scale outline such as the Cherokee bridge, ideally in one guitar position.

Line
𝄞♭♯♭♯♯♭
C4BCDEFGACB♭D♭E♭G♭A♭B♭
  1. B♭
  2. B
  3. C
  4. C#
  5. D
  6. F
  7. E♭
  8. E
  9. F
  10. F#
  11. G
  12. G#
  13. A
  14. C
  15. B♭
Line
𝄞♯♯
C4FGAC5G♭A♭
  1. F
  2. F#
  3. G
  4. G#
  5. A

Builds onComing out right: why half stepsThe descending half-step rules for the dominant

Barry’s own pages6.10 Barry’s chromatic scale (chromatic runs with chord tones on the beat)6.6 Chromatic pickups and the well-placed half step

More on this 40 moments where Chris teaches it

Also called Barry’s chromatic rules, use the half step if there is one, jump up if there isn’t, his version of the chromatic scale, chromatic scale with jumps, chromatic scale with chord tones on the beat

Where Chris teaches it

  1. 7:23Thirds, triads, chords and Barry’s chromatic scale · Episode 4
    The rule spelled out in B flat: chromatics everywhere except 3-4 (play 3, 5, 4) and 7-1 (play 7, 2, 1).
  2. 9:44Thirds, triads, chords and Barry’s chromatic scale · Episode 4
    The chromatic scale in thirds, triads and chords.
  3. 14:57Thirds, triads, chords and Barry’s chromatic scale · Episode 4
    Between 3 and 4 you may use a different scale note (the 2nd or the tonic) instead of the 5th.
  4. 10:01The bridge of Cherokee and tricky spots · Episode 11
    Cherokee bridge: from the 7th of F#7 chromatically up to the 4th, then down a chord.
  5. 9:54Soloing on Dominants · Episode 22
    On D7 in the rhythm bridge, starting from the fifth, right on the first beat.
  6. 8:39Movement: I Major to IV Minor · Episode 36
    From the fifth of C major, then into the fourth of Bb7 for the IV minor bar.
  7. 8:16Creating lines on a minor II-V · Episode 38
    A half step between four and three means jumping up to five.
  8. 12:07Creating lines on the movement from I to the flat III diminished · Episode 41
    Over a diminished: chromatics between the diminished notes.
  9. 0:42Playing the blues with Barry’s chromatic scale and pivots · Episode 48
    Definition: use the chromatic where there is one; where there isn’t, as between 3-4 or 6-7 of a dominant, use the scale note higher.
  10. 1:16Playing the blues with Barry’s chromatic scale and pivots · Episode 48
    Worked through the B flat 7 scale.
  11. 2:27Playing the blues with Barry’s chromatic scale and pivots · Episode 48
    Barry’s chromatic scale in seconds and thirds.
  12. 8:11Playing the blues with Barry’s chromatic scale and pivots · Episode 48
    Start on the sixth and go chromatic down to the fourth: a pretty way to start a blues.
  13. 9:56Playing the blues with Barry’s chromatic scale and pivots · Episode 48
    Barry came up with it around 1997 or 1998.
  14. 5:48A very important arpeggio · Episode 52
    Ascending on D7: between B and C there is no chromatic, so put the D.
  15. 4:28How to create lines from scales, part 2 · Episode 61
    Descending in thirds on D7: 3 down to 1, then 4 to 2 via the 5, then 5 to 3.
  16. 3:26How to create lines from V to I · Episode 64
    Up Barry’s chromatic from the fifth of G to the major seventh.
  17. 5:19How to create lines from V to I · Episode 64
    Barry’s chromatic from three to five of G major.
  18. 5:41How to create minor lines · Episode 65
    On G minor 6 diminished: A jumps to C then B flat; D to E then E flat; E flat to F sharp then E; F sharp to A then G.
  19. 3:12All the Things You Are with Minor Arpeggios · Episode 67
    From three to five of F minor on All the Things You Are.
  20. 9:2016th Note Triplets Are Pretty · Episode 74
    One of the two things Chris picked up quickly from the horn class.
  21. 4:46Don’t Learn Target Notes; Barry’s Beautiful Chromatic Scale · Episode 80
    The rule: use the half step where there is one; where there is none, jump to the next scale tone
  22. 6:07Don’t Learn Target Notes; Barry’s Beautiful Chromatic Scale · Episode 80
    Going up a third from F with the chromatic scale, jumping from the third to the fifth, then down a chord
  23. 7:23Don’t Learn Target Notes; Barry’s Beautiful Chromatic Scale · Episode 80
    Starting on the 4 and coming down a third, then down a chord, from each degree
  24. 8:32Don’t Learn Target Notes; Barry’s Beautiful Chromatic Scale · Episode 80
    Going up a fifth (a triad) with the chromatic scale from each degree, then down
  25. 10:57A Minor 7 Flat 5 Is Beautiful · Episode 86
    Thomas Eccles applies the chromatic scale to C minor 6 diminished, even with chords
  26. 4:17Feeling the And (Donna Lee) · Episode 87
    A chord up with its third note skipped, plus the chromatic rules, from each degree
  27. 0:39Barry’s beautiful chromatic scale, part 2 · Episode 96
    F7 spelled in full with Barry’s chromatic scale
  28. 2:37Barry’s beautiful chromatic scale, part 2 · Episode 96
    The chromatic scale in thirds: F to A, G to Bb, and so on
  29. 3:17Barry’s beautiful chromatic scale, part 2 · Episode 96
    In triads, then combined with the descending rules, pivots and half steps below
  30. 4:42We Don’t Know D7 · Episode 97
    After a triad, two half steps worked out with the chromatic scale; from the 4 you must jump to the 5
  31. 9:17A New ‘Bebop’ Scale · Episode 99
    In a major scale there is no half step between tonic and 7, so jump up and grab the 2
  32. 5:47What can I do from the 2nd? · Episode 113
    From the second of D7 upward: a half step fits between E and F-sharp, but not between F-sharp and G, so add the A.
  33. 7:02What can I do from the 2nd? · Episode 113
    Up a triad with the chromatic scale, then down a chord from the sixth.
  34. 3:52Stealing a Bud Powell phrase from Anthropology · Episode 115
    Inside the Bud Powell phrase from the second: a chromatic note where there was no half step.
  35. 0:00Barry’s chromatic scale on the bridge of Cherokee · Episode 120
    Barry used to put this chromatic scale into the bridge of Cherokee.
  36. 1:20Barry’s chromatic scale on the bridge of Cherokee · Episode 120
    F-sharp 7: chromatic between whole steps; at 3 to 4 jump to 5 then 4 chromatic to 5; at 6 jump to the tonic then flat 7, 7, tonic.
  37. 2:36Barry’s chromatic scale on the bridge of Cherokee · Episode 120
    B major: the jumps come between 3 and 4 and between the major 7 and the tonic.
  38. 3:45Barry’s chromatic scale on the bridge of Cherokee · Episode 120
    From the flat 7 of each dominant up a triad, then down a chord, through the bridge.
  39. 7:02Barry’s chromatic scale on the bridge of Cherokee · Episode 120
    Barry would call out variations in class; use them to test how well you know the scale.
  40. 6:19Barry shows us much more than exercises: using thirds · Episode 122
    From the second of B-flat 7 up a minor third to the fourth, then down a chord.

Idea 2 of 8

Start on the ‘and’ and the rules reverse

All the half-step rules assume a phrase starts on the beat. Barry once mentioned in class that if you start on an ‘and’, they reverse: odd degrees take the even rules (none or two half steps) and even degrees take the odd rules (one or three). A half-step pickup on the beat before the first note shifts everything by half a beat and reverses the rules too; Chris says the discovery showed him he had practised only half of what he should.

Practise it: Take phrases you know on the beat (scale runs, thirds, triads, run-up-then-descend) and play them starting on an ‘and’ with the reversed rules, with a metronome, until you can feel it.

Builds onThe descending half-step rules for the dominant

Barry’s own pages5.4 Off the beat, pickups and triplets5.8 Rule drills in time

More on this 19 moments where Chris teaches it

Also called Start on an ‘and’ and all the rules reverse, Starting on the ‘and’, the rules reverse, Reversing the rules, the half-step rules reversed off the beat, half step before on the beat reverses the rule, rules reversed, starting on the and

Where Chris teaches it

  1. 0:04Reversing the rules · Episode 56
    Barry often talks about reversing the rules; demonstrated on E flat 7.
  2. 2:25Reversing the rules · Episode 56
    Reversing makes you feel starting on the ‘and’ and how to come out right.
  3. 2:59Reversing the rules · Episode 56
    Tonic on the ‘and’ of one: no half steps.
  4. 3:31Reversing the rules · Episode 56
    Second on the ‘and’: use the odd rule, one half step; third on the ‘and’: none or two.
  5. 5:12Reversing the rules · Episode 56
    Up a third on the beat uses the next note’s rule; on the ‘and’ use the top note of the third.
  6. 6:18Reversing the rules · Episode 56
    Triads: normally use the rule of the note you end on; reversed when starting on the ‘and’.
  7. 7:58Reversing the rules · Episode 56
    Run up and descend: rule of the start note, reversed when starting on the ‘and’.
  8. 11:51Barry’s Beautiful Half-Step Rules Continued · Episode 83
    Barry: start on an ‘and’ and all the rules reverse
  9. 12:30Barry’s Beautiful Half-Step Rules Continued · Episode 83
    A triad started on an ‘and’ takes the rule of the very next note
  10. 7:25Feeling the And (Donna Lee) · Episode 87
    The moment in class Barry said it, just as Chris felt sure of his half-step rules
  11. 0:35Being free when soloing · Episode 109
    The same story: all his phrases had started on the beat
  12. 3:46Being free when soloing · Episode 109
    On an ‘and’, the third (an odd degree) takes no half steps or two, like an even degree
  13. 7:30Pivots with a twist: starting them on the ‘and’ · Episode 110
    It makes sense, but you can’t feel it until you practise it
  14. 1:19What can I do from the 2nd? · Episode 113
    Start the second of D7 on the ‘and’ of one and the rules reverse: one half step.
  15. 5:27Barry’s limitless half-step rules · Episode 118
    On the ‘and’ every rule reverses: the tonic takes none, the second takes one.
  16. 6:35Barry’s limitless half-step rules · Episode 118
    Fourth and sixth on the ‘and’ take one or three half steps; fifth and seventh none or two.
  17. 3:41Do you know your half-step rules? · Episode 133
    A half step before the third, starting on the beat, reverses the rule: the top note of the third decides.
  18. 6:11Do you know your half-step rules? · Episode 133
    A triad with a half step before it on the beat: the next note down decides.
  19. 7:19Do you know your half-step rules? · Episode 133
    Story: in Barry’s class he realised starting on the ‘and’ reverses everything, half of what he should practise.

Idea 3 of 8

Skip the first half step

Barry’s chromatic scale assumes you start on a beat. Chris’s fix for starting on an ‘and’ is simply to leave out the very first half step and then carry on with the chromatic rules, so scale tones still land on the beats. From F up to A on an ‘and’ you play F, G, G#, A instead of F, F#, G, G#, A.

Practise it: With the metronome around 140, play each chromatic third, triad or descending run first on the beat, then starting on an ‘and’ with the first half step removed.

Line
𝄞♯
C4FGAC5A♭
  1. F
  2. G
  3. G#
  4. A

Builds onBarry’s chromatic scaleStart on the ‘and’ and the rules reverse

Barry’s own pages6.10 Barry’s chromatic scale (chromatic runs with chord tones on the beat)5.4 Off the beat, pickups and triplets7.5 Rhythmic placement

More on this 5 moments where Chris teaches it

Also called Barry’s chromatic scale starting on an and

Where Chris teaches it

  1. 4:29Barry’s beautiful chromatic scale, part 2 · Episode 96
    The whole chromatic scale is built on starting on a beat
  2. 5:40Barry’s beautiful chromatic scale, part 2 · Episode 96
    If you start on an ‘and’, skip the very first half step
  3. 7:04Barry’s beautiful chromatic scale, part 2 · Episode 96
    Same for the third from G to Bb, and the others up the scale
  4. 8:25Barry’s beautiful chromatic scale, part 2 · Episode 96
    Descending from the second on the ‘and’ of 2, skipping the half step between 2 and the tonic
  5. 9:33Barry’s beautiful chromatic scale, part 2 · Episode 96
    From the 5 on an ‘and’: skip the first half step, use the 4’s half step, put the 5 back between 4 and 3

Idea 4 of 8

Feel the ‘and’

Because the basic exercises all start on the beat, the lines we make up tend to start on the beat too, leaving out half the bar. Bird, Bud, Sonny Rollins and Barry start phrases anywhere, especially on ‘ands’, so whatever you learn on the beat (scale, thirds, triads, chords, pivots, surrounds) you must also learn starting on the ‘and’. Barry said the ‘and’ is when your patting foot comes up, closer to the sky; Chris treats the off-beat version as the same piece with a new placement, and that rhythmic freedom as important as note choice.

Practise it: For a week, practise everything you normally do (scale, thirds, triads, chords, arpeggio inversions, pivots, half steps below) starting on the ‘and’ with a metronome. Keep the sounds you like and drop the rest.

Builds onRhythm, rhythm, rhythmStart on the ‘and’ and the rules reverse

Barry’s own pages1.3 Feel the ‘ands’7.5 Rhythmic placement5.8 Rule drills in time

More on this 27 moments where Chris teaches it

Also called Feeling the ‘and’, Don’t play chord tones on the beat, Everything on the beat, and also on the ‘and’, start phrases off the beat, being free rhythmically, starting on the ‘and’, closer to heaven, off the beat, float through the bar

Where Chris teaches it

  1. 1:15Feeling the And (Donna Lee) · Episode 87
    Barry: Bird and Bud start on any part of the beat; Chris’s own lines all started on the beat
  2. 1:57Feeling the And (Donna Lee) · Episode 87
    Ab major (Donna Lee, Indiana): a triad up, first on the beat, then on the ‘and’
  3. 3:04Feeling the And (Donna Lee) · Episode 87
    A chord up then down a scale note, moved to the ‘and’, with a half step added
  4. 6:50Feeling the And (Donna Lee) · Episode 87
    No divine intervention: you have to practise feeling the ‘and’
  5. 8:02Feeling the And (Donna Lee) · Episode 87
    Triads with a half step below, moved onto the ‘and’
  6. 10:10Feeling the And (Donna Lee) · Episode 87
    Rhythm is what set Bird apart; he felt every part of the beat
  7. 9:18Barry’s Beautiful Rhythm Exercise · Episode 94
    A transcription of Barry on There Will Never Be Another You: every phrase starts in a different spot
  8. 2:34We Don’t Know D7 · Episode 97
    D7: the half step below a triad, started on the ‘and’
  9. 7:29We Don’t Know D7 · Episode 97
    Half step below thirds, always starting on the ‘and’
  10. 1:12Being free when soloing · Episode 109
    The masters are free in note choice and in rhythm
  11. 6:46Being free when soloing · Episode 109
    A phrase started on the ‘and’ of two
  12. 4:03Pivots with a twist: starting them on the ‘and’ · Episode 110
    How High the Moon: the same pivot phrase started on the ‘and’ of one
  13. 8:04Pivots with a twist: starting them on the ‘and’ · Episode 110
    Most talk of ‘feel’ is pretentious, but feeling the ‘and’ of one is real and must be practised
  14. 6:05Stealing a Bud Powell phrase from Anthropology · Episode 115
    Bud starts his phrase on beat three; make it yours by starting on the ‘and’.
  15. 1:42Something old is new again: fresh ways to pivot · Episode 132
    Pivots starting on the ‘and’, which he once thought were wrong.
  16. 0:00Don’t play chord tones on the beat · Episode 143
    In almost 30 years with Barry he never heard him say ‘chord tones on the beat’.
  17. 1:13Don’t play chord tones on the beat · Episode 143
    Scales, thirds, triads and chords all start on the beat, so chord tones fall on the beat.
  18. 1:50Don’t play chord tones on the beat · Episode 143
    Start the B-flat major scale on the ‘and’; it works in I Got Rhythm.
  19. 2:59Don’t play chord tones on the beat · Episode 143
    Barry: foot down, then the foot comes up for the ‘and’, which is closer to the sky, closer to heaven.
  20. 6:57Don’t play chord tones on the beat · Episode 143
    Bud Powell plays the B-flat arpeggio inversions starting on the ‘and’ with one half step.
  21. 8:45Don’t play chord tones on the beat · Episode 143
    Give yourself a week of practice without the chord-tones-on-the-beat idea.
  22. 11:33Don’t play chord tones on the beat · Episode 143
    Barry, Bud and Bird are free in note choice and in rhythm; feel every part of the bar.
  23. 5:19We don’t know triads · Episode 147
    Triads with a half step below, moved from the beat to the ‘and’
  24. 3:06A beautiful Sonny Rollins idea: surrounds in thirds · Episode 149
    Masters float through the bar; Rollins starts his surround on an ‘and’
  25. 9:03Barry’s secret to soloing: puzzle pieces · Episode 156
    Everything we learn on the beat we also have to learn on the ‘and’
  26. 3:52Pivots, pivots and more pivots · Episode 161
    Pivots start on the beat or on the ‘and’
  27. 12:10What is a puzzle piece? · Episode 166
    Thirds starting on the ‘and’ are still the same puzzle piece

Idea 5 of 8

Take off one note: Barry’s rhythm exercise

Play a line that fills one bar (on D7: D, B, C, then down the scale to D on the next downbeat), then play it again with its first eighth note removed so it starts on the ‘and’ of one, then on two, and so on through the bar; then add the notes back one at a time. Chris applies it to whole scale outlines, dropping two notes to start on beat two or three notes to start on the ‘and’ of two. It trains you to feel every eighth-note position, moves the spaces and lets phrases run over the bar line.

Practise it: Count at first, then feel it. Then take a scale outline (blues, I Got Rhythm, How High the Moon) and play it starting on beat two, the ‘and’ of two and the ‘and’ of one, going up and then down.

D7
𝄢♯
C3DEGABCDG♭
  1. D
  2. B
  3. C
  4. B
  5. A
  6. G
  7. F#
  8. E
  9. D

Builds onFeel the ‘and’Scale outlines

Barry’s own pages5.8 Rule drills in time7.5 Rhythmic placement1.3 Feel the ‘ands’

More on this 13 moments where Chris teaches it

Also called Barry’s rhythm exercise, Take off notes to start on different beats, take an eighth note off each time, Barry’s tester for feeling the rhythm, take off one note at a time, starting on the and of two

Where Chris teaches it

  1. 0:00Barry’s Beautiful Rhythm Exercise · Episode 94
    The phrase on D7: tonic, 6, flat 7, then down the rest of the scale
  2. 0:45Barry’s Beautiful Rhythm Exercise · Episode 94
    It fills ‘1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 1’; then take one eighth note off
  3. 2:07Barry’s Beautiful Rhythm Exercise · Episode 94
    Starting on 2, the ‘and’ of 2, 3, the ‘and’ of 3, 4, and the ‘and’ of 4
  4. 4:07Barry’s Beautiful Rhythm Exercise · Episode 94
    Then add the notes back one at a time
  5. 5:30Barry’s Beautiful Rhythm Exercise · Episode 94
    Applied to the bridge of rhythm changes from each starting point
  6. 8:03Barry’s Beautiful Rhythm Exercise · Episode 94
    It shows Chris he starts phrases in the same spots in the bar
  7. 5:30Being free when soloing · Episode 109
    Recalled as Barry’s tester for feeling every beat
  8. 3:40The most important puzzle piece: space · Episode 157
    Barry’s exercise: a scale over a whole bar, then take off one note at a time
  9. 4:14The most important puzzle piece: space · Episode 157
    Blues outline starting on beat two: drop Bb and C, start on D (the 3rd)
  10. 4:50The most important puzzle piece: space · Episode 157
    Starting on the ‘and’ of two: drop three notes and start on Eb
  11. 6:02The most important puzzle piece: space · Episode 157
    Descending from Ab: start on F for beat two, on G for the ‘and’ of one
  12. 7:22The most important puzzle piece: space · Episode 157
    The outline has spaces at the bar ends; this moves them and runs into the next bar
  13. 8:35The most important puzzle piece: space · Episode 157
    Rhythm first: a viewer always reminds Chris that Barry put rhythm first

Idea 6 of 8

Starting phrases on different beats

The same phrase started on beat one, on beat two or as a pickup sounds and feels different, and keeps lines from always beginning in the same spot. The reversed rules make it work off the beat as well.

Practise it: Play one phrase from each beat of the bar, and from the ‘and’.

Builds onFeel the ‘and’

Barry’s own pages7.5 Rhythmic placement5.8 Rule drills in time

More on this 5 moments where Chris teaches it

Where Chris teaches it

  1. 5:44Playing the blues with Barry’s chromatic scale and pivots · Episode 48
    The same B flat blues phrase from the first and then the second beat.
  2. 9:24Playing the blues with Barry’s chromatic scale and pivots · Episode 48
    Taking these ideas onto different beats creates your own lines.
  3. 3:04Yet Another Very Important Arpeggio · Episode 53
    A pickup, because he keeps starting on the same beat.
  4. 2:25Reversing the rules · Episode 56
    Reversing the rules lets a phrase start on the ‘and’.
  5. 4:57Playing with the family of dominants on All the Things You Are · Episode 59
    A phrase on F7 started on the second beat.

Idea 7 of 8

Eighth- and sixteenth-note triplets in lines

Turning one note of a plain eighth-note line into a sixteenth-note triplet (the note, the scale note above, and back), or a group of three notes into an eighth-note triplet, gives a phrase character without changing its shape, as Bird, Bud, Hawkins, Sonny Rollins and Barry do. A triplet can be dropped onto almost any other piece: the first note, the top of a chord, a surround note, or a chord started as a triplet. Moving it to each beat in turn makes many versions of one line, and on guitar triplets force new positions.

Practise it: On D7 from the second with two half steps, put an eighth-note triplet on beat 3, then 4, 1 and 2, then on several; do the same with sixteenth-note triplets, then on different notes of a phrase you know.

Builds onTriplets and the half-step rules

Barry’s own pages6.9 Triplets in lines (eighth- and sixteenth-note)1.4 Triplets and thinking in six

More on this 20 moments where Chris teaches it

Also called Eighth- and sixteenth-note triplets, Triplets in lines, Triplets as a puzzle piece, triplet, triplet-and, add triplets to an eighth-note phrase, sixteenth-note triplet, 16th-note triplet, triplet starts

Where Chris teaches it

  1. 1:56We Don’t Know D7 · Episode 97
    A half step below the chord, which Barry sometimes plays as a triplet
  2. 2:00Barry is still teaching us beautiful triplets · Episode 107
    Barry stressed rhythm; eighth-note and sixteenth-note triplets
  3. 3:47Barry is still teaching us beautiful triplets · Episode 107
    An eighth-note triplet on the first note: now only one half step is needed
  4. 4:28Barry is still teaching us beautiful triplets · Episode 107
    A sixteenth-note triplet (‘triplet-and’) puts both half steps back
  5. 5:07Barry is still teaching us beautiful triplets · Episode 107
    An eighth-note triplet plus a sixteenth-note triplet on the flat 7
  6. 6:29Barry is still teaching us beautiful triplets · Episode 107
    Barry’s drill: move the triplet to beat 3, 4, 1, 2, then all four
  7. 9:25Barry is still teaching us beautiful triplets · Episode 107
    Pick and choose which beats get triplets; each version has its own identity
  8. 10:47Barry is still teaching us beautiful triplets · Episode 107
    Triplets make you see three positions of the fretboard
  9. 1:53Being free when soloing · Episode 109
    F7 from the third with one half step; an eighth-note triplet removes it, a sixteenth-note triplet keeps it
  10. 3:09Being free when soloing · Episode 109
    Sixteenth-note triplets on the second beat, the last beat, or both
  11. 1:58What can I do from the 2nd? · Episode 113
    Two half steps from the second of D7 with a sixteenth-note triplet on the first note.
  12. 0:37Bet you can’t play this: a Charlie Parker phrase · Episode 125
    Half step below plus chord up usually practised as a triplet.
  13. 7:01Bet you can’t play this: a Charlie Parker phrase · Episode 125
    A sixteenth-note triplet on the top note of the chord: the note, the scale note above, and back.
  14. 7:23Master-level phrasing: a pivot, then a surround · Episode 126
    A sixteenth-note triplet on the surround note.
  15. 7:33Triad, chord or arpeggio? · Episode 129
    A half step between D and C with a triplet added in the A minor phrase.
  16. 3:32Stealing from Bud Powell, on every degree · Episode 144
    Down four notes in triplets, over and over.
  17. 3:12The difference between a chord and an arpeggio · Episode 152
    Five-note chords as triplets starting on the ‘and’
  18. 6:10Barry’s secret to soloing: puzzle pieces · Episode 156
    Half step below the first note of a chord, played as a triplet start
  19. 12:14Barry’s secret to soloing: puzzle pieces · Episode 156
    A sixteenth-note triplet on the 3rd, or the tonic, or both, of a phrase
  20. 12:10What is a puzzle piece? · Episode 166
    Triads as triplets, and a chord up starting with the first note as a triplet

Idea 8 of 8

Space, the most important puzzle piece

Guitarists and pianists, who don’t need to breathe, tend to play over everything. Chris calls space the most important puzzle piece: masters are known by where they leave room, much like conversation. Barry himself said space is as important as speaking and breathing. Scale outlines build in small rests, but always at the same spot in the bar.

Practise it: Practise taking breaths in phrases, and use the take-off-notes exercise on scale outlines to feel space in new places.

Builds onTake off one note: Barry’s rhythm exercise

Barry’s own pages12.3 Phrase like speech; place entries in time; ballads1.1 Rhythm comes first7.5 Rhythmic placement

More on this 8 moments where Chris teaches it

Also called silence, leave space, take a breath

Where Chris teaches it

  1. 23:05Barry Harris on Spanish TV
    Barry on Spanish TV (in Spanish): space is as important as speaking and breathing; great artists know when to pause
  2. 24:10Barry Harris on Spanish TV
    Barry: many young players play many notes without leaving any space
  3. 5:50Barry’s secret to playing through changes · Episode 153
    Arriving on a note in common is a place you could take a breath
  4. 1:10The most important puzzle piece: space · Episode 157
    Space is the puzzle piece Chris had been neglecting
  5. 1:45The most important puzzle piece: space · Episode 157
    Guitarists overplay; horn players have to stop to breathe; masters are known by the space they leave
  6. 3:00The most important puzzle piece: space · Episode 157
    The blues scale outline already has a rest at the end of each bar
  7. 9:54The most important puzzle piece: space · Episode 157
    The difference between very good players and masters: knowing exactly where to put a space
  8. 10:26Scale outlines: the first step to improvising · Episode 163
    In a two-bar phrase you could take a long breath; that is fine too