Barry HarrisThe method

Chris Parks · Stage 6: Line devices

Thirds, triads, chords and Barry’s chromatic scale

Episode 4 · 16:48 · On YouTube · In the lesson player

Chris lays out what to practise on a B flat major scale: the scale, then thirds, triads and four-note chords up and down, each also with a half step below the first note. He then teaches Barry’s chromatic scale, which fills each whole step chromatically and jumps to the next scale note where there is no note between, so the scale notes stay on the beat, and uses it in thirds, triads, chords and over rhythm changes.

Step by step

  1. 0:00Take the B flat major scale (or any scale) and first play it up and down
  2. 0:37Thirds: play 1 to 3, then 2 to 4, and so on up the scale; coming down, start on the third and go down
  3. 1:14Triads from every degree (play a note, skip a note, play a note, skip a note, play a note), up and down the scale
  4. 2:30Chords: add one more third to make four notes, and run them from every degree up and down
  5. 4:06Do the thirds, then the triads and chords, with a half step below the first note; some of those half steps are scale notes and some are not
  6. 6:03Practise it all in every key (B flat, E flat, A flat, D flat...) and on the dominant scales of the rhythm-changes bridge: D7, G7, C7, F7
  7. 7:23Barry’s chromatic scale: put a chromatic note in every whole step; where there is none (3 to 4, 7 to tonic) jump to the next scale note, so 3-5-4 (D, F, E flat) and 7-2-1
  8. 9:44Use the chromatic scale in thirds, then in triads and chords, up and down, so the lines still come out right in time
  9. 12:57Mix it into I Got Rhythm and its D7 bridge with thirds, chords and the four from 5-4-3-2
  10. 14:57Between 3 and 4 you can use another scale note, such as the second or the tonic, instead of the fifth, as long as it comes out right rhythmically

Chords and notes in this video

Tap a time to jump to it in the video.

Line7:23
𝄞♭♯♭♯♯♭
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♭

Barry’s own words on this

6.10 Barry’s chromatic scale (chromatic runs with chord tones on the beat)6.6 Chromatic pickups and the well-placed half step3.1 The raw materials6.3 Chords as lines

In the course

Rhythm, rhythm, rhythmThe scale every way: up and down, thirds, triads, chordsMove it in fourthsComing out right: why half stepsBarry’s chromatic scaleHalf step belowFreedom and your own voice

Transcript

  1. 0:00Hi, and welcome to episode 4 of Things I’ve Learned from Barry Harris. So we’ve kind of been on a theme with B-flat, key B-flat, I think the last one we did was 5-4-3-2. So staying with that theme of B-flat, let’s talk about things to practice on the actual scale. So we’ll take B-flat major scale, or any scale for that matter, but we’ll just stay with B-flat. just to keep constant with our theme of B-flat.
  2. 0:37So, first thing we have to know how to do, obviously, is play the scale up and down, which we did. Another thing you have to know how to do is play thirds. So, thirds, for those of you who don’t know, is just start on the first note, skip the second note, and play the third note. And go back and grab the second note and play the fourth note. And so on. So it would sound like this. Now to play it backwards, you start on the third and go down the tonic.
  3. 1:14So if we were to do the thirds, we would say Okay? Now after thirds, then we’re going to play, that’s two notes, so then we’re going to play triads, which is three notes, which is play a note, skip a note, play a note, skip a note, play a note. So here’s our first triad. Here’s our second triad, starting from the second note.
  4. 1:48Again that’s play note, skip a note, play note, skip a note, play note. Now from the third, from the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, the seventh, and the tonic. So now here’s our triads, which you can play two different ways, but let’s play it where you repeat the second note. So it would be this. So we’re repeating that second note. So if we went up the scale like this, it would sound like this.
  5. 2:30And then down. Same idea. And then Barry says you have to, after you do thirds and triads, then you have to go up a chord. And a chord is, play a note, skip a note, play a note, skip a note, play a note, just like a triad, then skip another note, and play a fourth note. So here’s your chords. Okay, so now we have to do that up the scale. And then down, the same idea.
  6. 3:23So we did scale up and down. thirds, triads, and then maybe we’ll do them down, could have done the thirds down too, And then we’ll do chords. Down.
  7. 4:06Anyway, so those are the first few things to work on. Now, besides thirds, you could do thirds with a half step below the first note. So here’s a third. and so on. Now you do a half step below the first note of the third which is this. A half step below the second note. A half step below the third note. A half step below the fourth note. And so on. What makes those interesting is some of those notes, the half step below’s are going to be scale notes and some of them are not going to be scale notes.
  8. 4:42So if we did those together it would sound like this. And then backwards. Now, you can also do triads that way. So here’s a triad. If we put a half step below the first note it would sound like this. Now if we did it coming down, it would sound like this.
  9. 5:19Those are all really pretty things to practice. So again, that’s triads with a half-step below. Now how about if we do chords, which is the four note thing, but with a half-step below the first note. So it would sound like this. So now we got, if we do it up the whole scale, it would sound like this. If we did it down, it would sound like this. So those are all pretty things to practice on a major scale.
  10. 6:03You got scale up and down. You got thirds. You got triads, you have chords. You have thirds with a half step below the first note. You have triads with a half step below the first note. And you have chords with a half step below the first note. Now those are really interesting. Also, practice them in every key. B flat, E flat, A flat, D flat, and so on. You can also practice them on dominant scales, like we were talking about the bridge for rhythm changes. Starts on D7, so you have to know how to play your scale up and down. You have to know how to play that scale in thirds.
  11. 6:43You have to know how to play that scale in triads. You have to know how to play that scale in chords. And you do it for D7, for G7, for C7, and then for F7 to get you out of the bridge of rhythm changes. Now, one thing I wanted to bring up, Barry has a lot of rules for half steps, but something that he came up with more recently, and by more recently I mean like,
  12. 7:23I think it was in the early 2000s he came up with this, but it’s his version of the chromatic scale. And his version of the chromatic scale is meant to obviously keep rhythm. So what he says is, in the major scale, there’s two places where we don’t have a chromatic in-between notes. In other words, there’s two places where we go from one note directly to the next note of the scale. So between root and major second, we have a half step. Between second and third, we have a half step.
  13. 7:57or chromatic. Between 3rd and 4th, we don’t. So in this instance, just for argument’s sake, he jumps up to the next scale note. So instead of just playing 3 directly to 4, he plays 3, the next scale note, which is 5, and then back down to 4. So remember, we have between tonic and 2nd, a half note or a chromatic. Between 2nd and 3rd, we have a chromatic. Between 3rd and 4th, we don’t have a chromatic, so we add a scale note, which would be 5. So then it becomes this. Now between 4 and 5 we have a chromatic.
  14. 8:32Between 5 and 6 we have a chromatic. Between 6 and 7 we have a chromatic. But between 7 and tonic we don’t have a chromatic. So we do that thing when we jump up to the next scale tone. So it would be 7, 2nd, tonic. So it’s tonic to 2nd. 2nd to major 3rd. 3rd to 4th with the 5th in between. 4th to 5th, 5th chromatically to 6th, 6th chromatically to 7th, and then 7th jumping up to 2nd, then to tonic. So the whole scale would sound like this.
  15. 9:13Again. One more song, correctly. And coming down would be the same idea. And this is also another beautiful way of looking at a scale, which I’ve never heard before. You know, people talk about, well, you can add a chromatic anywhere. Yeah, that’s true. But when you’re playing, if you just add a chromatic anywhere, you don’t come out right all the time.
  16. 9:44And the whole idea is you want to come out rhythmically correctly all the time. And this method helps you to do that. Now, we were just doing, on our major scale, we did thirds. So thirds for the chromatic scale would look like this. We’ve got to play root to third. So let’s put in all the chromatics. Then second to fourth, we’ve got to put in all the chromatics. Then third to fifth, we’ve got to put all the chromatics. Then fourth to sixth. Then fifth to major seven.
  17. 10:18Then sixth to tonic. Then 7th to 2nd, then tonic again to 3rd. So it would sound like this if we were going to do thirds. And if we did them down, it would sound like this. Oh, sorry.
  18. 11:01Which is really beautiful. So obviously if you could do thirds, you could also do triads, which is this. Which would sound like this. And last one. And same thing coming down. And four. Three.
  19. 11:35Second. Second, tonic, seven, six, and fifth, which are beautiful. Okay, so if we do them with thirds and we do them with triads, we should also do them with chords. So then it sounds like this. So now you got this. Second. 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, tonic.
  20. 12:20Same thing coming down. Anyway, those are all little beautiful things that you can use when playing. So again, to point out, to use the same example we’ve been using, if we were playing I Got
  21. 12:57rhythm. So I just did a third. And then I came down a chord. Anyway, that’s a little example. If we started, let’s say, on the seven and came down a third, and then maybe we could do our maybe we could do our five four three two so or maybe we’ll just do four maybe we’ll start on tonic to fifth and then we’ll try that same one again
  22. 13:46Anyway, you see all the different little things that you could do using those chromatics to get you where you want to go. It’s beautiful. Same thing is true of a major scale. You could do it also on the bridge starting on D7. It’s the same idea. That’s all D7 in his chromatic scale. So if you wanted to,
  23. 14:18maybe we’ll start on time and we’ll mess around with trying to do some chromatics for D7, G7, C7, and F7. So let’s do it. Anyway, it’s just trying to throw those in in different little spots to see how you can utilize them, but they work great.
  24. 14:57They’re a lifesaver. You can put them anywhere. So again, his chromatic scale is, you’re putting a chromatic every place except where there’s naturally not a chromatic, and the major scale happens to be between the 3 and 4 and the 7 and tonic, in which case you put the next scale tone. So 3-4. Now I’ve heard people in this class say, well, how about between 3 and 4? How about if I put a different scale tone? How about if I jump up and use a different, or go down and use a different scale tone? That’s fine too. So let’s say between 3, let’s say we’re going to do a triad for the 3rd.
  25. 15:37So here’s what it would normally be. Now, instead of using the 5 in between 3 and 4, you want to use a different note? That’s fine. How about using 2nd? Or how about tonic? That’s fine too. As long as it rhythmically comes out right. And I’ve heard people do it and they do variations on it that Barry’s never done. And Barry’s like, oh, that sounds great, you know. And again, I pointed it out in the last episode, but I feel like that’s what makes his teaching so great. It’s that there are so many different ways to look at it and everybody has their own personal thing to put on it.
  26. 16:13As long as you follow certain basic ideas behind it, which is keep it rhythmically accurate, which is a thing that he really focuses on a lot. But anyway, I hope that helped. That’s I guess this is episode four, and just things to practice on a major scale and a dominant scale. Anyway, like I usually tell you, leave a comment down below if you have anything to suggest. Any suggestions are fine also. So yeah, enjoy. till next time