In plain words
The blues was one of Barry’s main teaching tunes, and he started it plain. In a class with horns he had a student recite the scale plan for a B♭ blues: B♭7 up, E♭7 up, B♭7 up and down, E♭7 up and down, B♭ major up and down to the third of G, F7 up and down, B♭ major up, F7 up. He expected everyone to know it that simply before he showed them anything hip.
Practising the blues with the horns, part 23:584:315:03Practising the blues with the horns, part 10:00
He also rejected the idea that a blues sits on one chord per bar. An A♭ blues moves A♭, A♭7, D♭, and its IV can be D♭, D♭ minor or the raised-four diminished (D diminished). Each chord takes the scale of the key it belongs to: going from B♭7 back to F in an F blues, B natural is wrong, and a D minor 7 in a B♭ blues belongs to B♭, so E natural there is a mistake.
The 1998 workshop, part 316:151:03:45Jazz theory, part 3: four dominants from one diminished4:044:37Student performances and coaching21:2221:57
The main device in bars 7 to 9 is a pair of diminished chords that lead to the II (C minor in B♭): one a half step below it, reached from B, the third of G, and one a half step above it, the E diminished (the same notes as C♯ diminished). A horn player may use either whenever he likes. Barry preferred the upper one: it also takes you home after E♭, and old-time slow blues used it instead of G7.
Practising the blues with the horns, part 11:113:364:086:347:4310:57
Then he joined the pieces into one line: scale, diminished, down to the seventh of F7 and a pivot, then another diminished onto the third of F. On Passport, a blues in C, he fixed the band’s changes to D minor to G, then E♭ minor to A♭7, and had the pianist play small three-note chords and short movements such as F7 changing to F♯ diminished and then to C.
Practising the blues with the horns, part 118:2219:3820:10Passport: teaching a blues by ear0:004:035:2112:1312:4913:57
Step by step
Learn the plain plan and be able to say it aloud. In B♭: B♭7 up | E♭7 up | B♭7 up and down | E♭7 up and down | B♭ major up and down to the third of G | F7 up and down | B♭ major up | F7 up. ‘Up’ runs from the tonic to the seventh; ‘up and down’ comes back to the tonic.
Practising the blues with the horns, part 24:31Practising the blues with the horns, part 10:00
Into the II, use the diminished a half step below it: run B♭ major up and down to B, the third of G, then go up the B diminished to G, the second of F. The run fills bars 7 and 8 and one beat of bar 9.
B♭ major up and down to the third of G, up the diminished, to the second of F- B♭
- C
- D
- E♭
- F
- G
- A
- G
- F
- E♭
- D
- C
- B
- D
- F
- A♭
- G
Or use the diminished a half step above the II: run B♭ major up to A and down to E♭ (the four), step up a half step to E, come down the E diminished and end on a low E♭.
Up to the major seventh, down to the four, then down the E diminished- B♭
- C
- D
- E♭
- F
- G
- A
- G
- F
- E♭
- E
- D♭
- B♭
- G
- E♭
At the IV, choose the chord: in A♭, D♭, D♭ minor or D diminished (the raised four). In B♭, the E diminished after E♭ leads back to B♭.
The 1998 workshop, part 316:15Practising the blues with the horns, part 110:57
Join it into one line: B♭ major up and down to B, up the diminished, down the scale to E♭ (the seventh of F7), then pivot the chord on E♭: keep E♭ and play G, B♭, D an octave lower.
One long line through bars 7–9, ending with the pivoted chord on E♭- B♭
- C
- D
- E♭
- F
- G
- A
- G
- F
- E♭
- D
- C
- B
- D
- F
- A♭
- G
- F
- E♭
- G
- B♭
- D
Practising the blues with the horns, part 112:0216:2217:5018:22
Keep every chord in its own key: over a D minor 7 in a B♭ blues play E♭, not E; coming back from B♭7 to F in an F blues, stay in F major (no B natural).
Student performances and coaching21:57Jazz theory, part 3: four dominants from one diminished4:37
an added note, outside the scale
How he said to practise it
Say the plan aloud as a class, then play it straight through in time. Barry wanted singers to recite the changes too before they scat.
Practising the blues with the horns, part 24:31Practising the blues with the horns, part 19:5017:12
Practise pivoting on every chord of a scale; Barry said it keeps a line going when you think it will run out.
Play one phrase over and over through the form without losing time. If it starts on the tonic on the first beat, drop its first two notes so it starts on the second beat.
In Barry’s words
Each one plays from the moment he says it. Every other moment he teaches it is listed below.
Some people are telling you that... the blues is A-flat seven for full measures. That’s ridiculous.
If I was playing some slow blues, I don’t like the G7 at all.
If you want to scat and stuff, you got to know changes too.
That doesn’t necessarily mean big chords up at the top. Just little chords.
Where this comes from
Everything above is drawn from these. Open any one to check it.
Every moment he teaches it12 moments in 6 recordings
Each time opens the transcript there; the video plays when you are online.
Practising the blues with the horns, part 2
- 4:31
A student recites the whole B♭ blues scale plan; Barry expects everyone to know it.
Practising the blues with the horns, part 1
- 1:11
B♭ major up and down to the third of G, then up the diminished to the second of F.
- 3:36
Two diminished chords lead to the II: a half step below it and a half step above.
- 5:21
The upper one: B♭ major up to A, down to E♭, half step up, down the E diminished.
- 7:43
Bass players think it is always the lower one; in slow blues Barry drops the G7s.
- 10:57
After E♭ the E diminished takes you back to B♭; why the upper one is most interesting.
- 18:22
Builds one line: scale, diminished, down to the seventh of F7, then a pivot.
The 1998 workshop, part 3
- 16:15
An A♭ blues is not A♭7 for a bar; the IV can be D♭, D♭ minor or D diminished.
Passport: teaching a blues by ear
Student performances and coaching
- 21:22
After a student blues: not every minor seventh is the same; no E natural on D minor 7 in B♭.
Jazz theory, part 3: four dominants from one diminished
- 4:04
In an F blues, players wrongly play B natural going from B♭ back to F.
From the lessons4 lessons, 10 points
Notes taken from Barry’s classes, each tied to the moment it comes from.
The blues is more than one chord per bar
- Exercise
The simplest scale plan for a blues in B flat, which Barry expects you to know just that simply before any hip stuff: B flat 7 up; E flat 7 up; B flat 7 up and down; E flat 7 up and down; B flat major up and down to the third of G; F7 up and down; B flat major up; F7 up. He warned a student who goofed to be sure to play B flat major where the plan calls for it.
- Idea
Barry rejects the idea that a blues in A flat just sits on A flat 7 for a full measure. The opening moves A flat, A flat 7, then D flat, and the four chord can also be D flat minor or D diminished (the raised-four diminished). The blues is more than one chord per measure, and he notes that the start of Cherokee works almost the same way as this I-to-IV material.
Every chord takes the scale it comes from
- Idea
Barry criticises players who, in an F blues, go from the B flat chord back to F and suddenly play B natural. That note doesn’t belong in the F major scale. His principle: every chord takes the scale it comes from, so you have to know the chord on each degree of the scale and which scale it belongs to.
Jazz theory, part 3, with score4:26
- Exercise
Not every minor seventh is the same. A C minor 7 can belong to B flat, E flat or A flat, and each takes a different scale: the B flat major, E flat major or A flat major scale. In a B flat blues, Barry says, playing E natural when you reach the D minor 7 is a drag, because it shows you think that chord is in the key of C rather than B flat. Make the distinction: know which key each minor seventh belongs to before choosing your notes.
Two diminished chords that lead to the two
- Exercise
In a B flat blues, run the B flat major scale up and down to the third of G (B natural), then go up the diminished from that note. This falls in bars 7 and 8 and one beat into bar 9. It is a diminished that takes you to the two: the one a half step below the two. Barry said he doesn’t believe in ‘two’ chords, but uses the word because horn players need some harmony to think in.
- Exercise
A second diminished also leads to the two: the one a half step above it. In a B flat blues this is the E diminished (E is a half step above E flat, the four). Run the B flat major scale up to the major seventh and down to the four (E flat). Step up a half step to E concert, run down the E diminished seventh chord, and end on E flat.
- Idea
In the blues a horn player can use either diminished whenever he likes, regardless of what the rhythm section plays. Barry finds the upper one, E diminished in B flat, the most interesting: it leads to the two and also back to the one. For example, after the E flat major you can play E diminished to return to B flat. The lower one only takes you to the two. He compared the upper one to being taken up to heaven and brought back down to earth.
- Idea
At that spot in the blues, bass players tend to assume the diminished is always the one a half step below the two. They need to know the one above as well, because both are equally important. In a real old-time slow blues Barry doesn’t like the G7s at all; that style uses the upper diminished instead, and he played it to show how pretty it sounds.
- Exercise
Then string the devices into one longer blues line, as Barry had the horns do: run up the B flat major scale and down to G, go up the diminished, come down the scale to the seventh of F7, then pivot (as with the diminished: play it up, hit its first note and bring the other notes down). He had them repeat it, then play it over the blues, and next added another diminished on the third of F.
Practising the blues with the horns, part 112:0217:5018:2219:03
Passport: two ii-Vs a half step apart
- Exercise
Coaching a band on Passport, Barry corrected the changes at one spot: play D minor to G, then E flat minor to A flat 7. These are two ii-V pairs a half step apart, and they lead back to the start of the song. He also told a player who struggled to drop down low that he could just stay up there instead.
In writing8 notes
What his interviews, his students’ class notes and other teachers’ articles add.
Howard Rees’s worksheet writes an F blues out note by note: F major up over Fmaj7 in bar 1, B♭7 up in bar 2, two-bar chords up and back down, bars 7–8 landing on F♯ (the third of D7), and G minor 7–C7 played as one C7 scale.
Howard Rees’ Jazz Workshops, Blues in F - Scale Outline ¶3Howard Rees’ Jazz Workshops, Blues in F - Scale Outline ¶4
Barry’s first workshop video applies his scales to the blues in C (a scale outline, a typical progression, scale ideas and the related diminished chord). Its rhythm-section chapter is built on Monk’s Straight, No Chaser and its vocal chapter ends with Parker’s Billie’s Bounce.
Barry Harris (on video); Howard Rees (producer, The Barry Harris Workshop Video ¶17Barry Harris (on video); Howard Rees (producer, The Barry Harris Workshop Video ¶21Barry Harris (on video); Howard Rees (producer, The Barry Harris Workshop Video ¶23
The second video’s rhythm-section chapter covers the B♭ blues changes and Rollins’s Tenor Madness, small chords that are easy to grab, the movement E♭6–E diminished–B♭6, and a transcription of Barry’s own voicings on the blues.
Barry Harris (on video); Howard Rees (producer, The Barry Harris Workshop Video Part 2: product page and 156-page workbook table of contents ¶10Barry Harris (on video); Howard Rees (producer, The Barry Harris Workshop Video Part 2: product page and 156-page workbook table of contents ¶18
Tom Cleary has students learn Barry’s blues outline, in its simplest form the seventh scales on I, IV and V, and write a chorus on it. He cites plain choruses inside it by Monk (Bags’ Groove), Miles Davis (Straight, No Chaser) and Dexter Gordon, and notes Barry counts major and seventh scales as equally right over I7.
Tom Cleary (University of Vermont), ‘Making the changes’ on the blues ¶3Tom Cleary (University of Vermont), ‘Making the changes’ on the blues ¶4Tom Cleary (University of Vermont), ‘Making the changes’ on the blues ¶7Tom Cleary (University of Vermont), ‘Making the changes’ on the blues ¶8
A player on jazzguitar.be reads Barry’s slow-blues remark this way: approaching C minor 7 in a B♭ blues, Barry tends to use C♯ minor or C♯ diminished after D minor 7 instead of G7, so the bass falls D, C♯, C. He points to Barry’s Parker’s Mood on Live at Maybeck as an example.
jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), Official Barry Harris Thread (jazzguitar.be forum thread) ¶416jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), Official Barry Harris Thread (jazzguitar.be forum thread) ¶417jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), Official Barry Harris Thread (jazzguitar.be forum thread) ¶418jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), Official Barry Harris Thread (jazzguitar.be forum thread) ¶419
From memory of a workshop, a forum member gives Barry’s outline of a Parker-style blues in C: C6 | D–7 G7 | C6 | G–7 C7 | F7 | (F minor) | E–7 | E♭–7 | D–7 | G7 | C6 | D–7 G7, with bars 7 to 9 falling by half steps.
jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), Things I Learned From Barry Harris ep 1 (jazzguitar.be forum thread) ¶85jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), Things I Learned From Barry Harris ep 1 (jazzguitar.be forum thread) ¶86jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), Things I Learned From Barry Harris ep 1 (jazzguitar.be forum thread) ¶87jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), Things I Learned From Barry Harris ep 1 (jazzguitar.be forum thread) ¶88
Frédéric Galliano’s notes, taken from Chris Parks’s videos, give scale outlines for a B♭ blues and a C minor blues, and list movements for the first four bars of a blues: tritone substitution, descending and ascending line clichés, a bebop-blues version and a cycle of fifths; also bars 7–9 and a classic turnaround.
Frédéric Galliano, Notes on the Method of Barry Harris ¶135Frédéric Galliano, Notes on the Method of Barry Harris ¶138Frédéric Galliano, Notes on the Method of Barry Harris ¶185Frédéric Galliano, Notes on the Method of Barry Harris ¶192Frédéric Galliano, Notes on the Method of Barry Harris ¶196Frédéric Galliano, Notes on the Method of Barry Harris ¶202
In the appendix of her thesis, under lines for bars 7 and 8 of a blues, Vera Marijt states the device as a general rule: on the third of a dominant you can play a diminished.
Vera Marijt (research coach Jarmo Hoogendijk), Barry Harris: Exploring the Diminished (MA research paper) ¶222Vera Marijt (research coach Jarmo Hoogendijk), Barry Harris: Exploring the Diminished (MA research paper) ¶223Vera Marijt (research coach Jarmo Hoogendijk), Barry Harris: Exploring the Diminished (MA research paper) ¶224
How other teachers explain it12 videos, 25 series episodes
Barry’s students, and their students, teaching it their way. A second opinion, not Barry.
- Things I’ve Learned From Barry Harris Episode 1 Scales on the Blues
Episode 1: scales on the blues.
9 min, transcript On YouTube
- Things I’ve Learned from Barry Harris Episode 7 First 4 Bars of the Blues
Episode 7: movements for the first four bars of the blues.
13 min, transcript On YouTube
- Middle of a Blues: Bars 5 thru 8 Ep.58 TILF Barry Harris
Episode 58: the middle of a blues, bars 5 to 8.
15 min, transcript On YouTube
- TILF Barry Harris EP49 Most famous Blues turnaround explained.
Episode 49: a classic blues turnaround.
11 min, transcript On YouTube
- TILF Barry Harris EP48 Playing Blues with Barry’s Chromatic Scale and Pivot
Episode 48: the blues with Barry’s chromatic scale and pivot.
12 min, transcript On YouTube
- Minor Blues EP 85 TILF Barry Harris
Episode 85: the minor blues.
11 min, transcript On YouTube
- A New Beautiful Way To Play A Minor Blues EP 139 TILF Barry Harris
Episode 139: another way to play a minor blues.
11 min, transcript On YouTube
- Barry Harris Method: Scale Outline (Blues) ()
Scale outline of the blues.
13 min On YouTube
- Barry Harris Method: The 2 Diminished Chords Above/Below the ii ()
The two diminished chords above and below the ii.
12 min On YouTube
- Scale Phrases for F Major Blues
Scale phrases on the F blues outline.
11 min, transcript On YouTube
- Barry Harris For Jazz Mandolin Blues With The Horns Pete Martin
Mandolin lesson on Barry’s ‘Blues with the horns’ class.
7 min On YouTube
- Barry Harris - Passport (Blues) Improv Analysis
Analysis of Barry’s improvisation on Passport.
20 min On YouTube
In the teaching series
Episodes on this idea in the long series by other teachers. Each name opens that whole series in order.
Where the accounts differ1 point
Barry’s recited B♭ plan keeps the seventh scale on the I until bar 7, where B♭ major comes in. Howard Rees’s F worksheet puts Fmaj7 and the F major scale in bar 1. Tom Cleary notes that Barry treats major and seventh scales as equally right over the I7, so this looks like a choice of changes rather than a rule.
Practising the blues with the horns, part 24:31Howard Rees’ Jazz Workshops, Blues in F - Scale Outline ¶3Tom Cleary (University of Vermont), ‘Making the changes’ on the blues ¶4
Read further6 links
These open on the web.
Free to read
- jazzguitar.be forum
— Free forum thread working through blues harmony with Barry’s ideas.
- YouTube
— Chris Parks’s free videos on blues scales, the first four bars, turnarounds and the minor blues.
- jazzguitar.be members (usernames kept per post), Things I learned from Barry Harris Study Group
— Free study group that plays the blues outline and its variants lesson by lesson.
Books and paid courses
- Frederic Galliano, Notes on the Method of Barry Harris (HTML + PDF, updated Jan 2026): scale exercises, chromatic scale, Parker ideas, families, 4 chord scales, moving in fourths, 5-4-3-2, half-step tables, important arpeggios, scale outlines of blues/rhythm/Cherokee/Donna Lee/How High the Moon/Night in Tunisia
attendee-of-videos notes (from Chris Parks’ TILF + Labyrinth + Kingstone) — Free notes with B♭ blues and C minor blues outlines and movements for the first four bars and bars 7–9.
- The Barry Harris Workshop Video (Part 1), Howard Rees / Jazz Workshop Productions: 4+ hours, 5 clinic segments + 102-112 page workbook (ABCs, scales on song forms, movable chords, rhythm section, vocalizing)
Barry himself (produced and transcribed by Howard Rees) — Barry’s blues in C outline and scale ideas, with workbook (paywalled; contents free).
- The Barry Harris Workshop Video Part Two, Howard Rees: ~4h15, 156-page workbook; chapters Improvisation (49 sections), Rhythm Section (17), Harmony (41)
Barry himself (produced and transcribed by Howard Rees) — Barry’s B♭ blues voicings and Tenor Madness with the rhythm section (paywalled; contents free).