Barry HarrisThe method
Volume II · Lines Stage 6, line devices Idea 4 of 1012345678910
6.4

Arpeggio inversions and permutations

Barry wanted every arpeggio and diminished chord known in every inversion and every order. Four notes in one position can be played 24 ways: keep one note first and play the other three six ways, then start on the next. Each order feeds lines.

In plain words

An arpeggio inverts by starting on its next note while keeping the same note at the top and the bottom: D F A♭ D becomes F A♭ D F, then A♭ D F A♭. Barry had classes invert the arpeggios they met on a scale and play each inversion up and down, and he counted major arpeggios and diminished sevenths in all inversions, all over the instrument, among the ABCs a student must have.

The 1998 workshop, part 137:4949:56The 1998 workshop, part 314:25Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶511

Beyond inversions he asked how many orders four notes can take in one position. Using a D♭ minor arpeggio, he counted it like digits in a number: three notes give six orders, four give 24. Play the low D♭ first with the other three in six orders, then start on F♭ and do the same, and so on. A diminished chord gives 24 as well.

The 1998 workshop, part 313:1214:57

The point is choice. Barry said the player who knows the most ways to play will come out on top, and since nobody can practise every way, those ways have to come from rules carried in your head. He scoffed at a player who wrote in DownBeat that he was tired of the major scale: four notes already give 24 orders, five give 120, six give 720.

The 1998 workshop, part 2: breaking the habit33:38Believe: a talk to musicians28:2028:54

Step by step

  1. Invert: start the arpeggio on each of its notes in turn, keeping the same note at the top and the bottom. Play each inversion up and down.

    D♭ minor arpeggio
    𝄞♭♭♭♭
    1. D♭
    2. F♭
    3. A♭
    4. D♭
    From F♭
    𝄞♭♭♭♭
    1. F♭
    2. A♭
    3. D♭
    4. F♭
    From A♭
    𝄞♭♭♭♭
    1. A♭
    2. D♭
    3. F♭
    4. A♭

    The 1998 workshop, part 137:49The 1998 workshop, part 314:25

  2. Permute in one position: keep the first note and play the other three in all six orders.

    Diminished on D, D first: 1
    𝄞♭♭
    1. D
    2. F
    3. A♭
    4. C♭
    2
    𝄞♭♭
    1. D
    2. F
    3. C♭
    4. A♭
    3
    𝄞♭♭
    1. D
    2. A♭
    3. F
    4. C♭
    4
    𝄞♭♭
    1. D
    2. A♭
    3. C♭
    4. F
    5
    𝄞♭♭
    1. D
    2. C♭
    3. F
    4. A♭
    6
    𝄞♭♭
    1. D
    2. C♭
    3. A♭
    4. F

    The 1998 workshop, part 313:1214:57

  3. Then put each of the other notes first and play the remaining three six ways again: four starting notes times six orders gives all 24.

    The 1998 workshop, part 314:57

How he said to practise it

  • Take one arpeggio in one position and play all 24 orders, starting on each note in turn; do the same with a diminished chord.

    The 1998 workshop, part 313:1214:57

  • Invert the arpeggios you find on a scale, including the triads inside each chord, and play each inversion up and down.

    The 1998 workshop, part 137:4949:56

  • Know major arpeggios and diminished sevenths in all inversions over the whole range of your instrument; Barry treated them as the ABCs.

    The 1998 workshop, part 31:13Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶511

In Barry’s words

Each one plays from the moment he says it. Every other moment he teaches it is listed below.

You should know every inversion, you should know every combination of how to play that.

The 1998 workshop, part 3, The Hague, 1989–98. On a D♭ minor arpeggio held in one position, 1998 Hague workshop. 14:25 Watch on YouTube at 14:25

If you play a three digit number, it’s six ways; if you play a four digit number, it’s 24 ways.

The 1998 workshop, part 3, The Hague, 1989–98. Counting the orders of an arpeggio’s notes like the digits of a number. 13:12 Watch on YouTube at 13:12

I hate to go to a college and find students that can’t even play a major arpeggio... or play major arpeggios all over their instruments, all inversions.

Barry Harris on WKCR-FM. Barry to Ted Panken on what jazz education leaves out. ¶511

The fellow who’s going to be the best is the one who knows the most ways to play.

The 1998 workshop, part 2: breaking the habit, The Hague, 1989–98. Summing up drills that add half steps from each degree of a scale. 33:38 Watch on YouTube at 33:38

Where this comes from

Everything above is drawn from these. Open any one to check it.

Every moment he teaches it8 moments in 4 recordings

Each time opens the transcript there; the video plays when you are online.

The 1998 workshop, part 3

The Hague, 1989–98 — 76 min On YouTube

  1. 13:12

    How many ways to play the four notes of a D♭ minor arpeggio in one position: 24.

    Watch on YouTube at 13:12

  2. 14:25

    Says you should know every inversion and every combination.

    Watch on YouTube at 14:25

  3. 14:57

    Low D♭ first with the other three six ways, then from F♭; a diminished also gives 24.

    Watch on YouTube at 14:57

  4. 1:13

    Tells the class to know all their minor arpeggios, diminished chords and triads.

    Watch on YouTube at 1:13

The 1998 workshop, part 1

The Hague, 1989–98 — 80 min On YouTube

  1. 37:49

    Inverting the diminished arpeggio D F A♭ D so the same note is top and bottom.

    Watch on YouTube at 37:49

  2. 49:56

    The class plays the next inversion of the D minor triad, from its fifth.

    Watch on YouTube at 49:56

Believe: a talk to musicians

Almería, 2014 — 60 min On YouTube

  1. 28:54

    Counts the combinations: four notes 24, five 120, six 720.

    Watch on YouTube at 28:54

The 1998 workshop, part 2: breaking the habit

The Hague, 1989–98 — 35 min On YouTube

  1. 33:38

    The best player knows the most ways to play, guided by rules in the head.

    Watch on YouTube at 33:38

From the lessons1 lesson, 2 points

Notes taken from Barry’s classes, each tied to the moment it comes from.

Arpeggios inside the dominant scale

  1. Idea

    A dominant seventh scale has three important arpeggios, built on the tonic, the fifth and the seventh. For B-flat 7 these are B-flat major (tonic), F minor (fifth) and A-flat major (seventh). Barry found the one on the seventh the most interesting: it is an A-flat major arpeggio, but it still means B-flat 7, so if you fill in between its notes, use B-flat 7 scale notes, not A-flat major. Another pretty one to add is the augmented arpeggio, which he called very important for going home (B-flat 7 resolving); the diminished can be used too.

    Practising the blues with the horns, part 20:130:46The 1998 workshop, part 139:0139:34

  2. Exercise

    Play an arpeggio on each degree of a dominant scale such as B-flat 7. Barry pointed out the diminished arpeggio on D (D, F, A-flat) that turns up among them, and had the class invert it so the same note is on top and bottom, playing it up and down.

    The 1998 workshop, part 136:1737:49

In writing4 notes

What his interviews, his students’ class notes and other teachers’ articles add.

How other teachers explain it3 videos, 4 series episodes

Barry’s students, and their students, teaching it their way. A second opinion, not Barry.

In the teaching series

Episodes on this idea in the long series by other teachers. Each name opens that whole series in order.

Isaac Raz

Things I’ve Learned From Barry Harris

Read further6 links

These open on the web.

Free to read

Books and paid courses