Two sixth chords for every major chord (6 on the 1, 6 on the 5)

Voicings: little chords, drop voicings and colour

1. Idea

   If you know all the big chords, Barry says, the small chords are already in your hands, yet many players cannot rip off simple small-chord playing because they never learned the little things. Most important is learning to play a sixth chord for a major chord; there is nothing wrong with that sound. He illustrated with We’ll Be Together Again, a song he says everyone should know.

   Small chords, not big ones1:402:132:49

2. Exercise

   In a workshop Barry had the players play a chord on the tonic of B-flat major and the two chords that follow it; some could not play those chords down by half steps and faked it. He asked who would notice that the first chord is made of two triads, then had them play a D minor triad and its next inversion, starting from the fifth.

   The 1998 workshop, part 145:2746:3747:1249:56

3. Exercise

   Following Schoenberg, Barry names the voices of a four-note chord like a choir: soprano is 1, alto 2, tenor 3, bass 4. On a C diminished seventh, try drop 2, drop 3, drop 2 and 4, and even drop 2 and 3. Run each voicing up from the bottom, one note at a time, and you can make up a whole song with it. He says this is why jazz is the continuation of classical theory.

   Jazz theory, part 2: drop voicings5:316:077:107:54

4. Exercise

   You play with your family first, Barry says. For a C seven he puts the E-flat triad above it (E-flat is in C’s minor-third family), then adds E natural right next to the E-flat. The E is what makes it sound like a dominant; without it you hear a minor seventh. Then let the voices move and resolve to F major.

   Jazz theory, part 3, with score9:169:5010:30

5. Idea

   Two sixth chords work against E-flat major: E-flat six, on the tonic, and B-flat six, on the fifth. The B-flat six gives the major seventh and the ninth; the E-flat six gives the sixth and the tonic. For pretty chords, play one and add a single note from the other; adding a C struck Barry as almost unbelievably pretty. He adds that Bud Powell went further, using other sixes such as F six against the chord. You have to know the scale.

   Two sixth chords against a major key0:040:382:203:59

6. Idea

   While a pianist was comping on Misty, Barry stopped the playing: he wanted a plain D minor, not the augmented-ninth sound players habitually add to it. In a D minor you may put the E next to the F, but otherwise keep it simple. He also asked for an A7 with B-flat and E-flat added. The message is to choose each chord sound deliberately instead of reaching for the same altered voicing every time.

   Feeling the ‘and’5:205:56

7. Exercise

   A pretty trick: play two tritones together, for example C, F, F-sharp, B, then move into the sus sound. Barry stresses that you must know the scale, not just the shape. To practise, move only the top and bottom voices, and also try it from the diminished.

   The C7♭5 scale in drop 2, and a tritone trick0:000:421:241:59