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Evolutionary Voicings, Part I

Keyboard Magazine Article – October 1998

Barry Harris Keeps Things Movin’, by Howard Rees

“I don’t play chords”, said saxophone giant Coleman Hawkins, “I play movements.” Perhaps inspired by this notion, jazz pianist Barry Harris has
developed a framework for moving chord voicings along scales in much the same way that one might think of developing single-note improvisations
from scale practice. In order to move things, however, you must understand where the basic elements come from. As Barry likes to say, “In the
beginning, God created the universe. For us that means the chromatic scale (Example 1). Then God grew lonely and said, ‘I think I’ll make me some
people, and so we have the two whole-tone scales, each based on six notes of the chromatic scale. The whole-tone scales gave birth to three
diminished 7th chords, each one built from two pairs of genes (tritones), one pair from each of the whole-tone parents.” From the diminished chords,
we get the rest (Examples 2 and 3). As Barry says, “It’s like family – who do you start to play with rst? Your brothers and sisters.”

The beauty of this approach lies in the two scales developed some 40 – plus years ago by Barry: the major 6 diminished and the minor 6 diminished
scales (Examples 6 and 7). The scales consist of a combination of two simple chord types which lend themselves to the facile movement of simple
voicings up and down the scale. The goal is to keep chord voicings moving – not static – and to create tension and resolution.

Go through all of these examples and practice them in all keys. Next month, we’ll apply the skills you develop from this information and these
exercises to actual tunes.

Example 1

At the heart of Barry Harris’s Theory of Evolution is the chromatic scale, shown on the top sta with enharmonic equivalents (i.e., di erent
note names representing the same pitch, such as D sharp and E at). Separate the solid and hollow noteheads, and you’ve got the two whole-
tone scales (middle sta ). Also derived from the chromatic scale are the three diminished 7th chords (bottom sta ). Note that each includes
two tritones: one from each whole-tone scale.

Example 2

Example 3

Example 4

Example 5

Example 6

Example 7

Example 8

Example 9

Example 10

Example 11

Example 12

Example 13

Example 14

Example 15

Example 16

Example 17

Example 18

Example 19

Example 20

Example 21

Example 22

Example 23

Example 24

Example 25

Example 26

Example 27

Example 28

Example 29

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