Barry Harris Notebook

I Got Rhythm & The Blues Ideas

By Chéla Wallace
Table of Contents

March 29, 2022 "I Got Rhythm" (IGR) scales ..................................................................... 2

April 5, 2022 IGR changes ................................................................................................ 6
April 12, 2022 Minor Blues ................................................................................................ 8
April 19, 2022 Movement from I dominant to IV dominant .................................................10
April 26, 2022 "Standard" Blues and Blues for Alice chord changes and Barry scales........... 12
May 3, 2022 "Blues for Alice" focus on Bars 7 and 8.......................................................... 14

Copyright 2022
2
Barry Harris' I Got Rhythm & The Blues Ideas
Chris Parks Bebop Class
March 29, 2022 Class

Barry's Scales for "I Got Rhythm" - Chris demostrates at the beginning of class

      
A

   
F F

            
B♭ B♭

        
 
Piano

      
                  
B♭ E♭ F


1.B♭

   
5

 
Pno.

 


2. B♭maj

          
9

  
Pno.

 
Bridge

 
              
D G

  
11

Pno.

  
                  
15 C F

Pno.

         
F F

            
A
B♭ B♭

      
19

 
Pno.

         
B♭ E♭

   
B♭ B♭

                 
23

   
Pno.

Barry does beautiful outlines for a song in scales. It gives you the the sound of what
you would use to solo, as well as the length of time you will use those scales.

When you play a scale up (dominant or major), play up only to the 7th.
Practice these scales in tempo.
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 37:36 All the things you can do with each scale 3

Up and down the scale

  
B♭ B♭

Piano
             

     
Up and down in thirds


Piano
                       


          
Up and down in Triads

    
        
       
Piano

          
                  
5

 
Pno.

          
Up and down in Chords

  
Piano
           
   
    


             
              
5

 
Pno.

               
Pivots up the scale

         
Piano
          

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4
Half-step below first note of thirds going up and down

        
(And so on ...)

                   
 
Piano

                     
        
(And so on ...)

Piano


Half-step below first note of thirds going up and down


                          
(And so on ...)


Piano

         
        
(And so on...)

Piano
 

   
(And so on ...)

    
Half-step below first note of chords going up and down (triplet feel)

          
3

 
3

  
3 3
Piano

  
          
   
 
(And so on...)
Piano
3 3 3

"Enclosures" starting at 43:51

               
On the beat

 
Half-steps below:

         

Piano

Root Root, 3rd Root, 3rd, 5th

        
Going up and down

      
5

 
Pno.

Root, 3rd, 5th, root

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 5
Half-step below Root, 3rd, and 5th of triad. This pattern can be played for all triads.

         
             
3 3

   
3 3 3 3 3 3


Piano

 
Piano
                     

        
             
      
Piano

      
                              
6

Pno.

Bud Powell starting at 47:57 (but lightening fast! )


Piano
                    
 

This is the kind of thing we'll be discussing on Tuesdays.

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6 April 5, 2022 Class

Working on bars 3 and 4 of "I Got Rhythm" in Bb and different ways to approach the
harmonies. Chris demonstrates at the beginning of the class.

Sidenote about the ii-V in "How High the Moon" and some chords that can be used
with the C7. Both F3m6 (Gbm6) and Ab6 work over C7:

   
   
F♯m6/C A♭6/C

Piano

  
 
Piano

First 4 bars of I Got Rhythm How we practiced last week:

         
F F

            
B♭ B♭

        

Piano

Commonly played:

      
   
F Dm  G Cm  F

           
B♭

Piano     

Another possibility (this week's practice):

       
    
F Dm  C♯m Cm  F

          
B♭

Piano     

 
7th chords going up; also practice going down; a combo of both; using various rhythms, etc.

       
Piano
       
Dm7 C#m7 Cm7 F7

Copyright 2022
 Barry's arpeggios (triad notes in triplet feel, with root repeated at the top). 7
Practice for all chords in Bar 3-4, in all their inversions.

    
              
3 3 3 3

   
3 3 3
Piano

     
Dm  C♯m

  
Fmaj Emaj

  
5

Pno.

Dm7 includes the notes of F major. You can C#m7 includes the notes of E major. You can
play F major, its inversions and everything else play E major,its inversions and everything else
you can do with F major over the Dm7 chord. you can do with E major over the C#m7 chord.

NOTES:

The chords practiced today give you an outline for bars 3-4 of "I Got Rhythm."

Lots of different ways to play:

You don't have to play all 4 notes; you can vary rhythms; inversions; play triads/chords
up/down or alternating up and down; start on the root/3rd/5th/7th; add 8th-note
and/or 16th-note triplets.

Just about anything that sounds good to you!

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8
April 12, 2022 Class

Minor Blues scales outlines using Barry Harris Scales.

Chris demonstrates at the beginning of class.

    
Cm  C

Piano
                   
  
Eb7 scale 3rd of C
Cm6 dim scale
sets you up
for Fm

    
Fm  Cm 

                
     
5


Pno.

Fm6 dim scale Bb7 scale 3rd of G Cm6 dim scale

A♭ G Cm  G

                
           
9

 
Pno.

Bb7 scale 3rd Cm6 dim scale. Bb7 scale

Ab7 scale
of G

Minor diminished scale: Practice in 3rds, triads (alternating 6th and dim) and
chords (up and down).

For chords, can go up the first one, then go up a scale note and come down the
second one, etc. (alternating chord then diminished).

  
                     

Piano

Cm6 diminished scale Minor 3rds except: 2nd

Copyright 2022
 9

           
              
 
C harmonic minior C melodic minor

 
Cmin6 diminished


7

 
Pno.

NOTES:

When Barry plays a minor, he plays the bVII dominant going to the I minor because that
feels like a real minor sound (as opposed to the V7 going to the I minor).

Barry differentiates himself from Bird in choosing to play the bVII dominant instead of the V7
when playing on minor.

Starting at 40:02 good discussion about C7 in bar 4 going to F minor.

How is the Eb7 related to the C7? "Playing With Family"

1. If we're thinking ii-V to F minor, that'd be Gm7b5 to C7 to F minor.

(If we played Gm7 going to C7, it would sound like we're going to F major.)
2. Gm7b5 is just an inversion of Bbm6 to us Barry people.
3. Bbm6 is the important minor triad on the 5th of Eb7.
4. That's why playing the Eb7 scale works for the C7 chord in bar 4.

Any stuff you know how to do on Eb7, you can run on C7 whe going to a F minor.
Chris and Danny demonstrate at 41:54.

Barry's 4 Scales of Chords are primarily for harmony (thinking about chording).
For soloing, thinking about chords the "normal" way (dominants, etc.).

Little bit of overlap: Happens when you talk about pure minor. Chris likes the
minor 6 diminished scale, prefers it because it has both the harmonic minor and
melodic minor in it. It has everything in it!

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10 April 19, 2022 Class

What Barry calls a "movement" is when this chord moves to that chord.

Today, we looked at the movement from the I dominant to the IV dominant in the first
couple bars of the Blues. This same movement happens in a lot of tunes, including
"I Got Rhythm" (bars 5 and 6).

Know all the stuff you can do with Bb7 and Eb7 (up and scales, thirds, triads, and chords;
pivots; half-step rules; etc.). At 4:45, Chris demonstrates several of the things you can do.

Scales for the first 4 bars of Bb Blues

 
                        
B♭ E♭ B♭

Piano
     
IV
I

Common bass lines

             
B♭ E♭ E B♭ B♭ E♭ B♭

Piano
   

 
B♭ E♭ E♭m B♭ B♭ E♭ E♭m B♭

               
7

Pno. 

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 Ways to go from Bb7 to Eb7 using a Bb arpeggio 11

         5th
(Barry arpeggio = Triad with the root repeated on top). Then add notes after.

      
          
B♭ B♭ B♭


7th


13

Pno.

     
These 2 bars groups are little movements:

        
B♭ E♭ B♭ E♭

Piano

3 3rd of Eb7 3

                
   
B♭ E♭ B♭ E♭

Piano

   
First movement with bassline (6:07). Getting back to Bb7 using E diminished:

    
       
B♭ E♭ B♭

 
E

Piano

      
Piano
 

  B♭             

Second movement with bassline (6:20). Getting back to Bb7 using Ab7:

   
E♭m

        
E♭ B♭

Piano
 

 
3

Piano
     
Gb is the b7 of Ab7.
Ab7's important minor is Ebmin.

   
       
B♭ E♭ A♭

Piano   

NOTES
How to practice: Start on a note and try different things.
Barry said, "The ones who practice the most stuff like this are the ones who are the best."
Work up a whole bunch of phrases you can play over these two bars. Play a couple next
Tuesday.

Copyright 2022
12 April 26, 2022 Class

Working with the "standard" 12-bar Blues and the Charlie Parker song, "Blues for Alice,"
which he wrote for Alice Coltrane (Jazz pianist and composer, and John Coltrane's wife).

Barry talks about "movement." In a "standard" Blues: Movement is from the I chord to
the IV dominant.

In "Blues for Alice," the movement is I chord going to the viib5 chord
(ii-V going to the relative minor).

Standard 12-bar Blues chord changes and Barry scales

              
F B♭ F

           
    
Piano

       
   
B♭

                
F


5

Pno.

3rd of D


                   
C C


F

    
9


Pno.

Copyright 2022
 "Blues for Alice" chord changes and Barry scales 13

            
Em  A Dm  G Cm  F

   
Real Book F

     

Piano

Barry Scales F major up C7 down to the 3rd of A Dm6 up F7 up

(dom7 scale start on b7) (has both 6 and b6)

    
      
B♭ B♭m E♭ Am D A♭m D♭

                     
5

Pno.

Eb7 up F major up Db7 major up

Bb major up


                   
Gm C D Gm C


F

    
9


Pno.

C7 up and down F major up C7 up

Need to know both versions of the Blues so you're familiar the changes, especially in a
soloing situation.

Practice playing in time.

At 23:47 Danny question: Why do we use C7 on the ii-V to Dm?

Gm6 is the important minor built on the of C7.
As Barry people, we look at Em7b5 as Gm6.

At 47:38 Chela slowly demos the Barry scales over the Real Book changes.

At 50:53 Lukas question: Do you always use dominant 7 scale of the chord (for example, always
use the F7 dominant scale for F7)?
Barry: When moving towards a minor chord, Barry would use a dominant a minor 3rd higher than
the dominant you're used to. For example, A7 going to D minor, play C7 down to the 3rd of A.
Could also play Bbminor6 over the A7 for an altered sound.
The tritone of Ais Eb; Bbminor6 is the important minor built on the 5th of Eb.

Chris: When you look at movement as opposed to song, you realize, "Here's this movement:
This goes to this." Learning different movements helps you play the different songs they
happen in.

The movement in "Blues for Alice" happens in a lot of songs.

Barry rules help us to guide us. They aren't the only scales you can play over these
changes; Barry gives us a default outline that gives you an idea of the sounds that are
going on and how long they last.

Copyright 2022
14 May 3, 2022 Class

Continued working with "Blues for Alice" by Charlie Parker. Corrected the chord in bar 5
(should be Bb7 and not Bb major).

Today we focused on bars 7 and 8 (F major going to Ab7).

What notes of F are close to Db7? Look for different pretty ways to run F to Bb7.

Whatever you know how to do over F major and Db7, you can do here.

"Blues for Alice" chord changes and Barry scales

        
Real Book

    
Em  A Dm  G Cm  F

  
F

   

Piano

Barry Scales F major up C7 down to the 3rd of A Dm6 up F7 up

(dom7 scale start on b7) (has both 6 and b6)

          
B♭ B♭m E♭ Am D A♭m D♭

       
     
      
5

Pno.

Eb7 up F major up Db7 major up

Bb major up


                   
Gm C D Gm C


F

    
9


Pno.

C7 up and down F major up C7 up

Copyright 2022
 Db dominant Important Arpeggios: 15

     
D♭

       
D♭ A♭m C♭ (B)

       
13

Pno.

Db dominant scale Triad on root Triad on V Triad on bVII

 
Real Book

       
Am D A♭m D♭

     
17

Pno.

Barry Scale F major up Db7 major up

Class phrase for bars 7 and 8

   
  
Am D A♭m D♭

    
19

   
Pno.

F major
Ab minor arpeggio

     
A♭m

  
Am D D♭

      
21
3

   
Pno.

3
F major
Ab minor arpeggio

       
Am D A♭m D♭

        
23
3
Pno.

3
F major Ab minor arpeggio

     
  
Am D A♭m D♭

    
  
25
3
Pno.

3
F major Ab minor arpeggio

NOTES
Barry didn't like ii-V all the time.

Barry's scales get you away from static chords.

These phrases aren't set in stone; they are a starting point.

Not "paint by numbers", but rather a beautiful connection between everything.

Copyright 2022
  
16

Piano


Copyright 2022