HARRIS BARRY, THE HARMONIC METHOD FOR GUITAR.
Studying the concepts put forth in this book will not teach you a set of hip sounding voicings. You won't come out sounding like everyone else - and that's the good news!
What you will find herein are the structural components, as mapped out and developed by jazz giant Barry Harris, that will guide and aid you on your own personal road to discovery. Imagine, a system for learning jazz harmony that actually embraces the concept of improvisation.
As I see it, there are two paths for a chord player to go down. Either one becomes a "hitter" or, one becomes a "mover". The "hitter" sits up and works out a couple of beautiful sounding voicings for each kind of chord (or worse, learns someone else's from a method book) - and from that point on, plays them exactly the same way. These vertical groups of notes are "hit" or "struck" on the instrument - with no thought to creating movement. The "mover" on the other hand, understands that chords come from scales and thereby learns to approach chording in a more fluid fashion. As well, one realizes that the interesting spots in music, whether you are comping, harmonizing a melody or writing an arrangement, are the places in between the chord symbols. In fact, I prefer to think - movement-to-movement - as opposed to chord to chord. When was the last time you listened to the symphony, for instance, and said oh yeah, Am7b5 - D7. It's not that the classical folks don't play chords, they just know something about getting from one to the next in an unobvious manner. Suddenly the musical ceiling gets raised and points us back to the purpose behind this book.
Having had the pleasure of seeing Alan grow musically over the past 20 years, I am delighted that his insightfulness and hard work have found their way into a form that others can benefit from. I am confident that guitarists everywhere who are fortunate enough to pick up this book will thank him again, and again. Howard Rees
Introduction
CD Tracks
Acknowledgments
Disclaimer
Dr. Barry Harris
The Guitar in Jazz
Chapter 1 Drop Voicings & Scales
1.1 Voicings
1.2 The Scales
1.3 The Voicings Charted
Chapter 2 Movement
2.1 The Organic Diminished Chord
2.2 The Diminished Scale
2.3 Sisters and Brothers
2.4 Using the Scales
2.5 The Sixth on the Fifth
2.6 Movement
2.7 Major to Minor to Minor with Sixth in the Bass
2.8 Playing with your 'Sisters and Brothers'
2.9 Monk Moves
Chapter 3 Borrowing
3.1 Borrowing Through Sixth Diminished Scales
3.2 Surrounding
3.3 Borrowing on the Diminished Scale
Chapter 4 Practicing the Scales
4.1 Single Notes
4.2 Thirds
4.3 Sixths
4.4 Tenths
4.5 Four Note Chords in Tenths
4.6 Expand and Contract
4.7 Long - Short
Chapter 5 Like Someone In Love
Appendix
Seventh Diminished Drop 2
Seventh Flat Five Diminished Drop 2
Seventh Diminished Drop 3
Seventh Flat Five Diminished Drop 3
Major Sixth Diminished Drop 2&4
Minor Sixth Diminished Drop 2&4
Seventh Diminished Drop 2&4
Seventh Flat Five Diminished Drop 2&4
Major Sixth Diminished Drop 2&3
Minor Sixth Diminished Drop 2&3
Seventh Diminished Drop 2&3
Seventh Flat Five Diminished Drop 2&3
Partial Chords
Double Note Chords
After Word
121 pages.