“Everything’s Close”: Applying Barry Harris thinking to Modern (Don’t tell Barry!)

Here’s a great technical exercise and way of thinking to apply Barry’s BeBop method to modern styles and beyond
Thanks for watching and if you find this stuff useful please make sure to like, subscribe, and share, and also please consider supporting me on Patreon:
/ isaacraz
Patrons have access to exclusive features like transcripts, Q&A’s and more.
Here are videos to assist with the concepts discussed in this video:
Barry Harris whole tone ideas
• Barry Harris whole ton...
The BH “Echappe”: An extremely useful Barry Harris 2-5-1 move
• The BH “Echappe”: An e...
Practicing 2-5-1- Barry Harris Style
• Practicing 2 5 1 Barry...
My 10 Chord Routine - 3 note edition
• My 10 Chord Barry Harr...
Barry Harris sixth-chord rules:
• Barry Harris 6th chord...
And here are some other related videos you may enjoy:
5-4-3-2 melodic patterns
• Barry Harris 5-4-3-2 M...
Pivoting
• “Pivoting”: Octave dis...
My 10 chord routine:
• My 10 chord Barry Harr...
Barry’s Move on “Like Someone in Love”
• Barry Harris “major ch...
More ideas on Half Step embellishment
• Staying busy with Barr...
Applying Barry Harris “diminished family“
• Applying Barry Harris ...
Barry’s “diminished genealogy”
• Barry Harris “Diminish...
“Drop” Voicings
• Barry Harris Drop Voic...
The “Major chromatic”
• Barry Harris “major ch...
The “Ruby my dear“ move
• Barry Harris: The “Rub...
Modulation with diminished
• Your Questions Answere...
“Short and long“ voicings
• Barry Harris short and...
“Up a fifth, down a fifth“:
• “Up a fifth Down a fif...
Thoughts on the Seven flat five diminished
• More thoughts on Barry...
Scale outline on “Cherokee”
• Barry Harris scale out...

[@danielhicksmusic]

my man is dropping BOMBS of knowledge out here

[@isaacraz]

Right!? Thank you so much for that awesome feedback! 💥

[@TheDubChronicles]

I'm telling Barry

[@isaacraz]

Aww come on! Don’t get me in trouble man!

[@TheDubChronicles]

@@isaacraz Hahah

[@miTnosnhoJ]

This is great stuff and very useful. But I find it interesting that "modern" jazz is around 60 years old.

[@laurencechertoff9816]

Genius work, Isaac. Thank you.

[@FrantzesElzaurdia]

You can also relate this back to the family of dominants idea, super imposing a c7 dominant substitution over D in the case of So What. Therefore you can play outside by using Ebmaj6/Amaj6 arpeggios and dominant/altered/diminished scales as well.

[@ArchStanton2010]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. These videos have really enhanced my playing and have really changed the way I view the piano. Please keep the content coming. You are changing lives with this information.

[@isaacraz]

Thank you for that amazing feedback! Sometimes it’s hard to know if you’re hitting the mark but this kind of feedback is truly inspiring indeed I really appreciate it

[@JoePariseauMusic]

I've been asking "Barry people" to apply Barry's ideas to modern/modal jazz for a while now and you are the first to do it that I've encountered! Please do more videos like this! 🙏☺ Maybe, Cantaloupe Island or Footprints?

[@isaacraz]

More to come!

[@JoePariseauMusic]

@@isaacraz thank you so much brother! 🙏😀🎶

[@Get_Yo_Life]

Check out Bill Graham’s channel he did some videos as well on applying BH Method to Modal/Modern Tunes.

[@marcavice7505]

Very elegant! Thanks Isaac! Will definitely practice this one!

[@isaacraz]

Thanks Marc!

[@themidger1]

Fantastic idea for a video! I love everything about this. Love the story behind it too, makes me think of all those 90s videos of him on KZbin where he is saying “little movements” and “small chords” and “it’s all right there” all the time. The man is incredibly consistent. To continue with my own exploration of this concept of BH modernism, I’ve been playing with pentatonics - and using the sixth chord rules to derive them. Just add the first diminished note between the first third of the 6th (ie, add a D in c6 to the other notes of c6) and you get a pentatonic to play over whatever tonality you are using the 6th chord for. The tritone’s minor is really far out and hip! I honestly don’t know how standard modern theory teaches pentatonics (which one to use in which tonality) but this method has been really fun to work with and fits right in with the rest of this stuff

[@isaacraz]

Great comment! I love your idea about Pentatonix. I actually think of a sixth cord has a pentatonic that fits in duple meter.

[@morrisnelms]

Beautiful job explaining one simple principle of the universe of music that is Barry Harris.

[@isaacraz]

Thank you Morris! A universe indeed

[@thetrombonehub6254]

Isaac! This is a great video! Let's stay in touch on a regular basis!

[@thewordnerds]

Thanks, Isaac. I’ve come to appreciate the essential value of the tritone relation (C to Gb, for example) since I started attending Barry’s classes about two and a half years ago. This video opens yet another door on that relationship.

[@isaacraz]

Thank you! Yes the possibilities are endless

[@azomyte]

I've just been trying a similar thing over a static dominant using the minor triads found on the fifth of each of the family of dominants, sounds good

[@isaacraz]

I'll check that out!

[@vincenzodigioiasax]

Hi Isaac, thank you for answering me!! Great video, beautiful and useful ideas, thanks.

[@isaacraz]

You’re most welcome! And thank you!

[@vincenzodigioiasax]

@@isaacraz😊😊 I don't know if you remember, but we met at Barry's workshop in Rome (September 2019); hope to play together again 😁

[@markbra]

In your own sweet way ! Thanks 😊

[@isaacraz]

Amen. Thanks!

[@jazzsecrets]

Excellent, I was just wondering what to do with this closeness, C6 and Gb6 are so close, great idea and application, gives that modern sound. Please do more on modern applications of Barry's harmony, I'm tryin to figure out myself how to apply it on RnB.. :)

[@isaacraz]

I will do!

[@__marcotovar]

Thanks, Isaac. You're great.

[@isaacraz]

Thank you!!

[@Ontherightpath_2024]

You should do a blues / barry harris video. think there is lots to be learned from such a video.

[@isaacraz]

Thank you for that great idea. Barry had some great moves on a blues

[@Ontherightpath_2024]

@@isaacraz Thank you for your work. What a day he passed away. May he rest in peace. Hopefully you will continue his legacy.

[@markeliasof1830]

Would love to hear how you would apply to Wayne Shorter (fee fi fo fum for example) and other modern compositions

[@isaacraz]

I was going to do that! I think the 2-beat changes in Fee Fi Fo Fum make it hard to fit it in but you can work it in when the chords stay longer like in the bridge, and at the very last B major.

[@markeliasof1830]

Thanks for your reply Isaac. I hear what you''re saying about the tritone pair idea not working on the A section... I'd love to hear you go thru it like the Giant Steps lesson, as an example of running thru chords that are less obviously "functional" choices. I treat the A section as Gm (Bb) centered, with some narly turn arounds, but i'd love your thoughts about any more modern tunes. I've also been working thru Milestones (old one) and Stablemates as tunes that move chromatically. Anyway, thanks so much! I have some questions about your Paetrion page, can i email you?

[@johnrothfield6126]

Jazz/Blues seems to favor half-step alterations which is in alignment to "Everything's close". I theorize that this is due to Jazz/Blues roots in vocals and slide guitar where fluidity of pitch is common. Also, think of Barbershop... I heard Barry say in one of the videos that he really liked Guitar, where moving a chord a half-step is trivial.

[@isaacraz]

I love musings on music! Thanks so much for sharing. This makes sense to me!

[@joshuamarks1129]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Besides being a remarkable “exercise”, it’s improv value is terrific because it doesn’t sound formulaic due to it’s inherent contrary motion voice-leading

[@isaacraz]

Exactly. Like all things BH there is an inherent lyrical symmetry so whatever you come up with is grounded on a solid tonal foundation (for lack of a better term!)

[@guidemeChrist]

I'm so going to steal this and use it to vibe mode players when they call So What just to noodle in dorian, thank you Isaac

[@isaacraz]

Yeah baby. Hit it! I get some good reactions. Unless its a wedding gig, then the reaction is "you're fired"

[@javierjbara6198]

How would Barry analyze the harmony of Lady Bird? I’m really only able to relate the changes to “modal interchange” but I know that Barry doesn’t use modes in his system.

[@isaacraz]

Great question Javier! “Modal interchange“ is a perfectly good term for describing borrowing from other scales. Barry does this as well he just doesn’t call it that. His approach is more practical and geared towards simplicity. So the Fm7 and Bb7 all belong to a Bb7. The Em7b5 and A7 are all C7 ending on the 3rd of A and so on..

[@javierjbara6198]

@@isaacraz Thank you for your answer! As I was analyzing the changes, I connected the Fm7 and Bb7 as connected to G7's diminished relatives, but I still don't quite understand how the 2-5-1 in Ab Major fits in, as that wouldn't relate to C major. Is that borrowed from Ab Major or the b6 in C Major? I try to think of it as Barry or Tadd Dameron would've thought about it.

[@isaacraz]

So from a harmonic analysis standpoint I would guess that the Ab represents a plateau on the chromatic submediant. (Or the 6 chord of the parallel Aeolian in “modal interchange” speak) so the song moves down the minor scale: Tonic sub tonic sub mediant dominant (or 1- b7-b6-5 ) which is almost mirrored in the iconic turnaround - only there it uses tritone subs. (Half assed quick analysis.....) Again that’s a much more academic way of looking at things which BH bypasses entirely. His scale outline would look like this: C major up and down Bb7 up and down C major up and down Eb7 up and down Ab major up and down D7 up and down G7 up and down Then 1235 on C Eb Ab Db (Of course Scales go up to the 7th not the octave as a rule in BH world in case you didn’t already know...)

[@javierjbara6198]

​@@isaacraz Yes, ill jus think of it like that. I'm a jazz studies freshman at City College in Harlem and the analysis im learning is more from the academic standpoint, but barry's method is much better and clear. I'm currently working through the barry harris workshop video set but im still in the beginning

[@guidemeChrist]

@@isaacraz I like to think the Ab is the upper minor 3rd sub of the IV chord

[@azomyte]

Gold! Thank you Isaac. I have a question about working out the scales for learning songs in the Barry Harris way (eg Bb dominant up and down etc). When it comes to chords that just last two beats do you just play like 1235 then the same for the next two beat chord?

[@isaacraz]

That's one way. another is "one of one and three of the other" - see the "approaches to Giant Steps" vid I may do a whole vid on it

[@azomyte]

@@isaacraz thank you, will check out the Giant Steps video

[@richardcarr5241]

I like 1 C dorian or lydian positioned against the 4 F# dim scale (common w/h) the whole scale. I play guitar so I just use the whole scale and think in shapes. a mode positioned against 1 of the 3 diminished scales. or toggle back n forth between the C dor/C common dim and C dor/F dominant dim scales. fun shit

[@isaacraz]

Thanks for sharing that! It shows how this thinking really can be connected any number of ways

[@richardcarr5241]

@@isaacraz I appreciate. great system

[@deneisraelealine8939]

Deus abençoe