How To Solo On The (Jazz) Blues with Barry Harris Half Step Rules & Substitutions: Bebop 101 Ep3

[@jonandersande]

Oh my god! you saved me!! Thaks you very much for your generosity. I have been playing blues on piano and Hammond organ for some years, and I have managed to play it quite well, but so far I have failed in all my attempts to approach a more "hard bop" style. Your videos have saved me. Since a year ago I am trying to play a blues similar to Mose Allison songs, and thanks to your videos, and for the first time, it seems that I have finally found an undestandable way to analyze their songs. Thanks again. From Spain.

[@billgrahammusic]

Thanks so much Jon! Happy to help. I'm so glad people are finding these videos to be helpful.

[@merrasoa8327]

Merci ,cest formidable

[@erezsimon6949]

the best piano lesson ever

[@MilesLeonSax]

this has really shown that there is no shortcut to mastering this music.

[@namenaim1560]

Bird, Bud, Barry and Bill. Just sent for your book. Many thanks

[@GrumpyStormtrooper]

it's just so crazy that there's all this knowledge and material online waiting to be used! and for free! the internet truly is a powerful tool. i still have to develop the speed and dexterity of the scales but i think with a few weeks of practice i'll have learnt your previous video on bepop, and then i'll move on to this. wonderfully explained and presented as always.

[@giampieroburza109]

Thanks so so much for sharing this awesome lessons! I attended a couple of Barry’s clinics here in Italy and, as you just said, it changed my vision of bebop language and phrasing ‘overnight’ but you are making it really effective with your stunning step by step, rule by rule examples! I wish you all the best and if you pass by Italy, please let me know, it would be my pleasure to have a drink together! 😊

[@jacquelamontharenberg]

Hello Bill .... As a Saxophonist, I find this video inspiring and easy to understand. As your playing, I am hearing licks in my head and even anticipate the resolutions. Good inspiration for learning bebop licks. When I hear a lick in my head, I like to sing it, then try to play it until it becomes internalized, then work it out in other keys. Great job on this video. Thank you.

[@Wildepicureism]

I ve just discovered ur channel and i m really grateful! Subscribed! I ll start tmw with the half step rules. I ll write u again in a couple of decades :D

[@billgrahammusic]

Thanks so much! Let me know how it goes.

[@matthew1040]

I like the application at the end..very nice. Thanks for teaching.

[@billgrahammusic]

Thanks Matthew!

[@boftoa]

This is some very solid content! Your teaching method is very practical. Keep it up!

[@Malcolm.Y]

This vid is the Grand Etude de Harris. It shows ideas on the transition from static harmony rules (playing "over") chords to connecting harmonies (playing through chord changes).

[@rastuakzul]

the way u explain,your presentation everything is fantastic😊 thank you for doing this..

[@billgrahammusic]

Thanks very much!

[@simonanthonymcglynn3918]

Hi Bill, this is brilliant, just what I was looking for. I am bored of just playing the blues scale, and couldn't make my playing sound like bebop. But now I can, thankyou.

[@buddyfaya8631]

So glad I found your channel

[@chriselven8806]

Thanks again Bill. There is so much useful content in your videos. I will certainly recommend them to my fellow classmates (studying jazz piano).

[@hjnklful]

I have been looking for this video for years! Thanks you.

[@romainbertrand253]

Playing all this with the guitar is a bit challenging but not impossible at all. It's just new habits and patterns. Very very cool indeed. Thanks.

[@billgrahammusic]

Thanks Romain! I definitely found it pretty challenging to play all of this stuff on guitar at first too, especially the rule with 3 extra half steps in a row.

[@RahulDas-zy6ut]

glad i found this channel ❤️

[@ppdlive]

master of permutations, good job. you know what. Your final solo make me think about Thelonius Monk style, sound very similar.

[@WilliamSlaght]

I love you. You don't understand how much fun it is studying with a textbook taking notes while watching your videos. You hit the hammer on the nail over and over. I hope you mind if I borrow certain of your teaching methods as I have been having problems dealing with finding the proper pedagogical means to teach my students. I always show an idea too abstract, complex or mathematical. You have obviously shown close attention to Barry's own teachings as well, intensive in fact. Hats off to you sir! A conversation between us about harmony would be interesting, very interesting indeed.

[@WilliamSlaght]

The next master I highly recommend to study as well, and he has an archive site with all his genius scribbles as well would be Ted Greene. He has a couple of videos here, and even if he is a guitarist, he has plenty to offer, and I say this as a mostly solo pianist. I really mean this, I really recommend him. Ignore his dumb student, but pay attention to how witty Ted answers some of the dumb student's questions. Richard Grayson, the genius imitator improviser, used to have very informative videos on KZbin, but they were mostly all taken off, and then he died, but thank god I saved some of his videos, and his "Art of Classical Improvisation" is still on KZbin. Now I say this because dude you're on fire with these videos, and you're teaching the REAL GOOD shit, and not only that, but you're teaching it REAL GOOD too, and that matters a lot. So I want you to check out these absolute geniuses too as you'll for sure love it, or at least that's the feeling I'm getting from watching your videos.

[@billgrahammusic]

Thanks so much man! By all means, please use these methods with your students, the more people who know and play this stuff the better!

[@billgrahammusic]

I’m a huge fan of Ted Green. I’m not familiar with Richard Grayson, I’ll need to check him out.

[@nelsonnwaonuma7851]

Promise Kept👍🏼 Thank Bill, you are a great teacher!

[@billgrahammusic]

Thanks Nelson, I appreciate it!

[@nelsonnwaonuma7851]

@@billgrahammusic You are always Welcome Sir!

[@Intenzity]

your stuff is great, really really valuable, presented very thoroughly. Really great stuff in these.

[@TheTorresProject]

You are a blessing my friend

[@SG-ig2eu]

Amazing teaching

[@NizJazzBTC]

Excellent video!

[@alistaircornacchio5727]

Such a good video thank you!

[@petpuu]

Very good tutorial!!

[@ammiammi1974]

Thanks a lot for this great lesson, so very useful. Very clearly explained. Subscribed immediately. Cheers.

[@davidfreel1451]

The ii is SOMETIMES a double suspension on the five. Sometimes it is substituting for the IV in which case the V which follows it is the elaboration. Important thing to know if you want to hear solos that are reminiscent of the original melody.

[@omip168]

I'd be really interested to see you do this with the A section of rhythm changes and a tune with more diminished stuff like it could happen to you. Thanks again for the great content

[@billgrahammusic]

I’ll definitely be doing a video on applying this stuff to rhythm changes. It Could Happen To You would be a nice tune to talk about too, I’ll add it to the list. Thanks!

[@gemsfromhistorysdustpan2.070]

I hated Bebop until I heard Art Tatum play piano and realized Oh what was that what they're trying to do? the way I feel about Elvis and gospel singing

[@francescoterra1449]

Thank you very much!

[@billgrahammusic]

Happy to help!

[@rockstarjazzcat]

Thanks for this!

[@Tzaltochnie1]

Great lessons man

[@azomyte]

Fantastic presentation! Is there a transcription available anywhere?

[@JLamont45]

Do you have these particular lessons in notation? In your book? I want it!!!!!

[@TheDao69]

Why does it matter if you are descending or us sending a scale? Why do we learn these scales with a specification in regards to what direction we are playing them?

[@thingsivelearnedfrombarryh2616]

The seventh Bar should be Fmajor7 up and down to the 3rd of D7. Barry doesn't look at that change as Amin7b5 to D7.

[@brothercaleb]

Right on

[@billgrahammusic]

Thanks Chris. I do show F major up and down to the 3rd of D7 also, but I should have emphasized it more. I was under the impression that the choice was more fluid, and up to what you're hearing at the moment, but if Barry says it's always F major, thats good to know. I'd love to be able to go to his classes. I've learned so much from watching videos of him (and of his students like you,) but I'm sure there's a great deal of nuance that I'm still missing from not being able to be in class and ask questions. Thanks for the input.

[@thingsivelearnedfrombarryh2616]

@@billgrahammusic From what I've seen of your videos, you're doing a great job with your explanations. I'm not the authority on Barry's teaching, only he can be. I just try to give input that might be helpful based on what I've learned from taking his class. The more people spreading Barry's ideas accurately, the better. Keep it up Brother!

[@qweqwe-sb9gj]

Must say i really like how Mr. Graham puts the halfstep rules down to changes , not just showing naked scale runs. Its a must to get it under our fingers but then applying them like this ...i just can't belive my eyes and ears people like two of you guys teach us mediocers how to play this beutiful music. God save the youtube;-) When I go down on the 7th bar for two bars I start on the 6th so I am playing F6 using one pass tone between 5th and 6th and so finish on the 3rd of D. Would Barry or anyone play this'-)? Blesses.

[@tbonealex]

The #IVo7 chord in the sixth bar almost never happens in the rhythm section as well. I see it all the time on lead sheets but I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard it on an actual bebop recording. If anyone can point me to an example, let me know!

[@petermcmurray2807]

I shall be back this sounds exactly what I want to hear but too tired and need to take notes. I have told my teacher that my new method is Bach to Barry. I have never agreed with the tonal police but could not see the way out.🥰

[@humblemai2211]

Please make more tutorial about jazz piano Bebop...thanks

[@larseriksson1184]

thank you. also you play ver well

[@kidpoker007]

Dang wish this was for guitar

[@nomennescio317]

These are great! The best presentation of this material I have seen on youtube. Will there be a rhythm changes installment?

[@billgrahammusic]

Thanks so much! I'm definitely planning on doing an episode on applying the Barry ideas to Rhythm Changes. I do have one video already talking about the rhythm changes bridge, not talking about Barry Harris stuff, but just playing various approach concepts on the triads kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqPXp4aCjr6lfNU

[@kristerman]

Really nice work Bill, your way of teaching is very functional and creative, I ordered your book and just have 2 questions. 1) Is it an unwritten rule of the old masters to ascend arpegios and descend the scales using the half step rules? Because if I'm not mistaken that's what you do in ALL of your examples. 2) Regarding chord tone approaches, do these rules apply for the 7th too?

[@billgrahammusic]

Hi Kris, thanks so much! 1) Yes, they tended to play up an arpeggio and then down a scale line with added notes. I haven't heard anybody talk about why that is, but to me, the extra half steps added into the descending scale lines add a certain extra momentum, like a barrel rolling down a hill. When half steps are added to ascending lines, I find that they tend to be in smaller groups, like just a 2 or 3 note approach into a chord tone, rather than the long continuous lines you find descending. 2) Absolutely.

[@marcusstoica]

Hi Kris, just as an added comment, Miles Davis's Donna Lee is a great place to see that in action.

[@m.vonhollen6673]

Why just descending scale lines? Why not ascending as well? I would appreciate help understanding this. Thank you!

[@tioliak]

Maybe ascending arpeggio, descending scale

[@cocovi]

@@tioliak correct

[@MichaelHulsey-d3h]

Very interesting although too hard to follow. Maybe add staff to show what you discuss.

[@granddaddy_funk]

From that title (jazz) I'm betting some guitar players got disappointed lol

[@m.vonhollen6673]

Guitar is the only instrument used in Jazz?

[@hajrullah8855]

thaaaanks :)

[@billgrahammusic]

By all means!

[@markbra]

Thanks for your generosity. A question: how do you like playing newer acoustic pianos ?

[@billgrahammusic]

Thanks! On one level, it's a privilege to have access to an acoustic piano at all. I almost always would rather play all but the worst acoustic piano over just about any digital piano. That being said, I personally have a preference for older pianos. They have a certain character that I recognize from the old records that I love. I'm lucky to have a Knabe from the late 1910's which has a beautifully chunky sound. Modern pianos tend to be a little brighter, more crystalline, more shimmer. They probably sound "better," but that newer sound just doesn't appeal as much to me.

[@markbra]

@@billgrahammusic Knabe means boy or lad in German.

[@berkayozerbay6155]

What can we play on left hand?

[@brothercaleb]

Just shells... tonic and seventh

[@jazzguitarsjoy]

Grazie!!!!!

[@alistaircornacchio5727]

For some of the descending lines to practice, you were neglecting certain half steps. Is this just because you knew where you wanted to resolve and so you omitted those?

[@brothercaleb]

Timestamp

[@alistaircornacchio5727]

@@brothercaleb ?

[@brothercaleb]

@@alistaircornacchio5727 where exactly? You could show the time at which this occurs

[@alistaircornacchio5727]

@@brothercaleb Oh gotcha.. so at 16:10 he's going to go through the blues progression with these half steps. When he is descending on the F7 and B7 for two bars, the first bar he uses the half step rule and then the second bar either doesn't include half steps, or has less or something. Then on the F7 to D7, he stops short and arrives nicely at the F sharp. These types of inconsistencies are small and make sense musically.. but it seems we went from the straightforward rules that made up the other Maj7 and Dom7 videos and added some variability to it, but I didn't catch an explanation of how he's thinking about these changes. (this is before he start to include the runs and arpeggios and enclosures to the lines) I'm just wondering how to follow these rules so that I can move on past the restrictive stage and start to get looser with those runs arpeggios etc...

[@brothercaleb]

@@alistaircornacchio5727 let’s address the “how he’s thinking about the changes” part. I take it that you got the part on F7 to Bb7... at 16:10 , so that’s fine. Notice that these lines have 3 half steps because he’s starting to descend from the 3rd of each scale (3rd rule: “when descending from 3rd add 3 half steps”). The half steps are: 3rd to 2nd, 2nd to 1st, 1st to flat 7th ( in other words, playing every single note from 3rd to flat 7th). After that he continues with scale notes as normal until next chord change or bar/measure. If you notice he doesn’t go straight from F7 to D7 but he uses a ii-v move to get there by first playing an A (ii) then D7 (v). So he first descends with F7 scale adding the rules @16:28 until he reaches the “c” note (notice this is where there’s a chord change @16:30-beginning of our ii-v move ie A to D7). He continues with F7 scale as he plays the ii chord (A) aiming for the 3rd of the v chord (D7). And that’s what he does there, like you say, arrives “nicely” on F# note which is a 3rd of D7. Remember: the move was from F7 to D7, therefore the scales involved are F dominant and D dominant. The A chord doesn’t affect anything as it’s a sort of passing chord en route to D7. Did I make sense?

[@marcelricklin]

What a great channel. I really love it. Is there gonna be more great stuff? One thing I don't understand. Why don't you apply the 3 Half Step Rule on the second half of a Chord with a duration of 2 Measures? For Example in Bar 3 and 4 is the Chord F7, you play the 3 Half Step rule only in Bar 3. Is there a reason for that?

[@marcelricklin]

3 Half Step Rule from the 3rd

[@billgrahammusic]

The rule resets on the downbeat of the next bar. Since when you start on the 3rd and use the 3 half step rule, you end up on the 5th on the next downbeat, you could have used the 3 half step rule again, I just chose another option. One thing to note if you use the 3 half step rule again in bar 4 is that you’ll end up on Eb on beat one of the Bb7 chord at bar 5 (the 4th of the chord,) so you’ll have to get yourself out of that logically, most likely with a chromatic enclosure into the 3rd of Bb7 (Eb C# D,) and then continue your line. Great question, thanks for asking!

[@adamchilvers50]

Thank you so much for these videos! I've become fascinated by the teachings of B.H - both the music and the maths - and your explanations are really clear and thorough. As I practice the half step rules I'm wondering, when starting on the 2, 4, or 6, why not play the necessary half steps to land squarely on a 1,3,5, or 7 and then continue with those rules rather than having a separate rule for the 2,4,6? Also do you know if there is any particular reason to not put half steps on the #5 and b5? Thanks again for the excellent tutorials.

[@stefciko5831]

Great lesson but when i play i can't think all of this stuff , you can't

[@brothercaleb]

Sure you can. You use a portion of it in certain places. Obviously you don’t just play scales as demonstrated here but the idea is to create lines and try to drop these devices into them. A little tidbit: use these ideas where there’s a dominant chord (yes, even secondary doms 😉). Now being that these ideas work well on Dominants its only logical to demonstrate them on the blues. However, they’re totally usable in jazz-you hear bud using them all the time (check “Piano Interpretations” album). Have fun at the piano.

[@SG-ig2eu]

You need to isolate every part of this and add it to your muscle memory so you don’t have to think about it

[@jgloninger]

C 7-up? 7-up B flat... F 7-up!!! (reaches for the tonic) 🤦‍♂

[@markbra]

How about doing this with All the things...... ?

[@billgrahammusic]

I will definitely be doing videos about both comping and soloing on All The Things.