As Galper says, if a book teach you only one thing, it is a good book but books often try to make a rule from the random. I have plenty of books and dvds and I have realized that I have learned the same from this forum than learning from books.
I have to say that I don't know about the contents of the improvisation book by the late Frans Elsen. Voice leading is easily an effectively explained in Ligon’s book for example. May you have to go to one of his workshops in order to learn that, or better you have to extract the science from his music, or may be I’m stupid. I think the more interesting think about Harris theories is his way into voice leading, “running scales into each other” or the way He speaks sometimes about using the dominant scale for all things, but I haven’t seen this ideas well explained in any of those methods. Berliner than in the other books available with the Harris name on them. Saying even more, I think that Harris method for soloing is better described in the short words about it in the book “Thinking in Jazz” by Paul F.
Some people says it lacks of music examples, may be, but you can use the exercises with known progressions. I make a point apart for the book by Alan Kingston, I think is great. I have the Talk Jazz method from Ben- Hur, his chordal DVD and his mikemasterclass lessons I’ve seen every video avalaible from the master, read every interview and its difficult to me to make a jump from the approach described into improvisation. I think that Barry Harris deserves yet a good method book explaining his whole plethora of ideas (may be an encyclopedia), but apart from the scale outline of progressions I think the material about Harris is obscure. the Charlie Parker influence is clear, but not slavish - it feels like a logical evolution: a guy like Charles McPherson (a Barry student) is a really good example of where this approach can take you. i don't think Barry would WANT his stuff to work on that kind of stuff, he has no qualms telling you exactly what he thinks of that kind of music.īut even if you're a big fan of that stuff (and i certainly am), it's been really valuable to take this very disciplined approach to changes. his approach is for improvising on blues, rhythm changes, and standards and would not really be appropriate for modal tunes or non-functional harmony (think Wayne Shorter).
Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, and Monk are his touchstones. Keep in mind that Barry is all about pure, unadultered bebop. things start making sense, and elements of his ideas begin to pop into your playing. until you get familiar with his nomenclature and processing his thoughts, it can be quite overwhelming.īut bit by bit, you begin to piece things together and get the bigger picture. everything is done by ear, and the tempos are quite brisk. Barry has many ideas, approaches, and ways to practice things, but i would hesitate to call it a "system." there's never "First you learn this, next you work on that." each workshop consists of whatever Barry feels like expounding on at that particular moment. They're a pretty good representation of what his workshops are like. there's a YouTube account called (i believe) "BarryHarrisVideos" consisting of clips from clinics he did at a music school in The Hague. I've been to quite a few of Barry's workshops.
See more at: Justin Robinson Talks Bird, Trane, Roy Hargrove, and Long Tones » Best. In addition, I like to practice my scales throughout various songs such as “I Got Rhythm.” I highly recommend checking out Barry Harris teachings, which have helped me develop my practice routine and an understanding of chord progressions. On the road, I focus primarily on long tones as well as playing through my scales very slow and soft to build up my endurance and accuracy. JR: At home, I practice more piano and flute than I do saxophone since I have a piano at home and have things I want to work on. I've seen a lot of his chord stuff, but not his line based teachings. I know they are a number of Barry Harris followers and teachers and wonder is someone could describe the Barry Harris approach. In his interview he mentions using a Barry Harris approach to practicing. I was reading an interview with excellent saxophonist Justin Robinson from Roy Hargrove band.