Why Barry Harris' Approach Is So Much Better Than Bebop Scales!

What Makes Bebop sound amazing is not the notes, it is the melodies and the phrasing! In this video, I'll show you some of the most important things to learn to get the Bebop sound into your playing using first triads and enclosures but then moving on into some Amazing Barry Harris concepts!

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Content:
00:00 Bebop IS Modern Jazz
00:40 Charlie Parker Is The Mozart Of Jazz
01:19 What's Wrong With Bebop Scales?
02:47 Melody is About Direction
03:35 Back to Triads
05:48 Barry Pivots
07:21 Barry Harris Chromatic scale
08:53 Super-charged Barry Harris
09:57 Chromatic Boosted Half-step
10:30 Grant Is The Greatest
10:46 Like the video? Check out my Patreon page!

My name is Jens Larsen, Danish Jazz Guitarist, and Educator. The videos on this channel will help you explore and enjoy Jazz. Some of it is how to play jazz guitar, but other videos are more on Music Theory like Jazz Chords or advice on how to practice and learn Jazz, on guitar or any other instrument.

The videos are mostly jazz guitar lessons, but also music theory, analysis of songs and videos on jazz guitars.

My Gear:

[JensLarsen]

*How important is Bebop for learning Jazz?*
If you want to explore a practical way to deal with Jazz chords, then follow this approach inspired by Joe Pass:

[TheWaveFiles]

i'm so bitter, Years of jazz lessons, NOT a single teacher told me those simple and so effective principles to play the music i wanted to play so bad in my 20s glad i finally found the key.Thanks

[davidwallis]

This is the best bebop lesson on YouTube. Can we delete all the other bebop tutorials and just keep this one? It will save people decades of trying to reach this. I also love the fact that it's only about 10 minutes long.

[wsirota]

I don't think I've ever spent 11 minutes getting so much useful information on anything in my life before! Thank you so much for this.

[chrischen]

Jens, this lesson gave me more insight in 10 minutes than many years in lessons. You are an absolute gem in this community.

[albertyap]

This has got to be the greatest explanation about bebop phrasing on this planet... ultimate!!!

[leoanders]

I intend to watch this video a thousand times over the next thirty years of my life. Thank you so much!!

[rossfinazzo]

I think you are the best bebop educator out there. Teaching stuff is always a selfless act of love for who comes after. Thanks !

[Joel_Powell]

Another great lesson, Jens. I love how you speak like Barry is still with us - because, in many many ways, he still is. I attended some of his Zoom workshops just before he passed - he IS bebop.

[irawhitlock]

It’s shocking how simple and beautiful the pivot arpeggio is.

[randykalish]

After watching the way jazz players create beautiful incomprehensible walls of notes, I see that this ~11 minute lesson is a fast track for me to create beautiful incomprehensible walls of notes 😎

[twostep]

Your channel is single handedly helping me become a better jazz soloist; thank you for your hard work!

[bernhardtmitdt]

after having struggled with Giant Steps, always unable even to write (nor to play) a musically sounding solo, I watched Barry Harris' lesson about this tune and instantly I were able to write lines instead of lick clusters. Thank you for picking this up ❤

[MrRuneberre]

You`re such a great teacher, Jens! 😀 Clear and precise, straight to the point! Thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge! 🎸👍

[hunterda]

It is amazing how much you are able to pack into a video, and it is all so smooth! You are like the Charlie Parker of jazz

[tcobbish]

No one has ever gotten me to understand jazz licks and progressions until I ran across your videos. Even after getting a music degree I still felt like jazz was so foreign to me. You have inspired me to want to play more jazz guitar!

[manoftheworld]

Django Reinhardt might not be the first name that comes to mind when talking about Bebop but listening to his way of making beautifully tasty melodic lines over just one chord is really a masterclass in Jazz and Bebop. His mastery of constructing MELODY and relying on it to the core gave him an enormous amount of freedom in what to do harmonically as well, it's almost like magic.

He is not mentioned as influential as Charlie Christian in Bebop context but there's just as much of Django in Wes' playing (Octaves, Minor 6 Diminished) as there is of Charlie Christian.

[idlevandal]

So much incredible information and ideas crammed into a single short video... 🤯

[timfairfield]

I have seen a few others explain this topic in similar ways but you really added some concepts especially at the end I never saw in any of the others. You really put a lot of effort here. Thank you!!

[bennettkeasey]

I applaud your videos! You definitely know how to explain jazz improvisation. And you always leave the diligent student on a great path to learning how to incorporate these ideas. I also appreciate that you never over-promise and under-deliver.