Foundations: Towards a New Chromatic Theory

Volume I — Polyphony­
by
Dr. Thomas Echols

1
Table of Contents

3 Introduction

5 Part I: Theory

24 Part II: Practice

28 Pathfinding

30 Summoning

33 Borrowing

36 Relative Motion

41 Substitution

47 Transformation

54 The Chromatic Scale

58 Closing Thoughts

59 Glossary

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 Foundations I: Polyphonic Practice Cº

Introduction F7

“How can I effectively organize my practice?” D7

B7
Ab7

This is the question at the heart of this new series. I hope that you will find the proposed answers that follow to be DMaj6
D7b5 B7b5
BMaj6 AbMaj6
FMaj6
helpful to you, as I have found them to be helpful to me in my own practice. Learning to improvise can seem quite
daunting, even with all of the amazing things that the great Barry Harris has given us for guidance. It can often seem Bmin6

like there is too much to learn, and that it is impossible to know if we are moving forward. Dmin6 Abmin6
Fmin6

There is a set of core “techniques” that are utilized in any polyphonic improvisation, whether it be simple comping, a Bº

“chord melody” arrangement of a tune, or free polyphonic improvisation. In all of these techniques, there are two fun- E7
damental actions taking place. I call these actions pathfinding and summoning. In addition to pathfinding and sum- Db7 G7

moning, there are five other areas of practice that I have included in the daily practice routine. Each one of these uses Bb7

pathfinding and summoning in particular ways. Importantly, every aspect of the daily routine is scalable, allowing one Db7b5 Bb7b5
to go up a progressive ladder of workouts, etudes, and musical applications, each being a bit more advanced than that EMaj6
DbMaj6 BbMaj6 GMaj6

which preceded it.

Bbmin6
Dbmin6
It is important to understand the general scope of things. Accordingly, I have included pages that explain the theoret-
Gmin6
Emin6

ical underpinnings of Barry Harris’s improvisational approach, using geometries, chord charts, and other diagrams to
help paint the picture. The point is to show the cohesiveness, simplicity, and interconnectivity of it all. Bbº

Eb7

The goal is to arrive at a place where we are speaking the language effortlessly, expressing ourselves meaningfully and C7
A7
Gb7

beautifully as we explore bebop. I often tell my students that we have two different aspects of ourselves that are in play
when practicing our instrument: these are sometimes called System 1 and System 2. Our system 1 is automatic, instinc- CMaj6
C7b5 A7b5
AMaj6 GbMaj6
tive, and quick. This is the aspect of ourselves that flows. System 2 is rational, methodical, analytical, and relatively slow.
EbMaj6

System 2 is also kind of tiring to engage with (it takes some effort). The way I see it, our goal in practicing is to use our Amin6
System 2 to educate our System 1, and, for this reason, I often think of these as the teacher-self and the student-self, Cmin6 Gbmin6
Ebmin6
respectively.
Our System 1 student-self is where muscle memory operates. The goal, then, is to utilize the more effortful System 2 to Aº

teach that student-self to acquire a Linguistic Muscle Memory that can then be used to improvise freely. This means
that, when practicing, it is not only important to know what to do, but how to think about it as we do it. In what follows, I will be giving a lot
of guidance about that,
3
informed by many years of teaching and by my own personal study. Most importantly, the conscious engagement with pathfinding and summoning, as
described in this document and those that follow, will really help you to acquire the prized linguistic muscle memory that we are seeking, so I strongly
suggest giving the effort --it will really pay off!

A note about the organization of this text.

The idea of a technical workout for any instrument is that it gives a minimal number of activities that, when studied carefully, lead to mastery of a
maximal number of musical situations. My background is in classical guitar, where it is common to organize daily technical “workout” regimens in
this way. A common daily technical routine for a guitarist would include all of the activities in the diagram on the left. After practicing technique for a
period of time (at least an hour), a person might practice concert etudes followed by other repertoire. I love the clarity of organization that this sort of
routine represents, and we can apply this organizational scheme to our improvisational practice as well! The diagram on the right shows the seven-part
polyphonic practice routine that we will be covering in this document (along with the accompanying YouTube video).

This document is divided into 2 sections: Theory and Practice. There is also an accompanying YouTube video here, and a daily practice regimen video
series through the Labyrinth of Limitations Patreon site.

While the practice section will have elements of theory throughout, it is mainly activity based. By this I mean that it really is all about practicing reg-
ularly. It is very easy to fall into the trap of just wanting to understand things theoretically, but that is only the beginning of our journey as musicians.
Indeed, we don’t need to understand things nearly as well as we might think we need to in order to engage in good, productive practice.

The information in the “theory” section is what I believe is the most essential --there could be a lot more info, but these are the “nuts and bolts’ facts
that will be meaningful and rewarding as they provide the necessary contextual ”whys and wherefores” of our practice routine.

Barring The Chromatic Scale

Let’s take in the theoretical landscape first, by walking through Barry Harris’s
Finger Independence
“Creation Theory” and familiarizing ourselves with the core materials used in Transformation

Extensions polyphonic improvisation. If you’ve never learned any of Barry’s teachings, this is Substitution
the place for you to start. If you’re feeling quite familiar with this part of things,
Shifts Relative Motion
I bet you’ll still gain some helpful insight from the geometric diagrams in this
Slurs section, so stick around and don’t jump ahead just yet! Borrowing

Arpeggios Summoning Objects

Scales Finding Paths

Technique Practice Polyphonic Practice

A technical practice routine. An Improvisational Practice Routine 4

Genesis of Harmony
C
B C#/Db

A#/Bb D

A D#/Eb

G#/Ab E

G F
F#/Gb

One Chromatic “Universe”

C C
B C#/Db B C#/Db

A#/Bb D A#/Bb D

A D#/Eb A D#/Eb

G#/Ab E G#/Ab E

G F G F
F#/Gb F#/Gb

Two Whole Tone “Parents”

C C C
B C#/Db B C#/Db B C#/Db

A#/Bb D A#Bb D A#/Bb D

A D#/Eb A D#/Eb A D#/Eb

G#/Ab E G#/Ab E G#/Ab E

G F G F G F
F#/Gb F#/Gb F#/Gb

Figure 1. Each Diminished Chord Comes from Both “Parent” Whole Tone Scales

5
©Thomas Echols
 Theory
We will start our journey with Barry’s beautiful creation theory. Among other benefits of this, it will allow us
to construct a lot of materials out of a small set of principles, and will be really helpful in gaining the necessary
familiarity with these materials. The goal of this “theory” section is to introduce, in a musically meaningful way,
the Four Scales of Chords that we will use in our daily practice.

Take a look at Figure 1 “A Genesis of Harmony” as we go through this first part of the discussion. A lot of har-
monic concepts can really benefit from the use of a “Pitch Class Circle”, which sets the 12 notes in a clock-face,
eliminating considerations of octave and register. We can see the shapes of harmonies and scale structures as
they are drawn within this circle. For example, it is relatively easy to observe that all of the notes from the first
whole tone scale (the one that includes C) are different from the notes in the second whole tone scale. It is also
easy to see how the two scales combine to form the total chromatic scale. Furthermore, we can see that the B-F
tritone interval in the middle diminished chord is from the first whole tone scale while Ab-D tritone is from the
second whole tone scale, and we can see the three chords at the bottom are all of the same type: the symmetrical
fully diminished 7th chord.

The beginning of Barry’s creation theory has us considering the total chromatic as the universe, which then splits
off into two “parent” whole tone scales. Since each diminished chord has two notes from each whole tone scale, it
can be said that they have DNA from each of the two parents.

It’s worth saying here that there are many things in Barry’s teaching that are so eloquently simple that they
might make a student say, “What’s the big deal?”. The “creation theory” description of the relationship of these
diminished chords to the whole tone scales might be one of those instances for a person. As with other eloquent
formulations in Barry’s frameworks, these simple facts will have far reaching implications that will help us to
feel effortless and simple when dealing with complex improvisational situations. In this Theory section, we will
explore some of these implications, but there are many more that we will learn about in later texts.

Now, let’s take a look at Figure 2. It shows how one set of “grand-children” come into existence. If you take any
diminished chord and lower two adjacent notes, you’ll end up with a Major 6 chord, which is just a major triad
plus a major 6th. For these examples, we are using a Drop 2 voicing on the guitar, simply because it is the most
straightforward way to have 4 different notes in a 6th or 7th chord. It can be confusing to find which note pairs
are adjacent, though, when looking at the chord on the guitar fretboard. If you look at the pitch-class circles in
Figure 2, it is quite easy to find the adjacent note pairs, so don’t forget to take advantage of that when working
through the theoretical stuff! One way to think about it is that adjacent notes in a drop 2 diminished chord will
be Minor 3rds, Major 6ths, or Minor 10ths.

[If you have the Labyrinth of Limitations App, download and import the Lesson File and go to Lesson 1.]

The four Major 6 chords that are found in this way are called family because they are brothers and sisters, so to
speak. All four come from the same pair of diminished chords: two notes from one diminished chord and 2 from
the other. It is very important to grab your guitar and play through these concepts, and, with that in mind, here’s
your first exercise, in 3/4 time, for practicing the family of Major 6 Chords.

6
 C dim7 C6 C dim7 A6 C dim7 F6 C dim7 E6
fr. 3 fr. 3 fr. 3 fr. 3 fr. 3



Exercise 1. Finding the Major 6 Family

Now, try playing through the Major 6 Family without the intervening diminished “parent”. [In the App, press
Space-bar and then press the F key to see different family members. You can also click on them individually in
the tesseract]

C6 A6 F6 E6 E6 F6 A6 C6
fr. 3 fr. 3


Exercise 2. Practicing the Major 6 Family

Now, take a look at Figure 3 “The Major 6 Diminished Scale”. In this diagram, we see how a C Major 6 chord
comes from two parent diminished chords, leading us to find that the third diminished chord has no shared
notes with C Major 6. This is the diminished chord that pulls to the C Major 6 chord (in other words, it has dom-
inant tension in relation to C Major 6). For the sake of brevity, I will refer to this “third diminished chord” as the
off chord.
Major 7th C
It is important to give each of the notes of the off chord a label, in the same way B C#/Db
Major 2nd
that we can describe the notes of the on chord (C Major 6) as being a Root, A#/Bb D

Third, Fifth, or Sixth. We will describe the notes of any off chord in relation to the
A D#/Eb
root of its corresponding on chord. As you can see, these are the Major 7th, the
Major 2nd, the Perfect 4th, and the Sharp 5th (I prefer to call it this rather than Sharp 5th
G#/Ab E

a Minor 6th). For brevity’s sake I will call these the 2nd, 4th, Sharp 5, and Major G F
F#/Gb
7th. Perfect 4th

The Notes of the Off Chord in Relation to C

By interleaving the on and off chords, we create an 8-note Scale of Chords named,
appropriately, the C Major 6 Diminished Scale. In exercise 3, we play each note of this scale, ascending and
descending, while naming aloud each scale degree. Practice it once saying the scale degree and then practice it
while only saying “on” or “off ” for each degree. Notice that we do not refer to the scale degrees in a conventional
manner ( “one, two, three. . .”). Rather, their names are based on their position within the on or off chord.



Root Second Third Fourth Fifth Sharp 5 Six Major 7
“on” “off” “on” etc. . .
Exercise
Exercise3. Practicing the the
3. Practicing C Major 6 Diminished
C Major ScaleScale
6 Diminished 7
A Family of Major 6 Chords
From Two Diminished Chords C#º

F#7

Eb7 A7
C7

EbMaj6 CMaj6
F#Maj6 AMaj6

C C
B C#/Db B C#/Db

A#/Bb D A#/Bb D

A
2 D#/Eb A
2 D#/Eb

G#/Ab E G#/Ab E

G F G F
F#/Gb F#/Gb

Primary Parent Secondary Parent

C C C C
B C#/Db B C#/Db B C#/Db B C#/Db

A#/Bb D A#/Bb D A#/Bb D A#/Bb D

A D#/Eb A D#/Eb A D#/Eb A D#/Eb

G#/Ab E G#/Ab E G#/Ab E G#/Ab E

G F G F G F G F
F#/Gb F#/Gb F#/Gb F#/Gb

C Major 6 A Major 6 F# Major 6 Eb Major 6

Figure 2. Lower (or raise) two adjacent notes from a diminished chord to create a Major 6 chord.

8
©Thomas Echols
The Major 6
Diminished Scale
Primary Parent Secondary Parent

C C
B C#/Db B C#/Db

A#/Bb D A#/Bb D

A
2 D#/Eb A

G#/Ab
2 D#/Eb

G#/Ab E E

G F G F
F#/Gb F#/Gb

C Major 6 The Unrelated Diminished Chord

C
C B C#/Db
B C#/Db
A#/Bb D
A#/Bb D

A D#/Eb
A D#/Eb

G#/Ab E
G#/Ab E
G F
G F F#/Gb
F#/Gb

Figure 3. C Major 6 is interleaved with the unrelated diminished chord (AKA the “off” chord) to create the C Major 6 Diminished Scale

C
B C#/Db

A#/Bb D

A D#/Eb

G#/Ab E

G F
F#/Gb



While the C Major 6 Diminished scale has special properties, it is still a scale and should be treated as such. Start by
practicing it note by note. 9
©Thomas Echols
It is equally important to practice this scale on a single string. Practice playing it up and down the second string,
saying the scale degrees aloud as you go.

Exercise 4. Practicing the C Major 6 Diminished Scale on a single string

An important next step is to begin harmonizing single notes from the scale using one of the “floors” of the ele-
vator, which will be discussed in the “practice” section of this document. Start by only harmonizing the off chord
notes, experiencing how easy it is to summon (a term I will also explain more fully in the Practice section) the
drop 2 chord beneath each of these notes, since it will always be the same shape on the guitar fretboard. Don’t
forget to say the scale degrees!

Bdim7 Bdim7 Bdim7 Bdim7

fr. 4 fr. 7 fr. 10

Root Second Third Fourth Fifth Sharp 5 Six Major 7 Root

“on” “off” “on” etc. . .
Exercise
Exercise5.5.
Harmonizing thethe
Harmonizing off off
chord
chord

Now, we can fill out the scale, harmonizing the on chord scale degrees as well. Notice that we are taking the
chord shapes from Figure 2 and transposing each one so that they are all C Major 6 chords. This time, practice
it once saying the scale degrees on the second string and then practice it a second time saying the scale degrees
on the fifth string. The things we think while practicing for improvisation are incredibly important, and saying
these scale degrees aloud will help you to acquire the ability to find paths and summon objects, which will lead to
fluency in this language. Contemplate what scale degree should be next, on the 5th or 2nd string, then practice
summoning the chord shape that would correspond with that scale degree. I recommend pretending that you
are harmonizing a melody from a great jazz standard as you do this. [Labyrinth App: With Lesson 1 still selected
from the playlist, press space-bar once, and then press the right and left arrows to explore the scale interactively]

C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6

fr. 4 fr. 5 fr. 7 fr. 9 fr. 10 fr. 12

2nd String: Root Second Third Fourth Fifth Sharp 5 Six Major 7 Root
“on” “off” “on” etc. . .
5th String: Six Major 7 Root Second Third Fourth Fifth Sharp 5 Six
“on” “off” “on” etc. . .
Exercise 6. Practicing the C Major 6 Diminished Scale with Drop 2 chords

10
[Labyrinth App: open Lesson 2 and press the space-bar]

If we take a closer look at the off chord in this scale, we can use it as a springboard for finding the three remaining
scales of chords that we will be using for our improvisational practice routine. Figure 4 shows how we can take
the B Full Diminished 7 Chord and lower any note to find a Dominant 7 chord, the lowered note becoming its
root. The resulting four chords are the family of Dominant 7 chords that includes G7. Let’s practice moving the
Diminished 7 chord into each of these Dominant 7 chords, similarly to what we did in exercise 1.
Bdim7 B7 Bdim7 G7 Bdim7 E7 Bdim7 D7



Exercise 7. Finding the Dominant 7 Family

Now, let’s practice playing only the family, without the intervening Diminished chord. [Labyrinth App: Press the
F key or click in the tesseract to explore family for G Dominant 7]

B7 G7 E7 D7 D7 E7 G7 B7



Exercise 8. Practicing the Dominant 7 Family

[Labyrinth App: Use the right and left arrows to explore the G Dominant 7 scale of chords on all strings.]

Figure 5 (on the following page) shows that we can build the Dominant 7 Diminished Scale in the same way that
we built the Major 6 Diminished Scale. Notice that the off chord has the same relationship to G that the previous
off chord had with C major 6: the notes can be labeled Major 7, Major 2nd, Perfect 4th, and Sharp 5th (spoiler
alert: this will be the case in the other two scales of chords as well)!

In the key of C major, G Dominant 7 is the V7 chord. I call this “the true dominant” to distinguish it from the
other substitutions that we can play when a V7 chord appears in a song. Let’s forget, for a moment, that we
know about V7 chords (in this case G7) and how they resolve to Tonic chords (in this case C Major). Instead,
let’s pretend that all we know is that B fully Diminished 7 is the off chord that resolves to C Major 6, and that we
have now learned that we can lower one note by one semitone to discover a chord (G7) that is almost the same
chord as B Diminished, given that it shares 3 of its 4 notes. Our logic
is that G Dominant 7 also resolves effectively to C Major, courtesy of its Dmin6 The Minor 6 on the 5
near-diminished-7-ness. Given all of this, it would make sense to try
moving the same note up that we had previously moved down, mov-
ing G# up to A-natural and creating D Minor 6. As it turns Bº
out, this chord resolves nicely to C Major 6 as well!
E7
Take a look at Figure 6 for the Family of Minor 6 Chords that includes
D Minor 6. Db7 G7
[Labyrinth App: Explore Lesson 3: The D Minor 6 Diminished Scale] Bb7 The True Dominant

11
A Family of Dominant 7 Chords Bº

From Two Diminished Chords

E7

Db7 G7
C C Bb7
B C#/Db B C#/Db

A#/Bb D A#/Bb D

A
3 D#/Eb A
1 D#/Eb

G#/Ab E G#/Ab E

G F G F
F#/Gb F#/Gb

Primary Parent Secondary Parent

C C C C
B C#/Db B C#/Db B C#/Db B C#/Db

A#/Bb D A#/Bb D A#/Bb D A#/Bb D

fr. 3

A D#/Eb A D#/Eb A D#/Eb A D#/Eb

G#/Ab E G#/Ab E G#/Ab E G#/Ab E

G F G F G F G F
F#/Gb F#/Gb F#/Gb F#/Gb

Bb Dominant 7 G Dominant 7 E Dominant 7 Db Dominant 7

Figure 4. Lower one note from the primary parent diminished chord and it becomes the root of a Dominant 7 chord.

12
©Thomas Echols
The Dominant 7
Diminished Scale
Primary Parent Secondary Parent

C C
B C#/Db B C#/Db

A#/Bb D A#/Bb D

A
3 D#/Eb A
1 D#/Eb

G#/Ab E G#/Ab E

G F G F
F#/Gb F#/Gb

G Dominant 7 The Unrelated Diminished Chord

C C
B C#/Db B C#/Db

A#/Bb D A#/Bb D

A D#/Eb A D#/Eb

G#/Ab E G#/Ab E

G F G F
F#/Gb F#/Gb

Figure 5. G Dominant 7 is interleaved with the unrelated diminished chord to create the G Dominant 7 Diminished Scale

C
B C#/Db

A#/Bb D

A D#/Eb

G#/Ab E

G F
F#/Gb

While the G Dominant 7 Diminished scale has special properties, it is still a scale and should be treated as such. Start by
practicing it note by note.

13
©Thomas Echols
A Family of Minor 6 Chords
From Two Diminished Chords*

Bmin6
Dmin6 Abmin6
C C Fmin6
B C#/Db B C#/Db

A#/Bb D A#/Bb D Bº

A
3 D#/Eb A
1 D#/Eb

G#/Ab E G#/Ab E

G F G F
F#/Gb F#/Gb

Primary Parent Secondary Parent

C C C C
B C#/Db B C#/Db B C#/Db B C#/Db

A#/Bb D A#/Bb D A#/Bb D A#/Bb D

A D#/Eb A D#/Eb A D#/Eb A D#/Eb

G#/Ab E G#/Ab E G#/Ab E G#/Ab E

G F G F G F G F
F#/Gb F#/Gb F#/Gb F#/Gb

B Minor 6 Ab Minor 6 F Minor 6 D Minor 6

Figure 6. Raise one note from the primary parent, and it becomes the fifth of a Minor 6 chord.

14
©Thomas Echols
The Minor 6
Diminished Scale
Primary Parent Secondary Parent

C C
B C#/Db B C#/Db
A#/Bb D A#/Bb D

G#/Ab
3 D#/Eb A
1 D#/Eb

E G#/Ab E
G F G F
F#/Gb F#/Gb

D Minor 6 The Unrelated Diminished Chord

C C
B C#/Db B C#/Db

A#/Bb D A#/Bb D

A D#/Eb A D#/Eb

G#/Ab E G#/Ab E

G F G F
F#/Gb F#/Gb

Figure 7. D Minor 6 is interleaved with the unrelated diminished chord to create the D MInor 6 Diminished Scale

C
B C#/Db

A#/Bb D fr. 4

A D#/Eb

G#/Ab E

G F
F#/Gb

While the D Minor 6 Diminished scale has special properties, it is still a scale and should be treated as such. Start by practicing it note by note.

15
©Thomas Echols
While there are many uses for the Minor 6 Diminished scale, one important use is as a substitute for G7. We
lovingly call this the Minor 6 on the 5, which is an easy way to refer to it. What this means is that the D minor 6
is the 6th chord that is built off of the 5th of G7. As true as this may be, it is important to remember that the real
reason we play this chord is that it is connected to G7 by the semitone movements described above. D Minor 6
is a rootless G9 chord, but we are mainly focusing on linear melodic motion, which is what makes everything
really sing --rather than viewing these materials as static chords, we are seeing them as snapshots within larger,
polyphonic motion. I am firmly convinced that this is the way to go, and I believe you will be to (if you aren’t
already).

Take a look at figure 7 to see how the Minor 6 Diminished Scale has the same off chord within it that we have seen
in the other scales: Major 7th, Major 2nd, Perfect 4th, and Sharp 5.

Now that we’ve talked about the Minor 6 on the 5, we can do a simple yet beautiful movement that Barry Harris
would advise all of us to practice as one of our first steps. This movement combines the Minor 6 on the 5, G7,
and a technique called borrowing that we will talk about in the practice section of this document. In this partic-
ular instance, borrowing results in a very familiar C Major 7th voicing, but borrowing can produce vast arrays of
musical activity beyond this familiar sound.

Dm6 G7 C6
fr. 4 fr. 4


 
Exercise 9. The Minor 6 on the 5 moves down to the True Dominant (G7). T h en, a borrowed note descends chromatically to the sixth of C.
Exercise 9. The Minor 6 on the 5 moves down to the True Dominant (G7). Then, a borrowed note descends chromatically to the sixth of C.

On the next page, you’ll find a fun variation. It’s fairly challenging, so don’t be discouraged if this seems daunt-
ing. I am only placing here for more advanced players who would like to check it out. It presents a sequence of
three instances of the movement above, but with some improvisatory methods discussed in the Practice section
--particularly the Chromatic Scale concept and my Elevator method for exploring polyphonic motion on the
guitar. I think it’s a nice example of how we can take a background idea (Exercise 9) and quickly develop it using
a few fundamental concepts --consider it a teaser for what’s to come!

16
 F m6 B7 E6
fr. 8 fr. 8 fr. 6

Em6 A7 D6
fr. 6 fr. 6 fr. 4

Dm6 G7 C6
fr. 4 fr. 4

Exercise 10. A variation using the Chromatic Scale and Elevator.

A note about Prolongation

Before learning the last Scale of Chords, let’s consider what we’ve done so far. We found 3 Diminished chords,
each coming from the 2 wholetone parents (though, really, grandparents might be more accurate). We found
4 Major 6 brothers and sisters that came from 2 Diminished parents and found that the remaining Diminished
chord serves as the off chord within an 8 note scale (The C Major 6 Diminished scale). We then took a close look
at the off chord within this scale and found that, with the help of a note from one of the other diminished chord
potential parents, it could produce 4 Dominant 7 brothers and sisters and 4 Minor 6 brothers and sisters. We then
were introduced to the minor 6 on the 5 relationship, finding that both G7 and D Minor 6 could effectively sub-
stitute for the off chord within the C Major 6 Diminished scale. Whew! That’s a lot!

We aren’t in a proper song yet, but we are in a musical situation where we can prolong a background harmony.
Prolongation is the technical term for this, and it is a useful concept. If we are playing a tune, the chart will tell
us which harmonies need to be prolonged --if G7 is the harmony for two measures, we need to do things that
sound like G7, hence prolonging the background harmony. Even without a specific song in mind, we can prolong
a harmony either as part of our didactic work or as part of a free improvisation. Exercises 11-13 show how we
can now do this in three different ways: through metric emphasis (placing the off chord on the beats rather than
between them), through use of the G Dominant 7 Diminished scale, and through the use of the D Minor 6 Di-
minished scale. While each variation has its own particular sound, they all prolong the dominant tension of the
off chord, making for an effective resolution in the second measure. In Exercise 12 and 13, I did something with
a bit more of a flourish by borrowing two notes in the middle voices. Again, borrowing will be discussed later in
this document, but its one example of how beautiful this can be. [Labyrinth App: Go back to lesson 1 for Exercise
11. Use the space-bar to resolve the on chord to C6]
17
 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 Bdim7 C6
fr. 10 fr. 9 fr. 7 fr. 5 fr. 4 fr. 7 fr. 5

Exercise 11. Prolonging the off chord through metric emphasis.

[Labyrinth App: Select Lesson 4 to explore Exercise 12. Make sure to press space-bar when the on chord is select-
ed]
G7 F dim7 G7 F dim7 G7 G7 C6
fr. 10 fr. 8 fr. 7 fr. 5 fr. 4 fr. 7

Exercise 12. Prolonging the off chord with the G Dominant 7 Diminished scale.

[Labyrinth App: Select Lesson 5 to explore Exercise 13]

Dm6 C dim7 Dm6 C dim7 Dm6 Dm6 C6

fr. 10 fr. 9 fr. 7 fr. 6 fr. 4

Exercise 13. Prolonging the off chord with the D Minor 6 Diminished scale.

Now that we know a little bit about prolongation, we can add the final Scale of Chords to the mix, which will
give us one more method of prolonging the off chord within the C Major 6 Diminished scale.

The Dominant 7 Flat 5 Diminished Scale

[Labyrinth App: Lesson 6]

As with the other scales of chords, there are multiple situations in Dmin6 The Minor 6 on the 5

which we can make effective use of the Dominant 7b5 Diminished

Scale. For now, we will consider it alongside the D Minor 6 Dimin-
Bº Primary Parent
ished and G Dominant 7 Diminished as a way of prolonging the off
chord within the C Major 6 Diminished scale. First, we need to find the (Tritone Sub)
on chord (G Dominant 7b5) from its two parent diminished chords, Db7 G7
though! The Dominant 7b5
The True Dominant

G7b5

18
Figure 8 shows how it’s done. As with the Major 6 chord, we lower (or raise) 2 notes, but this time we lower two
non-adjacent notes (i.e. two notes a tritone apart). Notice how we get only two family members for this chord,
due to its unique construction. Whereas the Fully-Diminished 7th chord is fully symmetrical (all of the notes are
separated by Minor 3rds, and the chord divides the 12 notes of the octave in 4 equal parts), the Dominant 7b5
chord has what I call second order symmetry. It has a pattern of a Major 2nd followed by a Major 3rd, which is a
bit more complex of a pattern than the cycle of Minor 3rds that is the Diminished chord. There are a lot of impli-
cations here that we can explore, but the important thing to recognize now is that you only need to practice two
shapes of the Dominant 7b5 within any given chord structure (in this case, the familiar Drop 2 voicing).

Bdim7 G7( 5) Bdim7 B 7( 5) Make sure to practice this scale with the same methods
shown in Exercises 3-6, which will help you to acquire a



basic familiarity. In Figure 9, you can see that the off chord
within the Dominant 7b5 Diminished scale has the same re-
lationship with the on chord as was found in the other three
Scales of Chords. The off chord will always be Major 7th,
Exercise 14. Finding the Dominant 7b5 Family. Major 2nd, Perfect 4th, and Sharp 5. It’s a good idea to think
through this sequence of intervals, running back-and-forth
through them while washing the dishes, folding laundry, or
walking the dog, and really getting a strong mental grasp of
G7( 5) B 7( 5) G7( 5) B 7( 5)
the off chord.



Exercise 16 shows the Dominant 7b5 Diminished scale
prolonging the off chord in the C Major 6 Diminished scale,
resolving happily to C. There are varying degrees of disso-
Exercise 15. Practicing the Dominant 7b5 Family. nance, intensity, and “ugly beauty” that we will unlock and
explore as part of this improvisatory practice. If you’re not
too accustomed to playing some of these sounds, they might be difficult to get your ears around, at first. The
Dominant 7b5 chord has a lot of personality, and is an important sound for us to explore. If you’re a fan of Thelo-
nius Monk, Bud Powell, or Barry Harris, then you’ve definitely heard this sound quite a bit!

G7( 5) F dim7 G7( 5) F dim7 G7( 5) G7( 5) C6

fr. 10 fr. 8 fr. 6 fr. 5 fr. 4 fr. 6

Exercise 16. Prolonging the off chord with the G Dominant 7b5 Diminished scale.

We have now discussed the four Scales of Chords central to our polyphonic practice routine. To them, we will
eventually add the Diminished scale (aka the Octatonic) and the Whole Tone Scale, but we clearly have plenty to
work with as it is. All of our fundamental work can be done with the 4 Scales of Chords, which can be used to
play over any tune.

19
A Family of Dominant 7 Flat 5 Chords
From Two Diminished Chords*

C C
B B C#/Db
C#/Db

A#/Bb A#/Bb D
D

A
2 D#/Eb A
2 D#/Eb

G#/Ab G#/Ab E
E

G F G F
F#/Gb F#/Gb

Bº
Primary Parent Secondary Parent

E7

C C Db7 G7
B C#/Db B C#/Db Bb7

A#/Bb D A#/Bb D
G7b5 Bb7b5

A D#/Eb A D#/Eb

G#/Ab E G#/Ab E

G F G F
F#/Gb F#/Gb

G (or Db) Dominant 7 Bb (or E) Dominant 7

Figure 8. Raise (or lower) two non-adjacent notes from a diminished chord to create a Dominant 7 flat 5 chord.

20
©Thomas Echols
The Dominant 7 flat 5
Diminished Scale
Primary Parent Secondary Parent

C C
B C#/Db B C#/Db

A#/Bb D A#/Bb D

A
2 D#/Eb A
2 D#/Eb

G#/Ab E G#/Ab E

G F G F
F#/Gb F#/Gb

G Dominant 7 flat 5 The Unrelated Diminished Chord

C
C B C#/Db
B C#/Db
A#/Bb D
A#/Bb D

A D#/Eb
A D#/Eb

G#/Ab E
G#/Ab E
G F
G F F#/Gb
F#/Gb

Figure 9. G Dominant 7 flat 5 is interleaved with the unrelated diminished chord to create the G Dominant 7 Diminished Scale

C
B C#/Db

A#/Bb D

A D#/Eb

G#/Ab E

G F
F#/Gb

While the G Dominant 7 flat 5 Diminished scale has special properties, it is still a scale and should be treated as
such. Start by practicing it note by note.

21
©Thomas Echols
 C#º Let’s review, while also taking a closer look at one of the geometric rep-
resentations that I will use throughout the Labyrinth. Geometries are a
powerful way to convey and understand musical concepts!

We start with two Fully Diminished 7th Chords, one a semitone higher
than the other. These will be the parents of all of the other chords that
we will use, which will then become the on chords in one of the 4 Scale
of Chords.

[Labyrinth App: use the up and down arrows to navigate to a tesseract

Cº that has DbDim7 at the top of it. Then Command-Click (Control-Click
on Windows) on the vertices to delete them so that you can see these
C#º relationships more clearly.]
F#7

Eb7 A7
C7

If we take three notes from C# Diminished 7 and one note from C (nat-
ural) Diminished 7 we will arrive at the family of Dominant 7th chords.
Notice that each line represents one note moving by one semitone.

Cº

C#º

F#7

Eb7 A7
C7

Taking three notes from the lower Diminished and one from the upper
will yield the Minor 6 family. . .

Cmin6
Ebmin6 Amin6
F#min6

Cº
We have two options going forward: we C#º

C#º can combine adjacent note pairs from F#7

each diminished chord, producing the A7
Eb7
F#7
Major 6 family on the left, or we can C7
A7
Eb7
C7
combine non-adjacent pairs from the
two chords, producing the Dominant A7b5 C7b5

7b5 chords on the right. For example, E

EbMaj6 CMaj6
F#Maj6 AMaj6
and G from the upper Diminished plus
C and A from the lower Diminished Cmin6
Cmin6 create C Major 6, whereas E and Bb Ebmin6 Amin6
F#min6
Ebmin6
F#min6
Amin6
plus C and Gb create C7b5. Now let’s
put it all together (on the next page).
Cº 22
Cº
 All of these chords combine to form a tesseract —a four-dimensional
C#º cube with 16 interconnected vertices. If you are interested in going deep
on musical geometries like this, I highly recommend Dmitri Tymoczko’s
F#7
“A Geometry of Music” from Oxford University Press. It’s an amazing
Eb7 A7
read, and it plays an important role in my understanding of music. More
C7
than just a pretty face, this tesseract will allow us to see more clearly as
A7b5 C7b5 we explore many important relationships in the improvisational methods
F#Maj6
EbMaj6 CMaj6 AMaj6 shared by Barry Harris.

Cmin6 The tesseract can actually be imagined as a beaded necklace that twists as
Ebmin6 Amin6 it goes. Notice how each tesseract is identical to the one above it but with
F#min6
everything transposed down by one semitone. You can also notice the
Cº
twist by the fact that A7, in the bottommost tesseract, is found one posi-
tion over from where it was in the topmost tesseract. This occurs natu-
rally, as C7 in the top tesseract becomes B in the one below it, eventually
Cº
becoming A7 at the bottom. Kind of beautiful, yes? I love these.
F7

D7 Ab7 Generalizing, when done in the right time and place, can be a powerful
B7
way to understand musical concepts. We can now generalize the Minor 6
D7b5 B7b5
on the 5 concept that we learned about the connection between G7 and
FMaj6
DMaj6 BMaj6 AbMaj6
D Minor 6 and apply the same type of thinking to C Major 6. Take a look
at these two geometries on the lower right. The first is the Minor 6 on the
Bmin6
5 and the second is what we call the Major 6 on the 5. Can you see the
Dmin6 Abmin6 parallels?
Fmin6

Remember that each line represents one note moving by one semitone.
Bº
In the Minor 6 on the 5, G-natural moves up by one semitone(momen-
E7 tarily becoming B Diminished) then moves up by one more semitone to
Db7 G7 become the A in a D Minor 6 chord. In the Major 6 on the 5, C and A
Bb7 both move up by one semitone (tem-
porarily creating C# Diminished) then Dmin6 The Minor 6 on the 5
Db7b5 Bb7b5
DbMaj6 BbMaj6 GMaj6 move up by one more semitone to
EMaj6
become the D and B within G Major The Passing Diminished Bº
6. Because of this important 6 on the
Bbmin6
Dbmin6 Gmin6
5 relationship, G Major 6 can substi- E7

Emin6 tute for C Major 6 (G Major 6 over C Db7 G7

Bb7 The True Dominant
is essentially C Major 9 —a beautiful
Bbº sound). As we continue to emphasize GMaj6 The Major 6 on the 5

Eb7 the independent and interrelated move-

C7 Gb7 ment of individual “voices” within our
A7 polyphonic playing, it will be increasing- Emin6
Gmin6
ly productive to stay with these simple
CMaj6
C7b5 A7b5
AMaj6 GbMaj6
concepts. So, even though you may be The Passing Diminished C#º
EbMaj6
familiar with playing a C Major 9 chord,
make sure to stay with this framework — A7
Amin6
Cmin6
don’t dismiss it lightly. It will come back C7
Gbmin6
Ebmin6 in more sophisticated ways, I assure you.
CMaj6

Aº Now, let’s get into the practice routine! True Major 6

23
An Improvisational Practice Routine

The Chromatic Scale

Transformation

Substitution

Relative Motion

Borrowing

Summoning Objects

Finding Paths

Polyphonic Practice

24
©Thomas Echols
 Practice
A Daily Routine in Seven Parts
There are seven core skills that we should be practicing on a daily basis. Because this is about creating and in-
terpreting music in real-time, there is a both a physical and a theoretical element to all of our practice --we have
to be thinking about things in a certain way, developing our ears and our hand-mind connection. The goal here
is to become “linguistic” with polyphony, fluently working beautiful movements out as quickly as our physical
technique will allow. Here is an overview of the seven parts, each with a quick definition and accompanying
diagram. The first two are the most fundamental, followed by five compound processes that, in addition to being
beautiful methods of music making, afford important opportunities for us to hone our skills in the first two es-
sential techniques.

Pathfinding Pathfinding involves visualizing above or below any given note and seeing the distance
(See Figure 10) to the next note. Pathfinding includes moving on the same string and moving to adja-
cent strings. At first, pathfinding is always choosing between moving a whole-step or
a half-step. In more advanced work, larger leaps are practiced. Pathfinding is always a
monophonic consideration about how to move one note to another. Pathfinding should
be practiced carefully, never moving to the new note until the path to that note is clearly
visualized and understood.

Notice, in Figure 10, how many steps are the same along each path. When scanning verti-
cally, the highlighted areas are the exceptions. When we isolate pathfinding as its own skill,
simplicities like this are revealed that we might otherwise never see (and, thus, never take
full advantage of).

Summoning Summoning is the act of recalling musical objects. This could mean a lot of things, but, in
(See Figure 11) polyphonic practice, it will mean recalling and quickly playing floors of the elevator (see
Relative Motions below). Summoning is done in a static place: a note is held and we bring
forth, from memory, notes from, for instance, a shell chord or a drop 3. We then harmo-
nize the held note by adding the rest of the chord either below, above, or surrounding it.
Summoning is combined with pathfinding in all of our polyphonic situations, but it is
possible to isolate both of these essential skills to develop them as fundamental aspects of
our improvisational technique.

Borrowing Borrowing is our first and most important compound process by which we can practice
(See Figure 12) Pathfinding and Summoning. Borrowing is, essentially, blending of notes between the on
and off chords. In introductory borrowing, we practice pathfinding in a particular voice of
whatever chord we are about to summon. If I am about to summon a root position C Ma-
jor 6 chord, as in Figure 12, I can use my pathfinding skills to [1.]recognize that I would
be holding the third of C Major 6 on the second string and [2.] see that the path below it is
a whole step, leading me to replace it with the Major 2nd of the off chord when I play the
C6. This process leads me to understand, in greater depth, the path within the C Major 6
Diminished scale, all while making something beautiful.
25
Relative Motion Relative Motion is where we navigate the Elevator Sequence to create independent, poly-
(See Figure 13) phonic lines. It uses equal parts Pathfinding and Summoning to do this (indeed, that’s all
there is to it). It is a wonderful process for developing the two fundamental skills and, like
the other parts of the seven part routine, should be practiced daily. There are 3 types of
relative motion, referring to the relationship between two “voices”: Parallel, Contrary, and
Oblique. At first, emphasis is on the outermost voices in a texture. In higher level elevator
work, the middle voices are practiced as well. The Elevator can also be used in more ad-
vanced Borrowing work, allowing one to borrow multiple notes from different directions.

Substitution Substitution is where our theoretical understandings meets real-time physical practice. It is
(See Figure 14) also where we put things in musical contexts over songs, applying all of our practice areas
over the changes. Substitution has a mental and physical component. The mental aspect is
helped by careful study of the kinds of relationships shown in musical geometries, both in
the geometries themselves and on our instrument. The physical aspect of substitution can
become second nature through the practice of transformation.

Transformation Transformation is an incredibly important part of our practice. Through careful study, we
(See Figure 15) can learn to use the guitar as abacus; as a kind of analogue computer generating sophis-
ticated polyphonic movement that is both intentional and “thoughtless”. I have a special
term “memorylessness” to describe the state of skillfully navigating transformation, which
we will talk about more in a future document. Transformation theory is the area of music
theory where people devise mathematical formulae for any musical process. I use trans-
formation theory in the developing of the Labyrinth App, to allow it to navigate complex
voiceleading situations with sophistication. In our practice, we can develop a modular
approach to muscle memory that will provide us with physical formulae for all transfor-
mations. It sounds like a lot, but it can be practiced in a fun and intuitive way! I’ll show
you as we go:)

The Chromatic The Chromatic Scale concept is yet another beautiful, powerful idea that Barry Harris gave
Scale us. In his own teaching, he would show how to use this concept with monophonic impro-
(See Figure 16) visation, but it can be practiced with the 4 Scales of Chords to great effect! It sounds beau-
tiful while also providing a powerful way for us to deepen our pathfinding and summoning
skills!

26
The following diagrams and exercises present a primer and a basic “level 1” practice routine. This is what I
would recommend anyone do as a first step, even if they’ve been doing other things with Barry Harris’s Scales of
Chords. Practice this routine regularly (preferably on a daily basis) until you feel secure with each exercise, and
make sure to think the prescribed thoughts along the way, which will build a strong hand-mind connection and
lead to Linguistic Muscle Memory.

Additionally, view this as a model of how we will be organizing practice going forward. Everything in our poly-
phonic work can fall into one or more of these 7 core skills, and each skill area will be developed with graded ex-
ercises and lessons, forming a curriculum that leads from the beginning stages to eventual fluency in polyphonic
improvisation. There are countless manifestations of what we can practice, content wise, given all the materials
available to us, but the idea is that we can grade our progress and actually feel ourselves gaining fluency by focus-
ing on the system outlined here.

Foundations 3-6 will also present the 4 Important Questions that we can use to add depth and meaningful musi-
cal contexts to our practice of the 7 core skills.

Some people may find this to be more detail than what they are used to. Through teaching, research , and my
own practice, I’ve become convinced that isolating skills, as we are doing here, is one of the most powerful ways
for us to progress towards the big picture —the big picture being, of course, making lots of beautiful music by
freely combining these skills into an improvisation. If we take, as an example, the “skill” of patting your head
up-and-down while rubbing your stomach in a circle, the idea is that you would have more success in acquiring
mastery of this composite skill if you were to spend a good bit of time doing each one of these things individual-
ly, and then returning to the composite skill periodically. It’s amazing what our minds can do when we approach
things in this way.

27
 Pathfinding: Seeing the Simplicity

Pathfinding is about seeing the

linear distance between notes in
Major 6 Diminished a scale. Happily, there are many
redundancies: The path from the
Major 7th to the Perfect 4th is
identical between 3 of the scales,
for example. All of the scales have
the same path from the Major 7th
to the Major 2nd. Pathfinding is
one of the two essential skills, the
Minor 6 Diminished other being “summoning”.

The Chromatic Scale

Dominant 7th
Transformation
Diminished
Substitution

Relative Motion

Borrowing

Summoning Objects
Dominant 7b5
Diminished Finding Paths

Polyphonic Practice
Figure 10. Finding Paths and noticing similarities in the 4 Scales of Chords (the exceptions are highlighted)

28
©Thomas Echols
Pathfinding Level 1
When practicing this exercise, as with everything within the Labyrinth, make sure to be thoughtful. Think of the scale degree that you
are playing while also thinking of which Scale of Chords you are playing (it changes with each measure, cycling through the 4 Scales).
I recommend practicing this in two different ways: (1) articulating each note and (2) slurring them in pairs, as indicated. Practice the
whole thing descending, too; playing descending slurs (aka “pull-offs”) for the second variation. Take note of the similarities between
the scales and of which scale (or scales, as the case may be) is the exception to the rule. The left hand fingerings make this an exercise
that develops alternation between most finger pairs (only 1-4 is absent). As early as possible, start playing this from memory —working
out the logic internally is part of the exercise. Once you’ve become secure with this on the 2nd string, move to the other strings while
keeping everything the same and, thus, transposing the scale.


Major 6 Diminished Minor 6 Diminished Dominant 7 Diminished Dominant 7b5 Diminished


Root to Major 2nd

Major 6 Diminished Minor 6 Diminished Dominant 7 Diminished Dominant 7b5 Diminished

Major 2nd to Major (or Minor) 3rd

Major 6 Diminished Minor 6 Diminished Dominant 7 Diminished Dominant 7b5 Diminished

Major (or Minor) 3rd to Perfect 4th

Major 6 Diminished Minor 6 Diminished Dominant 7 Diminished Dominant 7b5 Diminished

Perfect 4th to Fifth (or Flat Fift h)

Major 6 Diminished Minor 6 Diminished Dominant 7 Diminished Dominant 7b5 Diminished

Fifth (or Flat Fift h) to Sharp 5

Major 6 Diminished Minor 6 Diminished Dominant 7 Diminished Dominant 7b5 Diminished

Sharp 5 to Sixth (or Seventh)

Major 6 Diminished Minor 6 Diminished Dominant 7 Diminished Dominant 7b5 Diminished

Sixth (or Seventh) to Major 7th

Major 6 Diminished Minor 6 Diminished Dominant 7 Diminished Dominant 7b5 Diminished

29
Major 7th to Root ©Thomas Echols
Summoning: Calling “Objects” Forth from Memory
Each “floor” of the Elevator can
be viewed as a musical object.
The skill of summoning can best
fr. 8 be described as the ability to
manifest any one of these ob-
jects beneath, above, or around
a given note. This diagram
fr. 8
depicts the mental and physical
ability to quickly recall “floors”
harmonizing a G note in the C
Major 6 Diminished Scale. As we
build working vocabulary, we

Thirds
expand our options for immedi-
ate recall, while also practicing

Do
ub

ds
the essential skill of summoning.

le

ia
fr. 5

Oc

Tr
fr. 7

ta
ve
s
Drop 2 and 4 Shells

The Chromatic Scale

Oc
3

ta
op

fr. 8

ve
Transformation
fr. 7
Dr

Drop 2

s
Substitution

Relative Motion

fr. 5 Borrowing

Summoning Objects

Finding Paths

Figure 11. Summoning objects below a G note in the C Major 6 Diminished scale. Polyphonic Practice

30
©Thomas Echols
Summoning Level 1
To effectively practice summoning, we’ll need to uproot ourselves from our habits. For example, if you’re familiar
with playing the C Major 6 Diminished scale in Drop 2 voicings on strings 5-2 (as shown in Figure 6 of the The-
ory section), these first steps in summoning might offer a different take on how you approach that scale. What
is important is that you practice the top line in Summoning Ex. 1 as its own thing: hold the C note in the first
measure by itself, say “root” aloud, then place the 2nd finger on the 4th string and play the accompanying chord.
Imagine you are a pianist playing a melody and accompanying yourself. The composite chord is a drop 2, but
think of it as a melody with the drop 2 summoned beneath it (and including it), essentially creating a shell chord
beneath a sustained note.

C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6
fr. 4 fr. 5
“root” “second” etc.

Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6
fr. 7 fr. 9 fr. 10 fr. 12

Summoning Ex. 1. Summoning shell chords beneath a sustained single note.

The next exercise makes it a little more challenging. The approach to practicing it is the same, but the more com-
plex melodic figuration should break up the muscle memory a bit, which is part of the goal. In summoning, we
are using a more informed muscle memory: rather than memorizing sequences of events, we are developing the
ability to summon a muscle memory feeling on a more micro level. It’s a very willful, intentional act that we can
develop with regular practice.

Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6
fr. 4 fr. 5



   
Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6
fr. 7 fr. 9 fr. 10 fr. 12

   
Summoning Ex. 2. Summoning shell chords beneath a melodic figure.

31
It is important to Summon below, above, and around sustained notes. The next exercise presents summoning
above.

Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6

   
fr. 4 fr. 5

Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6

   
fr. 7 fr. 9 fr. 10 fr. 12

Summoning Ex. 3. Summoning shell chords above a melodic figure.

32
 Borrowing: a Pathfinding Process

Third

When Borrowing around Sixth

Fifth
you don’t need to see
Root

You just need to understand the path. . .

Scale “Degrees” Root M2 Third P4 Fifth #5 Sixth M7 Root

The Path for C Major 6 Diminished The Chromatic Scale

(study the space between each step)
Transformation

If I want to borrow below the top voice, I just consider what it is (in this case, the third of the chord) and Substitution
use my knowledge of the path to borrow a whole step below. This process will help me to deepen my work-
ing knowledge of the path, leading to greater competency/fluidity, while also producing a beautiful result Relative Motion
that I can use in my improvisation. With practice, this process will become a part of your Linguistic Muscle
Borrowing
Memory.
Summoning Objects

M2 This is “Level 1” borrowing. In higher levels, we’ll look at how Finding Paths
the Elevator can be used for more advanced borrowings with
Sixth
Fifth
Root
2-3 notes. Polyphonic Practice

Figure 12. Borrowing combines a little bit of summoning with a lot of pathfinding (more advanced borrowing has equal parts of both).

33
©Thomas Echols
Borrowing Level 1

In our Borrowing work, it will be helpful to see it as an exercise in pathfinding --as a process that allows us to
deepen our pathfinding skills. In this first exercise, we’ll use the shell chords from Summoning Ex.2. This will
make it easier to play the borrowings in a musical, facile way (we borrow on all of the Elevator floors, but the 4
note ones are often the most challenging). For a pathfinding reference, here are the notes of the C Major 6 Di-
minished scale on the third string. We’ll practice a pattern with this first, just to get familiar with the path. Prac-
tice these exercises both ascending and descending.

Scale “Degrees” #5 Sixth M7 Root M2 Third P4 Fifth #5




Borrowing
BorrowingEx.Ex.
1. 1.
Getting familiar
Getting with
familiar thethe
with path by playing
path above
by playing andand
above below eacheach
below scalescale
degree.
degree.

Next, we’ll play shell chords up the neck. As you play them, say aloud the scale degrees on the third string. Men-
tally visualize the next scale degree to be played before moving to it and summoning the shell chord.

C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6

fr. 4 fr. 5 fr. 7 fr. 9 fr. 10 fr. 12 fr. 13 fr. 14

BorrowingEx.
Borrowing Ex.2.2.Summoning
Summoning shell.
shell chords

34
Now, let’s put it all together. The way to do this is to play each shell chord, like in the previous exercise, and then
use your knowledge of the scale degrees on string 3 and the path within the C Major 6 Diminished scale to allow
you to play a note above and below. The fingerings I’ve indicated will make it possible to play this legato, with
the accompanying notes sustaining as indicated (this sustain is an important part of the sound). The ossia staff
gives an option to move to the 4th-2nd strings. Notice how borrowing creates both a melodic/polyphonic and a
harmonic event, both the vertical, harmonic sonority and the horizontal, polyphonic movement are important
aspects (though, in my view, the polyphonic is more important for us to consider).

C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7

fr. 4 fr. 5 fr. 7 fr. 9 fr. 10

C6 Bdim7 C6
fr. 12 fr. 13 fr. 14

Borrowing
BorrowingEx.
Ex.3.3.Practicing
Summoning the path
shell.on string 3 while summoning shells for single-note borrowings.

35
 Relative Motion: Pathfinding and Summoning to Play the Elevator
fr. 8

Scale “Degrees” Root M2 Third P4 Fifth #5 Sixth M7 Root fr. 8

Thirds
Do
ub

ds
le

ia
fr. 5

Tr
Oc
fr. 7

ta
ve
s
Pathfinding in the top voice Drop 2 and 4 Shells

Oc
3

ta
op
fr. 7 fr. 8

ve
Dr

Drop 2

s
The Elevator is the method I developed for improvising polyphony on the guitar. A conscious fr. 5
separation of its two aspects (pathfinding and summoning) is important for gaining mastery
of this invaluable technique. In the example below, I am navigating the path from the third to
the fifth in the C6 Diminished Scale, all the while summoning “floors” of the elevator to create Summoning beneath it
descending motion in the lowest voice.

The Chromatic Scale

Transformation

C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Substitution

fr. 5 fr. 4


Relative Motion

Borrowing

Summoning Objects

Triad Shell Shell Octave Drop 2

Finding Paths

Polyphonic Practice
36
©Thomas Echols
Relative Motion Level 1

The whole point of practicing relative motion is to develop the C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6
ability to improvise multiple, independent melodic lines that occur fr. 5 fr. 4



simultaneously. I developed a concept called the Elevator that we
can use to systematically practice this skill. Before we begin, it is
important to know that there are three kinds of relative motion
between any two melodic lines: Oblique, Parallel, and Contrary Polyphonic Motion in the C Major 6 Diminished Scale

motion. Polyphonic lines freely combine these different melodic

motions, producing independent “voices” with melodic peaks and troughs that occur at different times. When
we successfully do this on the guitar, it creates the effect of hearing two musicians performing rather than one!
Oblique Parallel Contrary
`(one voice stays static) (voices move in same direction) (voices move in opposite directions)

Relative
RelativeMotion
MotionEx.
Ex.1. 1.
The three
The types
three of of
types relative motion.
relative motion.

Let’s take the C Major 6 Scale from Theory Exercise 6 as our starting point for our first Elevator exercise. Play Ex-
ercise 6 a few times, getting familiar with them. These are Drop 2 chords, meaning the 2nd highest note (aka the
alto or 2nd voice) is dropped down an octave. Any 6th or 7th chord voicing that has 4 different notes while being
on adjacent strings will be a Drop 2 voicing. These chords make one “floor” of the Elevator system.

C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6

fr. 4 fr. 5 fr. 7 fr. 9 fr. 10 fr. 12

Relative Motion Ex. 2. Practicing the Drop 2 “floor”.

[Tip: in the Labyrinth app, you can hold the shift key while using the arrows to explore the Elevator]

Practice only the 4th string notes, while identifying each scale degree. Before moving to the next note, make sure
to visualize where it is, intentionally practicing your pathfinding skills. This is the Unison floor of the Elevator.

Relative Motion Ex. 3. Practicing the unison floor on the 4th string.

37
Practice this 5 times in a row, both ascending and descending, working to gain more clarity in seeing the path
on the 4th string, as presented below. Relative motion involves combining pathfinding with `, so this step is very
important.

Scale “Degrees” Third P4 Fifth #5 Sixth M7 Root M2 Third

Now, play only the middle two notes from the Drop 2 chords. These are scalar thirds --even though the “third”
from the 5th to the 6th of the C6 chord is a chromatic Major 2nd, it results from playing the C6 Diminished scale
in thirds. Thirds are another floor of the Elevator. Practice this at least 5 times in a row. With each step, name the
scale degree on the 4th string, as in the previous exercise.

C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6

fr. 4 fr. 5 fr. 7 fr. 8 fr. 10 fr. 12

Relative Motion Ex. 4. Practicing the thirds floor on the 4th string.

Next, we’ll practice the highest 3 strings of the Drop 2 chords. This creates Low Shell Chords. Low (and High)
Shell chords are another floor of the elevator. For a fuller explanation of Shell chords, see the Elevator Sequence
document from episode 16 of the Labyrinth series. Continue to name the scale degrees on the 4th string.

C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6

fr. 4 fr. 5 fr. 7 fr. 9 fr. 10 fr. 12

Relative Motion Ex. 5. Practicing the shell chords floor of the elevator.

So far, everything has been taken from the familiar Drop 2 chords, but, in order to do some nice Elevator prac-
tice, we need to learn one extra floor. Triads are the floor found between Thirds and Shell chords. It’s important
to keep in mind that these are scalar triads (e.g. they result from taking a note, skipping a note, taking another
note, skipping a note, and taking one additional note within the C6 Diminished Scale). Some of them look like
traditional triads, but some (like the first one in this example) do not. Practice these triads slowly and carefully,
saying the scale degrees on the 4th string as you go.
C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6
fr. 3 fr. 5 fr. 6 fr. 8 fr. 9 fr. 10 fr. 12 fr. 13

Relative Motion Ex. 6. Practicing the triads floor of the elevator. 38

The next thing is to practice summoning on different scale degrees. Imagine you are really creating something,
as you do this. You are bringing forth, from the memory bank, thirds, triads, and shell chords. We are trying to
develop the ability to summon, above any note on the 4th string, any one of these 3 structures. With careful prac-
tice like this, it will become part of muscle memory vocabulary, immediately available to you. Mastering patterns
that you willfully bring forth gives an important process that will give you depth in your summoning capabilities.

C6 C6 C6 Bdim7 Bdim7 Bdim7

fr. 8 fr. 8 fr. 9 fr. 7 fr. 6 fr. 7

C6 C6 C6 Bdim7 Bdim7 Bdim7

fr. 5 fr. 5 fr. 5 fr. 4 fr. 3 fr. 4

Relative Motion Ex. 7. Practicing summoning.

Play the following pattern of three descending thirds sequenced upwards by steps. As you play, say the 4th string
notes aloud, and focus your pathfinding mind on these individual notes (pathfinding always occurs on the
unison floor of the Elevator). Then imagine that you are summoning the thirds floor on top of this pathfinding
movement.
C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6
fr. 5 fr. 4 fr. 7 fr. 5 fr. 4 fr. 8 fr. 7 fr. 5

Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6

fr. 10 fr. 9 fr. 7 fr. 12 fr. 10 fr. 9 fr. 13 fr. 12 fr. 10 fr. 14 fr. 13 fr. 14

Relative Motion Ex. 8. Practicing a pattern in thirds.

Play the same pattern but with triads, always remembering to say the 4th string scale degrees aloud. This will
allow you to continually separate the pathfinding and summoning aspects of polyphonic improvisation.

C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7

fr. 5 fr. 3 fr. 6 fr. 5 fr. 3

etc. . .
Relative Motion Ex. 9. Practicing the pattern in triads.

39
Shell chords as well. . .
C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7
fr. 5 fr. 4 fr. 7 fr. 5 fr. 6

Relative Motion Ex. 10. Practicing the pattern in shell chords. etc. . .

Now, let’s put it together! Keep focusing on the 4th string motion, and make sure to say each scale degree aloud.
This is more challenging than playing without talking, but it will payoff. Take a look at the circular diagram in
the top right corner of Figure 13 and notice how you are summoning, willfully, the various floors while continu-
ing the pattern on the 4th string. This mental game will keep this from being just another “lick” that you mem-
orize and will make it so that you are learning the fundamental skills (pathfinding and summoning) required for
improvisational freedom.

After playing this, isolate the top line and notice how it ascends independently. This is what polyphony is about!

C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7

fr. 5 fr. 3 fr. 7 fr. 5 fr. 4 fr. 9 fr. 6 fr. 5 fr. 10 fr. 8 fr. 7

C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6

fr. 12 fr. 9 fr. 9 fr. 13 fr. 10 fr. 10 fr. 14 fr. 12 fr. 12

Relative Motion Ex. 11. Moving through the Elevator: thirds, triads, shells.

Even with only thirds, triads, and shells, there are many beautiful patterns that can be made into effective exer-
cises at this level of playing. This one emphasizes motion from the off to the on chord. Focus on the 4th string
moving downward and switch between summoning triads and shell chords to create the repeated lower neighbor
motion in the top voice.

Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6 Bdim7 C6

fr. 12 fr. 12 fr. 9 fr. 9 fr. 6 fr. 5

Relative Motion Ex. 12. Moving from off to on with a linear intervallic pattern.

40
 Substitution: Summoning and Pathfinding Over Different Contexts
The bulk of our “theoretical” knowledge has to do with substitution. This page shows the most common usages for each of our 4
scales of chords. We practice substitution by looking at tunes and applying our pathfinding and summoning skills within borrow-
ing, relative motion (elevator), transformation, and chromatic scale work. Transformation is the main method for gaining mastery of
substitution, so these areas are interrelated.

I6 i

vi7 ii7 vi ii m7b5

Major 6
Minor 6
V7
ugliest duckling iv
iii7 V7 V7
Major 6 on the 5

The Chromatic Scale

IV6 tritone’s minor minor 6 on the 5
Transformation

Common Usages of a Major 6 Chord Common Usages of a Minor 6 Chord Substitution

V7 V7 Relative Motion

Borrowing
Vb5#5add9
Ugliest Duckling Dominant 7 Tritone Sub Dominant 7b5 Tritone sub
(extended family) Summoning Objects

Finding Paths
Minor iv
V#5add9
(extended family)
Polyphonic Practice
Common Usages of a Dominant 7 Chord Common Usages of a Dominant 7b5 Chord

Figure 14. We can practice substitution over songs so that we can quickly realize how to navigate them.

41
©Thomas Echols
Substitution Level 1


You must take the “A” Train

To go to Su - gar Hill way up in Har - lem

For our substitution work, we’ll look at the first 8 bars of Take the “A” Train. Substitution allows us to use famil-
iar structures, that we’ve practiced in other contexts, in new contexts —producing new musical results. We can
use the Major 6 Diminished scale over 4 1/2 of these 8 bars. We can use the Minor 6 Diminished scale over the
remaining bars.

Bar 1 and 7 will use C Major 6 Diminished, but bar 5 will use F Major 6 as a ii chord. This is because the notes of
F Major 6 [F,A,C,D] are the same as D Minor 7 [D,F,A,C]. You could think of this as substitution, though a rela-
tively simple one. The important thing to know is that anything you can do with an F Major 6 Diminished scale
can be played effectively over D Minor 7.

I6

vi7 ii7

I V7/V
CMaj6
Major 6

ii7 V7 I (ii-V7) Major 6 on the 5

iii7

FMaj6 = DMin7

IV6

Now, we can play the first 5 bars in a very simple way, skipping the V7/V (D7 on the chart) for the moment. Play
the following passage and notice how the “Major 6 on the 5” movement is used to connect C6 to F6 via C Dimin-
ished 7, the G and E moving down chromatically to F and D.

C6 Cdim7 F6

Substitution Ex. 1. Playing the I and ii chords in Take the “A” Train.

42
 Harmonic improvisation is, first and foremost, about CMaj6 The Major 6 on the 5
voices moving melodically. Practicing like this helps to
C clarify the smallest possible motions between the I chord
B C#/Db
(C major) and the ii7 chord (F Major 6 used as D minor Cmin6
Amin6
A#/Bb
5th fret
D
7).
A D#/Eb Cº

We are getting somewhere with this, and before going The Passing Diminished
(and substitute for D7)
forward to look at the rest of the progression, let’s make
G#/Ab E
F7
G
F#/Gb
F
an exercise out of this same movement you just played. D7

F Major 6 = D Minor 7 Take a look at the diagram on the right, if you’d like to
get conceptual clarity of what you’re doing thus far. If FMaj6

you’re worried about playing C Diminished over D7, this True Major 6

diagram shows how it is a substitute of D7.

Practice each of these and focus on seeing the movement of voices from C Major 6 to F Major 6. When practic-
ing, sing the tune over these changes and imagine you are accompanying someone singing or playing a solo. This
would be a nice, simple way to support another player!
C6 Cdim7 F6
fr. 5 fr. 5 fr. 5

C6 Cdim7 F6
fr. 9 fr. 8 fr. 7

C6 Cdim7 F6
fr. 12 fr. 11 fr. 10

Substitution Ex. 2. Moving Exercise 1 up the scale.

CMaj6 The Major 6 on the 5
Now let’s look at the 3rd Bar. We’re going to take one of the possible passing
harmonies between C Major 6 and F Major 6, A minor 6, and use it as the
Minor 6 on the 5 for D7. The diagrams on the right show two different ways of Cmin6
Amin6
looking at this. We’ve talked about the Minor 6 on the 5 in the theory section,
and now it’s time to make music with it! Cº
The Passing Diminished
Amin6 The Minor 6 on the 5 (and substitute for D7)
Minor 6 chords have a lot of uses, but the
F7
6 on the 5 relationship is one of the most D7

important ones. It’s all about seeing how The Passing Diminished Ebº
one note moves by semitones between these FMaj6
structures --that’s where the real meaning F7 True Major 6

and sound of it is. Ab7 D7

B7 The True Dominant 43
 i

vi ii m7b5
I V7/V
Amin6 = D7(9)

Minor 6
ii7 V7 I (ii-V7) ugliest duckling
V7
iv
V7 V7

tritone’s minor minor 6 on the 5

Keeping it minimal, we can now plug in a nice substitution over the 3rd bar. Practice each inversion on strings
5-2 to gain familiarity. Make sure to observe the semitone motions between each chord!

C6 Am6 Cdim7 F6

C6 Am6 Cdim7 F6
fr. 5 fr. 5 fr. 5 fr. 5

C6 Am6 Cdim7 F6
fr. 9 fr. 9 fr. 8 fr. 7

C6 Am6 Cdim7 F6
fr. 12 fr. 11 fr. 11 fr. 10

Substitution Ex. 3. Playing the Minor 6 on the 5.

Let’s talk for a moment about what is most important within any V7-I progression. The resolution of the tritone
interval found within the Dominant 7 chord (between its 3rd and 7th) is what gives this progression its identity.
The archetypal, textbook resolution is to have the 3rd move up by one semitone and to have the 7th move down
by one semitone, if resolving to a major tonic chord, and down by a whole-step when the tonic is minor. This is
why the Tritone Sub, in this case Db7, works so well. Both it and it’s Minor 6 on the 5 contain the same Tritone
44
that is found within the True Dominant. In
fr. 4
the following diagram, you can see that G7, D
Minor 6, Db7, and Ab Minor 6 all contain the fr. 4

tritone between B and F. Tritone Resolution

We’ll talk about this more in Foundations II, Bmin6 Tritone’s Minor
but it’s worth mentioning that the tritone sub
Abmin6
contains other chromatic notes that beautifully Dmin6
fill in the space between diatonic notes. This is Minor 6 on the 5 Fmin6
the whole point of tritone substitution: we are
privileging smooth voiceleading (by filling in
fr. 4
the space between diatonic notes) over limited fr. 4 Bbº
macroharmony (a fancy/technical way of say-
ing “only play the diatonic notes”). As an arti-
fact of this, we get to hear more color, because E7
the resulting chromatic harmonies add a lot of Db7 G7
that. Indeed, “chroma” means “color”!
Tritone Sub Bb7 True Dominant
Now, we will fill in the rest of the progression
by playing Ab minor 6 as the Tritone’s Minor over G7 in bars 6 and 8.5. “Tritone’s Minor” is a short (and much
easier) way of saying “the Minor 6 on the 5 of the Tritone Substitution of the True Dominant”. Always nice to
have a succinct label! i

vi ii m7b5
I V7/V

Minor 6
V7
ii7 V7 I (ii-V7) ugliest duckling iv
Abmin6=Tritone’s Minor Abmin6=Tritone’s Minor
V7 V7

Here is our complete phrase for the first 8 bars of Take

the “A” Train. Keep in mind that we’re intentional-
tritone’s minor minor 6 on the 5
ly trying to isolate the Substitution aspect of things
while still practicing and developing intelligent muscle
memory of the concepts. Our progress will be clear if we can continue to separate things (and then put them
together). First, we’ll play the phrase starting from a root position C6 chord.
C6 Am6 Cdim7

F6 A m6 C6 A m6

45
Substitution Ex. 4. Playing the Tritone’s Minor.
As you transpose this one, moving up the scale so as to start from a 1st inversion C6, notice how the voicelead-
ings remain the same. These are what I call Archetypes. I’ll share more about this concept in a later document
and episode, but, for now, suffice it to say that Archetypes are important to a well-structured practice routine.
C6 Am6 Cdim7
fr. 5 fr. 5 fr. 5

F6 A m6 A m6
fr. 5 fr. 4 fr. 4

Substitution Ex. 5. Starting Example 4 from a first inversion C6.

One of the wonderful things about Barry Harris’s methods, is that they give us a really cohesive, thorough way
of developing our work. Whenever we create a nice example like this, we can move it up and down the Scales of
Chords —helping us to develop real depth in our understanding of a movement.
C6 Am6 Cdim7
fr. 9 fr. 9 fr. 8

F6 A m6 A m6
fr. 7 fr. 8 fr. 8

C6 Am6 Cdim7
fr. 12 fr. 11 fr. 11

F6 A m6 A m6
fr. 10 fr. 10 fr. 10

Substitution Ex. 6. Continuing to transpose Example 4 up the scale.

There are many substitutions to explore, and many ways of practicing substitution in clear exercises as you
progress upwards through this curriculum. The Tritone’s Minor gives us one of the most fundamentally import-
ant ones. If it seems funny to your ear, go back and listen to recordings of Bud Powell, Barry Harris, and Thelo-
nius Monk. It’s all over the place!
46
In the next section, we will explore substitution through transformation. . .
 Transformation: Summoning for the Algorithmic Guitar

Family 1
Root
Major

Sixth Family Third

Minor

Family 3 Family 2 Fifth

The Chromatic Scale

The Guitar has the ability to function as a generative computer of harmonic movement. One example is that we can learn to move Transformation
counterclockwise in a circle of family-related minor 6 chords (depicted above) to generate iiø7-V-i progressions. To move to the
tonic chord, you add clockwise movement in the Family triangle, which, effectively, means you move everything up one fret from Substitution
where it would be if it were in the same family as the ii-V. Through practice, this can become effortless. Transformation is primarily
Relative Motion
an act of summoning, and it is through transformation that we will gain mastery of substitution.
Fm6 A m6 Cm6 Borrowing
fr. 5 fr. 4 fr. 5


Summoning Objects

 Finding Paths

ii-7b5 V7(b9#5) i6 Polyphonic Practice

Figure 15. Transformation combines a lot of summoning with a little bit of pathfinding. .

47
©Thomas Echols
Transformation Level 1
Transformation can be a complex theoretical subject, but, for our intents and purposes, transformation is just
about turning one harmony into another one. In particular, transformation is about family —moving among the
various siblings.

Whatever family you’re in, there are some “tall” siblings and some “short” ones. Part of the practice of Trans-
formation is knowing which is which. In Figure 15 (on the previous page), you can see the family of 4 Minor 6
“brothers and sisters” that includes D Minor 6 (G7’s Minor 6 on the 5). Looking at what is indicated on string 5 in
each chord chart, you can see that, when the bass note is either the root, third, or sixth of the chord, it is on the
second fret. It is only when the bass note is the fifth of the chord that it is found on the third fret. Transformation
is a combination of navigating this knowledge while also summoning the desired chord voicing.

For example, if I am holding this note: and understand that it is the 5th of a Minor 6 chord, I know that I
would move it to the 2nd fret to move to any other member of “brothers and sisters”. If, having moved it to the
second fret, my plan were to go counterclockwise in the circle of family members (Figure 15), I would need to
summon this shape above (and including) the bass note that I moved to:

All harmonic progressions can be reduced to Transformation Formulae. The point of practicing transforma-
tion is to develop Linguistic Muscle Memory. A well-developed LMM will allow us to navigate our polyphonic
improvisations with an effortlessness similar to how we speak in our native language (!!!), and it can be acquired
through daily practice.

To keep track of the relationship between the brothers and sisters, I like to think that one of these siblings is taller
than the other three, which represents the fact that, when moving among the family, I would move up a fret
when moving to that member. Thinking of the bass (or any voice), I can think of the fifth as being “taller” than
the other members of the Minor 6 family:

Root Third Fifth Sixth

Go back to Figure 2 in the theory section and you can see the relationship of Major 6 family members. After
some comparisons of the 4 members, you should be able to see that it has two “tall” siblings:

Root Third Fifth Sixth

Transformation involves 3 independent processes happening concurrently: (1) movement among the 4 family
members, (2) movement among the 3 families, and (3) movement between Major 6 and Minor 6 chords. Mas-
tering these 3 processes will give us the ability to “mindlessly” flow through the music while intentionally and
spontaneously creating meaningful movement. Imagine not having to think, but being able to navigate all kinds
of polyphonic movement with real intention over any progression —this is what transformation can give us.

It is important to note some simple terminology I use for discussing transformation. These terms pertain to
the movements portrayed in Figure 15. When moving around the triangle of families, I use the words “up” and
“down”. If you were moving from the family that contains D Minor 6 to the one that contains Eb Minor 6, you
would be moving “up”. Movement among families, if it happens, will always be either a semitone up or a semi-
tone down, given that there are only 3 families.
48
I refer to movement within one family as “forward”, “backward”, or “across”. If you were moving from a family
member that has the 5th in the bass to a family member that has the 3rd in the bass, you would be moving back-
wards. If you then moved from the 3rd in the bass to having the 6th in the bass, you would be moving across.

I refer to movement between Minor 6 and Major 6 chords simply as “minor” or “major”.

If you were moving from an Ab Minor 6 chord with the 5th in the bass to C Major 6 with the 3rd in the bass, you
would be moving up, backward, and major all at once. It might sound like this:
A m6 C6
fr. 4 fr. 5

Now it’s time to practice!

When playing this first exercise, it is very important to clearly imagine the part of the chord that you are playing.
Make sure to say “root”, “third”, “fifth”, or “sixth” with each note. Repeat each measure twice.

Root Third Fifth Sixth Root Sixth Fifth Third Root Fifth Third Sixth
Transformation Ex. 1. Practicing the Transformational path.

Now, pick one chord to summon while moving through the 3 measure sequence, repeating each measure.

Fm6 Fm6 Fm6

fr. 5 fr. 5 fr. 5

Root Third Fifth Sixth Root Sixth Fifth Third Root Fifth Third Sixth

A m6 A m6 A m6
fr. 4 fr. 4 fr. 4

(continue saying the bass note function)

Bm6 Bm6 Bm6

fr. 4 fr. 4 fr. 4

Transformation Ex. 2. Summoning one chord.

49
This next exercise can be a real brain teaser: pick one chord and play it plus whatever follows it in the pattern.
Make sure to practice it slowly and thoughtfully, repeating each measure until you feel confidant. As early on as
you can, commit the pattern on the 5th string to memory and practice this without looking at the sheet music.
This one is really effective for separating the two actions of pathfinding and summoning within the transforma-
tion context, so don’t skip it!

Transformation Ex. 3. Summoning two chords for transformation.

Practicing all the family will likely feel easier than the last exercise, and this is a good thing!

Transformation Ex. 4. Transformation is summoning over a transformational path.

Now let’s take a look at the first 8 bars of Blue Bossa for some more musical transformation practice.

50
 

Cmin6 Fmin6

Dmin7(b5) G7(b9) Cmin6

On the next page, you will find a chart showing the

transformation formula for this progression. At first,
i iiø7 this may seem strange, but there are several advan-
Cmin6 Fmin6 = Dmin7b5 tages to practicing in this way:

1. It will help you to develop muscle memory that

can “think” through complicated progressions.
iiø7 V7 i 2. It will allow you to play progressions in any key
Abmin6 = Tritone’s Minor
without any additional thinking.
Harmonic analysis for measures 1-8 3. Practicing this process will give you greater
depth of knowledge with your scales of chords,
benefiting everything you do within your poly-
phonic improvisation.
Figure 16 (page 43) gives a visual representation of the inner “thinking” for the first 8 bars of Blue Bossa. Practice
each transformation while looking at the circle and triangles and actively thinking of what they convey. In the
first transformation, do you see how we’ve moved down one family? The 5th string bass note is a root in the C
Minor 6 chord, which moves across the family circle to become the fifth of the F Minor 6 chord. Since the fifth is
the tall sibling, we would normally move up to the 4th fret for this note (if we were staying within the same fami-
ly). In this case, we remain on the 3rd fret, which means that we have moved down to the family a semitone below.

Practice Transformation Exercise 5 and make sure to think and vocalize aloud the function of each note, as in-
dicated below it. Make yourself aware of the movement down and up the families as you go --don’t just read and
memorize the words, make them signify something.

Root Fifth Fifth Third Root

Transformation
TransformationEx.
Ex.5.5.Practicing
Practicingthe transformational
the path
transformational for for
path Blue Bossa
Blue mm.mm.
Bossa 1-8.1-8.

Now, we just need to summon the relevant Drop 2 voicing over (and including) each bass note. Transformation
is something we will practice on every floor of the Elevator, but Drop 2’s are a great place for the beginning of
Level 1. Make sure to keep thinking and vocalizing as you go, and remember that you are doing two different
processes at the same time (i.e. a compound process): finding the transformational path (a more advanced version
of pathfindng) and summoning. Transformation is eventually combined freely with the other fundamental skills
to create endless possibilities.
51
 Cm6 Fm6 A m6 Cm6

Transformation
TransformationEx.
Ex.6.6.Practicing
Practicingthe transformational
the Formula
transformational for for
Formula BlueBlue
Bossa mm.mm.
Bossa 1-8. 1-8.

As you transpose this exercise up the scale, starting on each inversion of C Minor 6, continue to say the function
of the bass note while doing the mental work of imagining the process conveyed by the circle and the triangle.
Play only the bass notes at first, as in Transformation Exercise 5. This is challenging, but, in addition to giving
you the benefits of a well-developed transformation skill set, these exercises provide the opportunity for more
procedural learning --adding depth to your understanding and command of summoning.
Cm6 Fm6 A m6 Cm6
fr. 5 fr. 5 fr. 4 fr. 5

Cm6 Fm6 A m6 Cm6

fr. 8 fr. 7 fr. 8 fr. 8

Cm6 Fm6 A m6 Cm6

fr. 12 fr. 10 fr. 10 fr. 12

Transformation Ex. 6.1. Continuing the transformational Formula for Blue Bossa mm. 1-8.

The Transformational Path can be practiced in any voice, and will be the same regardless of which string you are
focusing on. Practice the second string transformational path, then summon the chords below this voice. If you
do this thoughtfully, it should make summoning a bit trickier, simply because you are now creating the harmony
below a voice rather than above it --this is a good thing for your depth of learning and represents powerful pro-
cedural practice. Make sure to move up the scale, starting from each inversion of C Minor 6, and keep vocalizing
and thinking!

Third Sixth (Sixth) Fifth Third

Cm6 Fm6 A m6 Cm6

Transformation Ex. 7. Summoning below a note on the second string. 52

Transformation Formula: i-iiø7-V7-i
Cm6 Fm6 Fm6 A m6 A m6 Cm6

Family 1 Family 1 Family 1

i
i

iiø7
V7
Family 3 Family 2 Family 3 Family 2 Family 3 Family 2

Root Root
Root i
i

V7
Sixth Third Sixth Third
Sixth Third

V7
iiø7

Fifth Fifth
iiø7 Fifth

Figure 16. Transformation formula for the first 8 bars of Blue Bossa. 53
©Thomas Echols
 The Chromatic Scale: a More Winding Path

Barry Harris’s “Chromatic Scale” concept is simple, but with endless possible applications. In any scale, when there is a whole
step between two notes, you just fill in the space with a chromatic note. When there is a half-step between two notes, you jump
to the next scale tone above (or below) before arriving at the intended scale degree. For example, if you were moving from
the Major 2nd to the Minor 3rd in the C Minor 6 Diminished scale (where the two notes are separated by only a semitone), you
would play the Major 2nd, jump to the Perfect 4th, and then play the Minor Third. In this way, the scale tones stay on the beats,
which expresses the background harmony while playing a very chromatic line.


Scale “Degrees” Root M2 Third P4 Fifth #5 Sixth M7 Root
Root M2 Third

Moving chromatically from root to the third.

The Path for C Minor 6 Diminished
(study the space between each step)

Here is an example of ascending Shell chords in the C Minor 6 Diminished scale. The top line is embellished with
the Chromatic Scale concept. While “summoning” is involved when playing each shell chord, the principle skill
being practiced here is “path finding” --this is a wonderfully effective process for deepening your knowledge of the
path within any particular scale.

The Chromatic Scale

Transformation

Substitution

Relative Motion

Borrowing
Figure 16. The chromatic scale gives another way to hone our pathfinding and summoning skills.
Summoning Objects

Finding Paths

Polyphonic Practice

54
©Thomas Echols
The Chromatic Scale Level 1
Barry Harris’s Chromatic Scale concept is a powerful one. While Barry taught this in the context of single line,
monophonic soloing, it is also a beautiful way of adding color, texture, and rhythm to our polyphonic improvisa-
tion.

The Chromatic Scale is saved for last, because it is a bit tricky at first. When practicing the physical technique of
the guitar, there are some skills that have steeper learning curve in the beginning stages of study (slurs and the
barré come to mind). Similarly, the chromatic scale has a learning curve. At the same time, it presents a wonder-
ful way to continue our procedural practice and should be viewed as the seventh fundamental skill that should
be practiced every day.

Practice playing the scale with the unison floor of the elevator (i.e. single notes) while applying the chromatic
concept. The trickiest part is between the scale degrees that are the Fifth, #5, and Sixth. As you can see, you have
to leap to the next scale degree twice in a row, which makes some cool motion. Make sure to practice this part
carefully.

Chromatic Scale Ex. 1. Practicing the chromatic scale concept over the C Minor 6 Diminished scale in single notes.
Chromatic Scale Ex. 1. Practicing the chromatic scale concept over the C Minor 6 Diminished scale in single notes.

Before continuing with the Chromatic Scale, let’s practice the C Minor 6 Diminished scale in thirds. This will
give us some material to manipulate. As you play this, vocalize aloud the scale degrees on the third string, which
will help you to prepare to use the chromatic concept.

Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6

fr. 4 fr. 5 fr. 7 fr. 8 fr. 10 fr. 12

Chromatic
ChromaticScale
ScaleEx.
Ex.2.2.Practicing
Practicingthe C Minor
the 6 Diminished
C Minor scale
6 Diminished in thirds.
scale in thirds.

Now let’s practice combining the thirds motion with the chromatic scale, resulting in an embellished upper line.
There are many ways to do this (embellishing the lower line would be a variation), but Exercise 3 is a good place
to start. Repeat each measure until you feel confidant before going on to the next one.

55
 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6
fr. 4 fr. 4 fr. 5

Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7

fr. 4 fr. 5 fr. 7 fr. 5 fr. 7 fr. 8 fr. 7 fr. 8 fr. 10

Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6

fr. 8 fr. 10 fr. 12 fr. 10 fr. 12 fr. 13 fr. 12 fr. 13 fr. 14

Chromatic
ChromaticScale
ScaleEx.
Ex.3.3.Practicing
Practicingthe Chromatic
the Scale
Chromatic with
Scale thethe
with thirds floor
thirds of the
floor elevator.
of the elevator.

Here’s where it gets really fun. . . let’s practice the movement we did in Relative Motion Exercise 11, but, this
time, playing it in the C Minor 6 Diminished scale. Rather than vocalizing the bass line as with Relative Motion
Exercise 11, vocalize the top voice, saying each scale degree as you go.

Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6

fr. 4 fr. 5 fr. 3

Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7

fr. 7 fr. 4 fr. 4 fr. 8 fr. 6 fr. 5 fr. 10 fr. 8 fr. 7

Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6

fr. 12 fr. 9 fr. 8 fr. 13 fr. 10 fr. 10 fr. 14 fr. 12 fr. 12

Chromatic Scale
Chromatic Ex. 4.Ex.Practicing
Scale the Relative
4. Practicing Motion:
the Relative thirds,
Motion: triads,
thirds, shells
triads, shells.
56
Now let’s put it all together! Practice each measure carefully, repeating it until you feel comfortable before mov-
ing on. Make sure to think through the movements rather than just reading the notes. I recommend getting the
gist of the first couple of measures and then working through the rest of it away from the music, checking your
work afterward. This is yet another way that we can use the power of procedural practice to gain depth in our
fundamental skills of summoning (through the elevator work) and pathfinding (with the chromatic scale con-
cept), so don’t skip this one for your level 1 routine!

Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6

fr. 4 fr. 5 fr. 3

Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7

fr. 7 fr. 4 fr. 4 fr. 8 fr. 6 fr. 5 fr. 10 fr. 8 fr. 7

Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6 Bdim7 Cm6

fr. 12 fr. 9 fr. 8 fr. 13 fr. 10 fr. 10 fr. 14 fr. 12 fr. 12

Chromatic
ChromaticScale Ex.Ex.
Scale 5. Practicing thethe
5. Practicing Chromatic Scale
Chromatic while
Scale moving
while fromfrom
moving thirds to triads
thirds to shells.
to triads to shells.

57
Closing Thoughts
Let’s review what we’ve done in this document. We’ve acquainted (or reacquainted) ourselves with the Four
Scales of Chords, using Barry Harris’s creation theory, musical geometries, and musical contexts from a famous
jazz standard to provide a meaningful framing. We’ve organized our practice into categories of personal develop-
ment, each category being a specific skill with clear goal-oriented routines for progressing forward with that skill.

In the next volume, Foundations II: Monophonic Improvisation, we will learn about single-line soloing and es-
tablish a 7-part practice monophonic practice routine that mirrors our polyphonic practice. Foundations III-VI
will each focus on one of the Four Important Questions outlined in Foundations 0: Introduction and Overview.
Each question can provide a myriad of possibilities for applying our skills to improvisations over songs, and it is
also in these sections where we will do more “combined skills” blending the different things we’ve been practic-
ing into beautiful musical applications.

What I love is that every step of the way is beautiful. This is part of what is so special in Barry Harris’s frame-
works: we can functionally develop our improvisational language while playing beautiful little things the whole
way. I will be developing lessons that build upon each of these Level 1 practice routines. We will have Level 1.1,
1.2. . . 3.1 etc building a clear pathway of progression from the beginning to the end of a total sequence that leads
to improvisational fluency. I hope that you are as excited as I am about this new foray! It’s going to be fun sharing
this with you.

In closing, I would like to give one more musical example. To be clear, this is not a Level 1 exercise. It is a pas-
sage of free polyphonic playing. Every day, I spend a lot of time improvising over tunes, in addition to doing the
careful, methodical practice like what I have shared with you in this book. The passage below is a little something
that came out of that, when my intention was to play in a way that wasn’t too far from the preceding exercises
within the current volume. I’ve placed it here just as an example of what we can do as we develop these skills,
asking the four important questions along the way, as I will show you in the volumes to come.

You could play this over bars 5-8 of Blue Bossa. It combines some of the skills in an organic way, and has a nice
feel to it. Don’t worry if this is too technically difficult to play at this point, it’s just a little teaser of what’s to come.
Make sure to notice that the Chord chart for Ab Minor 6, in the second full bar, is only the background idea: if
you look at what’s notated, you can see the barred index finger is actually holding G natural on the first string,
which is a borrowed note in the Ab Minor 6 Diminished scale.
Fm6 Fm6 A m6


fr. 5 fr. 5 fr. 3


Borrowing


Elevator Work

Tritone’s MInor
Cm6

The Chromatic Scale

Happy practicing!
58
-Thomas
Glossary of Terms

Archetype The simplest, purest form of an idea. In polyphony, archetypes have the same
voicing throughout (everything is a Drop 2 or a Shell). Archetypes have the
smallest voiceleading size between harmonies. Archetypes are the back-
ground basis of more complex ideas, which are developed using the 7 skills.
Foundations III-VI will discuss archetypes more.

Brothers and Sisters These are the family members that all come from the same two Diminished
parent chords in the same way.

Compound Process A skill that is a combination of more than one fundamental processes. Trans-
formation is a process that combines 3 distinct processes. Relative motion
combines 2 processes.

The Elevator A system that I developed for navigating polyphony on the guitar. The Eleva-
tor is learned in stages, and can be used to improvise any polyphonic texture.
See “The Elevator Sequence” document for a more thorough guide.

Family Family is often used to refer to Brothers and Sisters, but family also refers to
the broader connections of parents, Brothers and Sisters, and what could be
called half-siblings (Minor 6 and Dominant 7 chords that share one Primary
Parent, for example)

Linguistic Muscle Memory The ability to physically feel and navigate sophisticated compositional and
improvisational processes with our hands, like a sonic sign language.

Object (or Musical Object) A musical structure with a clear identity that can be subjected to a process.
A Drop 2 chord is an example of a musical object, but a musical object
could also be any one of the improvisational modules that will be shared in
Foundations II (going “up a chord” and playing a pivot are both examples of
Musical Objects in Monophonic Improvisation).

Off Chord This is the diminished chord who’s notes are not found within the on chord.
It resolves to the on chord. It is comprised of the Major 7th, Major 2nd, Per-
fect 4th, and Sharp 5th in relation to the root of the on chord.

On Chord The main chord of an Scale of Chords. It has stability and expresses the back-
ground harmony.

59
Parent The two diminished chords from which all of the notes of the On Chord are
derived.

Pathfinding Seeing the space between notes in any scale.

Polyphony Polyphony is a musical texture wherein more than one “independent” mel-
ody is heard at the same time. We often refer to these melodies as “voices”,
even when we are only hearing a solo guitarist playing a multi-voice (i.e.
Polyphonic) texture.

Primary Parent The Parent Diminished chord from which the majority of the notes are
derived for the On Chord. Dominant 7b5 and Major 6 Chords don’t really
have a Primary Parent, as they are equally derived from the two parents. It is
useful to think of a Primary parent with Minor 6 and Dominant 7 chords.

Procedural Learning Rather than repeatedly playing musical objects for memorization, such as a
Major 6 Diminished scale in Drop 2s, studies have shown that subjecting and
manipulating the musical object to a process will be a more effective way to
learn. Whether it is pathfinding or the Chromatic scale, the 7 skills represent
powerful processes for learning the core materials (like Drop 2 chords)

Process A process is a mental and physical action that manipulates musical material
in a clear and methodical way.

Prolongation A process that prologues the sound of the background harmony This is a
fundamental aspect of improvisation.

Secondary Parent The secondary parent is the Diminished chord from which the minority of
notes are derived to form the On Chord. This concept is relevant for Domi-
nant 7 and Minor 6 chords (see “Primary Parent”).

Second Order Symmetry This is a symmetrical structure that isn’t generated by an interval cycle (in the
way the Diminished 7th chords are a cycle of Minor 3rds) but by a slight-
ly more complex pattern, while still being only transposable <12 times. A
Dominant 7 Flat 5 chord, for example, can only be transposed 5 times before
it becomes a rearrangement of the notes in the original chord.

Substitution Substitution is the use of a simple chord structure (a Minor 6 chord, for
example) over a different harmonic background to produce a more complex
sonic composite. Substitution is central to Barry Harris’s harmonic concepts.

60
Summoning The act of “bringing forth” from memory any musical object. In this volume,
summoning is used to bring forth voicings from the 9 floors of the Elevator.
Summoning will also be used in the next volume for single line soloing.

System 1 This is the aspect of our internal thinking processes that moves quickly and is
not overtly rational or analytical. This is a gut-instinct, intuitive aspect of us.
We will use System 1 in our real-time improvisations. One of the main goals
of practice is to “educate” System 1, to give it lots of meaningful working
vocabulary.

System 2 This is the aspect of our internal thinking processes that moves more slowly,
is methodical and rational. It is more taxing on our energy to use System 2,
but we can use it to carefully build a robust System 1 for free improvisation.
We will use System 2 in our well-structured practice routine.

Symmetry Any chord that evenly divides the octave and is the result of an interval cycle.
Fully diminished 7 chords divide the octave in 4 equal parts, each separated
by a minor 3rd.

Transformation A process that transforms one harmony into another, by raising and lowering
notes by the smallest amount possible.

Transformational Path This is a version of pathfinding that “sees” the distance between notes in a
transformation.

Voiceleading Voiceleading refers to the distance individual “voices” travel between any two
harmonies.

61