Eddie Harris Intervallistic Concept Pdf (2024)

To truly play in this style, Harris suggested keeping these philosophies in mind: No Wrong Notes: Only wrong connections or inflections. Personal Connection:

You have heard the Intervallistic Concept, even if you didn't know it. Jazz pianists like and Paul Bley used intervallic playing in the 1960s. However, Eddie Harris was the one who codified it for monophonic instruments (sax, trumpet, guitar). Eddie Harris Intervallistic Concept Pdf

Before diving into the concept, we must understand the man. Eddie Harris (1934–1996) was a maverick. While most jazz saxophonists in the 1960s were trying to sound like John Coltrane or Sonny Rollins, Harris was inventing his own language. He is best known for the crossover hit “Freedom Jazz Dance” (covered famously by Miles Davis) and for being one of the first jazz musicians to commercially amplify the saxophone using a reed-triggered synthesizer. To truly play in this style, Harris suggested

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This creates a jagged, angular line (C - Eb - F - A - B) that sounds "outside" the standard C Major tonality, yet manages to outline the color of the chord in a fresh way. By varying the sequence of intervals—using 4ths, tritones, and 7ths—a player can generate thousands of unique melodic patterns that simply do not exist in the standard diatonic scale system.