If you're serious about taking your harmonic and technical abilities to the next level, mastering the intervallic approach is essential.
When musicians search for the , they are often looking for a version of this material that has been optimized, curated, or "repaired" for digital study. In many cases, this refers to:
Take one page—just the "Table of Perfect 4ths" (Page 12 in the patched version). Play nothing but Perfect 4ths for 10 minutes over a blues backing track. You will sound strange, then interesting, then finally, like Eddie Harris.
: You can find deeper dives and transcriptions of Harris's solos on sites like Johnny Lippiett's Jazz Resources . ✅ Summary
Eddie Harris (1934–1996) was a true Renaissance man of jazz. Based out of Chicago, he was a virtuoso tenor saxophonist, pianist, composer, and inventor. While the general public knows him best for his crossover hit with Les McCann, "Compared to What," and his iconic composition (popularized by Miles Davis), academia and serious students remember him as a radical music theorist.
Note: Always ensure you are accessing materials through legitimate, legal channels to support the preservation of jazz education materials. Summary: The Legacy of Intervallistic Playing
and should not be overly analyzed or chastised. Key Technical Focus Areas
The primary material for this concept is found in Eddie Harris’s book, "Skips: For the Advanced Saxophonist and any other instrumentalist that wish to play Intervallistical Passages". Key Features of the Book:
Saxophone and jazz forums over the last decade are filled with threads dedicated solely to finding a PDF of The Intervallistic Concept . The desire to possess this intellectual property legally is frequently weighed against the ease of digital distribution. One user even noted the discrepancy in price, wondering why the book seemed to cost $34 on some sites but $90 on Eddie Harris's own website. These price confusions and uncertainties fuel the search for alternative digital copies.
Focuses on applying these concepts across various genres, including blues, Latin, and funk, while exploring melodic development and rhythmic variations. Key Areas of Study
In an era of AI-generated solos and lick libraries, Eddie Harris’s Intervallistic Concept forces you to listen to pure geometry . It strips away the emotional baggage of modes and the ego of chord scales.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ THE EVOLUTION OF THE BOOK │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ 1971: Published as a massive, thick spiral-bound manual │ │ 2000s: Went largely out of print; physical copies cost $100+│ │ 2010s: Poorly scanned, crooked, unreadable PDFs leaked online│ │ 2020s: Digital communities release "patched" clean editions │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
