Introduction: Beyond Bebop Scales In the pantheon of jazz innovation, Eddie Harris occupies a unique throne. Known primarily as the master of the electric saxophone and the composer of the fusion anthem "Freedom Jazz Dance," Harris was also a profound musical philosopher. While many jazz musicians focused on harmonic progression (chord changes) or modal scales, Harris looked at a more granular building block: the interval .
Traditional jazz education relies on the "diatonic system" (Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do). When a traditional musician sees a Cm7 chord, they play a C Dorian scale. Harris argued that this creates predictable, "inside" playing.
If you have searched for this PDF, you are likely looking to break out of predictable patterns and enter a world of "non-cliché" chromaticism. This article will explore what the Intervallistic Concept is, why it matters, and where the legacy of that elusive PDF lives on today. To understand the Eddie Harris method, you must forget the key signature.
Connect that cell to the next one by a half step: Ab - A - D - G - C.
For decades, a holy grail has existed for advanced improvisers: the . This document—originally a self-published booklet by Harris in the 1970s—outlines a radical method for improvisation based not on scales, but on the mathematical and sonic relationships between two notes.