[Harp-L] David Barrett's Harmonica Scales Books

["samblancato" <samblancato@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Folks,

 

Bill Hines had mentioned the two scales books by David Barrette and I wanted
to make some comment on this.  I have the second book and it has just about
every scale there is in it but it's pretty useless except as a reference.  I
think the world of Barrett's material but he makes the same mistake
everybody else seems to make when they approach this thing.  Everyone
presents all the scales relevant to their discussion but nobody seems to
understand that know a scale in and of its self is worthless unless it's
within a context of a song or chord progression.  You might be able to
recognize a scale and distinguish it from another but without a context it's
meaningless.  How does a Dorian scale work melodically over a major
progression?  How does it compare, given the same progression, with a
mixalydian scale?  Barrette only touches on this at the very end, and I mean
the very end of the book.  In this instance he plays a really neat figure
over a progression and gives you the teenyweenist taste of what can be done
once you understand a scale in context.  It is really frustrating.  Barrette
is taking on an issue and then he doesn't really take it on.  Presenting
this kind of stuff for harmonica players (who learn their chops by instinct
mostly) is like trying to explain something to a blind person by drawing
them a picture.

 

Sam Blancato, Pittsburgh