Eddie Harris Intervallistic Concept Pdf High Quality (OFFICIAL)

Eddie Harris — Intervallistic Concept (intriguing overview & directions)

What it is

Eddie Harris’s "Intervallistic Concept" is an approach to improvisation and composition that foregrounds interval relationships (rather than traditional scalar or chordal thinking) as the primary organizing principle. It treats intervals as cells or modules that can be manipulated, transformed, and combined to generate melodic lines, harmonic color, and motivic development. The method yields music that can sound angular, modern, and rhythmically elastic while remaining tuneful and logically coherent.

  • Minor 2nd (half step)
  • Major 2nd (whole step)
  • Minor 3rd
  • Major 3rd
  • Perfect 4th
  • Tritone (augmented 4th/diminished 5th)
  • Perfect 5th, etc.
    Each interval is practiced ascending and descending from every starting pitch.

Eddie watched the spread with something like pride and something like alarm. His concept was being bent in ways he hadn’t intended—intervals traded like merchandise, hooks carved out of conversations. He could have chased the copies down, but he remembered nights of improvisation when not knowing what would come next was the point. Instead, he began to annotate again. eddie harris intervallistic concept pdf

Purpose: Harris designed the series to teach instrumentalists how to play and improvise using wide, non-standard interval jumps, which became his signature sound. Related Material: "Skips" Minor 2nd (half step) Major 2nd (whole step)

: He viewed musical sounds as a universal language that should be felt rather than overly over-analyzed or "chastised". Charles Colin Music Method Structure and Content Eddie watched the spread with something like pride

A standard scale has a specific order of whole-steps and half-steps (W-W-H-W-W-W-H). Harris throws that away. Instead, he would take a specific interval—say, a Major 3rd (4 semitones).

The complete edition is typically structured into three distinct phases of learning: Focus Area Key Topics Covered Vol I Foundations