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Meet Bill Harrison -
Last time (http://tinyurl.com/minorkeymystery) we had a quiet little chat about using the harmonic minor scale as our “go to” choice for V – i cadences in minor. As I mentioned, the harmonic form of minor isn’t the only choice for this but I think it’s the easiest sound to apply in many cases and it sidesteps the complexities of the melodic minor scale. There’s a lot of great contemporary sounding stuff in melodic minor, but we’ll deal with that harmonic palette a little later.
I’m presenting this lesson in video form. In it, I discuss the ii/V/i, show you how it works on the keyboard and demonstrate some choices for using harmonic minor to construct smooth, functional bass lines.
Walking Bass Lesson: The Minor Turnaround
Bill Harrison has written 10 articles in BMM.
Bill is a graduate of DePaul University, and has been a performer, teacher and clinician for nearly thirty years. His jazz credits include work with Clark Terry, James Moody, Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, Kenny Burrell, Frank Wess, Bunky Green, Woody Herman Band, Joe Daley and many others.
He hs worked extensively in the Chicago theater, both in the pit and onstage as a musician and actor. Credits include the long running Always...Patsy Cline, Wicked, Showboat, Sunset Boulevard, Singin' In The Rain, Scrooge, Peter Pan, Sweet Charity, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, West Side Story, Camelot and the world premieres of The Visit, Turn of the Century and Bounce at Goodman Theatre.
Bill's teachers were Chicago Symphony Orchestra bassists Mark Kraemer and Warren Benfield and the legendary cellist Karl Fruh at Roosevelt University. He studied piano with Goldie Goloub, jazz theory with Alan Swain and arranging with Cliff Colnot.
His teaching experience includes private lessons and coaching jazz ensembles at the American Conservatory of Music and at Chicago State University. As a clinician, Bill spent many summers at Clark Terry's Great Plains Jazz Camp, taught at the Saskatchewan Summer School for the Arts and did a week of master classes at the Montreux Jazz Festival as a member of the Bunky Green Quartet. He also taught and coached young rockers at DayJams Summer Camp.
Bill currently works as a freelance bassist in theatres, clubs, hotels and for private and corporate events. He gives private lessons on electric and upright bass, teaches theory, harmony, ear training, reading and improvising, and coaches rhythm sections on the fundamentals of ensemble playing, listening and groove.
Bill created and runs PlayJazzNow.com, a website offering innovative, downloadable play-along tracks for instrumentalists and singers of all levels.
He writes about musical life at www.jazzunderneath.blogspot.com and contributes toJazz.com and Bass Musician magazine.
