Barry Harris sixth-diminished chord scale
Turn a tonic chord into a moving scale of alternating sixth-chord inversions and diminished passing harmony.
Interactive listening
Hear the harmony in time
Compare the examples at one tempo.
A static C6 colour
C6 is a stable tonic sonority. The moving example preserves that tonic family while changing every upper voice.
C sixth-diminished movement
Inversions of C6 alternate with inversions of D°7 as the melody rises through the eight-note scale.
Watch it in context · Open Studio
Barry Harris' 6th Diminished: The Basics
Adam Maness demonstrates the basic Barry Harris idea of alternating a sixth chord with its related diminished chord.
Open on YouTube (opens in a new tab)Two chord families, eight scale notes
Barry Harris’s major sixth-diminished scale inserts a chromatic note between scale degrees 5 and 6. In C, the pitch collection is C–D–E–F–G–A♭–A–B. Harmonising alternate notes produces two families: inversions of C6 and inversions of D°7.
That is more precise than assigning a new sixth chord to every diatonic root. Em6, for example, contains C♯ and is not an inversion of C6. The consonant side remains C–E–G–A in different orders; the diminished side remains D–F–A♭–B.
Apply it as movement, not a scale grip
On guitar, learn C6 and D°7 on one four-string set, then invert each shape upward. Alternating the two families harmonises an ascending or descending melody while keeping tonic function in view.
Use only the amount of movement the music needs. A vocalist may benefit from one passing diminished chord into an inversion; filling every beat can compete with the melody. The diminished notes can also behave as neighbour tones that return to the same C6 position.
- Practise the pitch scale before harmonising it.
- Name each top note so the chord line follows a melody.
- Treat C6 as a tonic-major colour closely related to Cmaj7, not as an identical spelling.