Welcome to the Barry Harris Borrowing Trainer!
This app helps you learn and practice Barry Harris's borrowing concept. You'll see full chord voicings and learn to identify borrowed notes from the related diminished chord.
What is Borrowing?
In Barry Harris's system, borrowing means taking notes from the diminished chord in the same scale family (Major 6 Diminished, Minor 6 Diminished, Dom7 Diminished, or Dom7b5 Diminished) and using them in place of notes from the main chord (or vice versa).
This creates richer harmonies and smoother voice-leading while staying within the same harmonic "family."
How to Play
- Observe the fretboard: Each question shows a chord voicing with an arrow (↑ or ↓) indicating the direction to borrow
- Find the target note: The arrow shows which note needs to be replaced with a borrowed scale tone
- Click the borrowed note: Click on the fretboard where the borrowed scale tone should go
- Expert mode: Enable this to remove interval labels - you'll identify notes by ear and theory knowledge alone
Understanding Borrowing Direction
- ↑ (Up Arrow): Borrow below - take the scale tone that's one position lower than the current note
- ↓ (Down Arrow): Borrow above - take the scale tone that's one position higher than the current note
- Example: In C Major 6 Diminished, if you see ↓ on the 3rd (E), you'd play the 4th (F) - borrowing above
Settings
- Borrowing Direction: Choose to practice borrowing above, below, or randomly mixed
- Expert Mode: Removes interval labels - you identify notes by ear and theory knowledge alone. note: Thirds voicings always show labels.
- Scale Types: Choose from Major 6 Diminished, Minor 6 Diminished, Dominant 7 Diminished, and 7b5 Diminished
- Voicing Types: Practice with different voicing types like Drop 2, Drop 3, etc.
Tips for Success
- Start with one scale type to build familiarity with its intervals
- Practice with "above only" or "below only" before trying random
- Remember: ↑ means borrow below, ↓ means borrow above (arrows show fret movement direction)
- Borrowing stays within the same 8-note scale family
- Use the statistics to track your progress across different scales and directions