Two Ted Greene Arrangements and an Accompaniment Study by Paul Vachon

Ted wrote 2 different arrangements of “Stella by Starlight” both are what I’d consider advanced level chord-melody playing.  His original page has both versions.  My comments below refer to the compilation pages I created that combine Ted’s original chord boxes plus music notation & lyrics

Ted's Original Lesson sheets
StellaByStarlight_TedGreene_Arr_KeyOfAandE10-09-1997.pdf
StellaByStarlight_TedGreene_RoadMap8-13-1992.pdf

My compilation pages, changes and comparisons
StellaByStarlight_TedGreene_Arr_KeyOfA_gridsNotation_p1.pdf
StellaByStarlight_TedGreene_Arr_KeyOfA_gridsNotation_p2.pdf
StellaByStarlight_TedGreene_Arr_KeyOfE_gridsNotation_p1.pdf
StellaByStarlight_TedGreene_Arr_KeyOfE_gridsNotation_p2.pdf
StellaByStarlight_TedGreene_CompingStudy_grids_and_notation_p1.pdf
StellaByStarlight_TedGreene_CompingStudy_grids_and_notation_p2.pdf


Arrangement #1
Key of A – This is by far the “easier” of the two arrangements.  Ted wrote on this page: “Outline Form:  some melody notes need to be added or repeated.”  And, “Do in arpeggio-broken chord style in many places to fill up space and soften some dissonances.” And, “The chords in parentheses are passing chord fills.”  You may also wish to utilize open strings any place where you can in place of or in addition to some of the fretted notes.  I like to add some short bass lines leading into some of the chords as a sort of fill – give it a try when possible.  This is one of my favorite of Ted’s to play. 

• The Bb7/Ab chord at the end of p.1, line 1 is an optional chord, which I find unnecessary.
• The A13sus on line 2 requires the first-finger slant technique for the top 2 strings, or you could play the A bass note on the open 5th string and finger the chord without the slant.
• For a smooth fingering for line 2, first measure I’d suggest fingers 2,4,3 on strings 4,3,2 for the Dm6 chord, and then hold the 4th finger down when moving to the A/9 chord.
• The first chord on line 4 is intended to indicate an A/B followed by an E/B.  Keep the little finger planted for this transition.
• Also on line 4, notice that for the C#m to F#m7 chord you can keep the 4th finger planted on the 3rd string for that transition.
• On page 2, line 2, the G13 chord works better if you barre the 2nd finger for strings 3,2,1, so that when you lift the 4th finger for the G# note, the rest of the chord will ring.
• Page 2, last chord of line 2 and first chord of line 3 also requires the 2nd finger to barre strings 5,4,3.
• Take notice in the fingering Ted wrote for the first 3 chords on page 2, line 4…it makes those moves smoother.

-- Paul