Spring 2026 • TedGreene.com Newsletter

ADVANCE TO NEW ITEMS >>

Spring Greetings!

We are thrilled to announce that we are making the Ted Greene tribute album, Ted Greene Remembered available as MP3 files for free download on this website. (Please see below in the “New Material” section for downloading location.) Originally released on CD in 2007 and long out of print, this collection is a beautiful testament to Ted’s legacy. It was produced by one of Ted’s close friends for 35 years, Tom Bocci. We are grateful to Tom for giving his kind permission for us to share this with you.

In the album’s liner notes Tom wrote:

To this great gathering of “cats,” as Ted might have put it, who have given their time, talent, and spirit, generously and unconditionally in the best way possible to someone they admired and loved. The performances contained in this tribute to the legendary guitarist and beloved teacher are each artist’s way of saying goodbye to a special friend, whose musical and personal influence can be felt and heard in each selection. Thank you all for answering the call.

And heartfelt appreciation to Barbara Franklin, who loved and cared for Ted and made the last dozen years the most wonderful and joyous period of his life. To my dear wife, Wendy, whose love, insight, wit, and cheerfulness inspire all who know her to keep reaching higher with intention. Ted thought she was special, too.

And finally, a salute to Ted Greene, himself. A dear friend for thirty-five years, a beautiful “old soul” whose exceptional musical talents were only surpassed by his compassion and humility. “Be Like Ted” has become the catchphrase for all those who knew him. Special thanks for continued support to: Jay Bocci, Ellen and Walt Kreimann, Joan Ecclesine, Cathie and Dave Fital, Bill Straw and Lois Girard, Larry and Chris Brown, Dean Kay, Peter and Viviane Coplon. Much Appreciation to Jennifer Gallacher, Peter Jesperson, Ken Kushnick, Gina Mendello, Heidi Kristine Meyer, Jean Pisano, and Bill Robe.

~Tom Bоссі

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And now, let’s look back at what Barbara Franklin penned for the original liner notes:

THE MANY FACETS OF TED GREENE
by Barbara Franklin

TEACHER

Ted had the rare gift of insight into how to connect with people. First, and most importantly, he took a genuine interest in each student’s general preferences in life. For that reason, Ted was able to choose the best method of learning suited to everyone’s personality and work habits. As a result, Ted’s personal focus and caring was woven into every lesson combined with maintaining a friendly and casual atmosphere, which made the learning experience feel uniquely special.
MUSICIAN

Ted’s musical instincts are difficult to explain. Although gifted with an abundance of natural ability, he eventually recognized that the necessary skills for application would need to be developed. This he did at full throttle.

Ted’s musical path evolved through long hours of exploration; listening, reading, studying, practicing and experimentation. His highly developed sense of tone quality recognition bears testimony in many ways to his exquisite use of chords and amazing improvisations. This led to the knowledge of how to determine and utilize the best aspects of ANY guitar, coupled with the specialized amplifier settings he perfected for each individual piece he played.

He preferred teaching to performing for many reasons. In teaching there was inherent learning, personal challenges, one to one exchanges, and much happiness derived from successful lessons. For live performance Ted’s preference was a small, quiet venue where he could simply fill the room with melodic beauty. Ted was uncomfortable giving concerts due to the direct attention focused on him, which he found much too intense.

PERSON

Ted was ultra-sensitive to the inequities of the world. He would always strive to do some good deed, sometimes to the point of self-sacrifice, often helping friends, students, or even strangers in need.

Ted was a vegetarian not for health reasons, but due to the empathy for what he deemed was the cruelty animals raised for slaughter were subjected to during their lives. Although music encompassed much of his time by preference, he did have many other interests such as studying human behavior, cars, basketball, and baseball. The latter two sports he watched avidly and collected the vintage cards from his youth, arranging them by colors and background rather than numerical order. His was a curious and child-like enquiring nature, never satiated. Almost everything and everyone fascinated Ted on some level.

MY TED

Ted was the love of my life and fortunately, I the love of his life. We were best friends and playmates as well. Basically, ours was a dyad, a world of two. In the sanctity of home we spent most of our time sharing our love of languishing in every aspect of music (listening, playing, studying, and learning), watching sports or movies, being entertained by our cats, reading, doing jigsaw and crossword puzzles, and simply experiencing the joy of just being together.

Ted was magical and had a way of changing the ordinary into an adventure of sorts. For example, one New Year’s Eve we went to Tower Records to spend the very generous gift certificates given to each of us by my parents. We made ourselves at home in the Classical section of the store and since there were no employees around, we began assisting the customers ourselves. When closing time finally came around, an employee came in and found us behind the counter and was absolutely astonished! We were really just changing the CD in the player, but were booted out of there so fast despite our explanation, that we couldn’t help laughing all the way home. Nevertheless, on many occasions we did venture out; mostly to music stores, guitar stores, book stores, and necessary errands. We were not really reclusive, but rarely were we “social.”

However, one particular New Year’s Day (1996) Ted asked me to come with him to meet some friends of his. I was somewhat reluctant, but he said “Barb, I promise you, you will love them.” That was the day I met Tom & Wendy Bocci—and Ted was so right. Yes, this delightful duo added a new beautiful dimension to our lives, and forever my life will be blessed with their friendship, thanks to my dearest Ted.

THE TED GREENE REMEMBERED CD

When Tom suggested this wonderful project, I was so grateful and appreciative of his desire and dedication to create this extraordinary Tribute CD, because he possesses the sensitivity and insight to incorporate the love and reverence from others that reflect Ted’s beautiful spirit.

Many thanks to Tom and to everyone who so generously donated their time and effort to participate in creating this incredible musical tribute which will further imbue the world with the essence of Ted’s soul.

* * * * *

We hope you’ve been enjoying the latest series of Ted videos on our YouTube channel—including the Joey Backenstoe wedding audio releases, The California Vintage Guitar seminar from 2004, and the various Ted comping lessons for Brian Totten. To stay up-to-date with every new release, be sure to sign up for our Advance Updates

We’re also excited to welcome a new member to the TG Team: Emil James. Many of you know Emil from his active posts in our “Ted Chord Move of the Day” Forums thread. More importantly, Emil has been instrumental in assisting me with many of the write-ups for the new Ted lesson pages. He has a great eye for the “look and feel” of these pages, ensuring we maintain the high quality and consistency you expect. Thank you, Emil! 

Our heartfelt thanks to our other core Team members:

• Mike De Luca – Music proofreader
• Jeffrey D Brown – Technical and marketing support
• Leon White – Stewardship of the Ted Greene Archives and this site

Our sincere thanks go out to them, and to you, for supporting our mission to share Ted’s music and teachings with the world.

~ Paul and Your Friends on the TedGreene.com Team

NEW ITEMS

AUDIO:
Under the “Ted Greene Remembered” header:
01 - Watch What Happens – Tommy Emmanuel
02 - A Foggy Day – Laurence Juber
03 - For Ted – Lee Ritenour
04 - It Had to Be You – Dan Sawyer
05 - Bring – Mark Goldenberg
06 - Ted's Tune – Anthony Wilson
07 - Theo's Rhythm 'n Blues – John Pissano and Ted Greene
08 - The Star-Spangled Banner – Jay Graydon
09 - Who Can I Turn To? – My Romance – Phil de Gruy
10 - Midnight Greene – Steve Ferguson
11 - Farewell – George Winston
12 - Spirit Lake – Stephen Bruton
13 - Gratitude – Tom Bocci and Ted Greene
Ted Greene Remembered – CD Booklet

BAROQUE:
* Using 6ths and Pedals in Musical Passages, 1988-02-23

Under the “Baroque Ideas” header:
* Baroque Idea #8, Various Ideas for Baroque and Classical Pieces and Interludes, 1986-03-25

CHORD STUDIES:
* Augmented (Whole-Tone) Type Chords and Their Progressions
* Cadences – Triads in Root Position with Upper 3 Voices in Close Position

Under the “Chording Ideas” header:
* Chording Idea #12, Strength Harmony in 4ths, 1983-07-03
* Chording Idea #13, Application of Chord-Implying Technique, 1979-07-15
* Chording Idea #14, v7b9 Fragments: V7 — I, 1978-05-23
* Chording Idea #15, Triad Phrases
* Chording Idea #16, Grids in E
* Chording Idea #17, Add 9 and Major 9 Cycles
* Chording Idea #18, C major 7 – C6/9 Cumulative
* Chording Idea #19, I - I7 - IV
* Chording Idea #20, Dominant 7 Fills over B7
* Chording Idea #21, Aeolian Sequence in G minor
* Chording Idea #22, III7 - VI7 - II7 - V7, 2001-08-15
* Chording Idea #23, Triad Chord Sequences
* Chording Idea #24, Broken Chord Scale Patterns, 1979-12-03
* Chording Idea #25, ii7b5 - V7 Sounds, 1978-12-09

COMPING:
* It’s the Talk of the Town – taken from 1994 video

HARMONY & THEORY:
* Chord Embellishment Chart, 1979-08-19
* Favorite Sounds and Devices in Diatonic Major Tonality, 1979-08-11, 1981-04-09

SINGLE-NOTE SOLOING:
Under the “Single-Note Ideas” header:
* Single-Note Idea #8, ii7 - VI7 - ii7 - V7 Runs, 1986-02-09
* Single-Note Idea #9, ii7b5 - V7alt - I in key of E, 1977-11-29
* Single-Note Idea #10, Country-Classical Diatonic Runs, 1979-10-21
* Single-Note Idea #11, Arpeggios for ii7 - V 7 in Key of A
* Single-Note Idea #12, Page 4 of Undated Fragments 1
* Single-Note Idea #13, F Major 7 Arpeggios, Circa 1979

Ted on YouTube

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Ted on Twitter

The Official Ted Greene Forums

* Of course, most of the videos are posted right here in our Video Section

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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - My Life with The Chord Chemist - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

My Life with The Chord Chemist
A Memoir of Ted Greene, Apotheosis of Solo Guitar
By Barbara Franklin

BUY NOW - Available at amazon.com

Publication Date: Nov 24 2009
Page Count: 276
Trim Size: 8" x 10"

ABOUT THE BOOK
A retrospective of Ted Greene, virtuoso solo guitarist, beloved music teacher, world-renowned author and innovator of unique music concepts for guitar. This book also includes an overview of Ted Greene's early life and musical development, plus an insightful narrative of the 13 years prior to his death

Six agonizing months after losing my beloved Ted, I slowly emerged from a state of profound disbelief, almost coma-like. At that time I didn’t know what to do with the remnants of my life; then a path began to unfold before me. This website was started and became a saving grace.

During the ensuing years, I organized and categorized Ted’s material and personal studies. Upon completion of that massive undertaking, once again, I didn’t know what to do, so I began writing.

I wrote pages, and then threw them away, until once again a path began to unfold. What I wrote is mostly a personal memoir. I suppose it was what I had to write first.

From the preface:

“The decision to reveal parts of our personal life was something I deliberated over for a long time. Because our lives became so inextricably bound, I included what I felt necessary, but not without a considerable amount of apprehension. This book illustrates the many parallels between Ted the musician and Ted the person. I felt it was important to convey how Ted was driven compulsively not just to pursue music, but so many other things he loved.”

With this in mind, here is our story. It IS very personal and I still have apprehensions about publishing it. My hope is that it brings you closer to Ted, as you begin to get to know and understand this unique and extraordinary man and musician.

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