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DECEMBER 2012 Newsletter

Season’s Greetings!

Christmas and New Year’s is a good time to reflect on our lives and to take stock of who we are, where we’re at, what we’re doing, and where we’re going.  I’ve found that much of my musical life has been pushed forward by the lessons and music from Ted.  I’m thankful that we have this wonderful website wherein Ted’s materials are made available, and we are grateful for your kind and generous support that allows us to continue to post Ted’s lessons, recordings, arrangements, and other good stuff.

You may have noticed that our website got a small makeover!  We’ve moved everything from the homepage to their proper and permanent spots in the various sections in the site.  You’ll find many of them now in the Audio and Video sections.  Check out the Personal > Articles & Interviews section for Ted’s George Van Eps Guitar Player Magazine article/interview, the “Vintage Guitar Magazine Spotlight”, the “Ted Greene on Wes Montgomery” and the “Ted Greene on Chord Voicings” articles.  The “Ted Greene Tribute CD” info/advertisement has moved to the Personal > Discography & Publications section.  We hope to do some more updating to the site in the coming months to make it easier for you to find things.

This month James Hober explains and elaborates on Ted’s V-System “conversions” - that is, converting one voicing group to another.  Conversion was very important to Ted.  You could say that conversion is in the V-System’s DNA, and there are a number of interesting ways to do it.  We’re also releasing Ted’s V-8 material, including his staff notation all 43 chord types in V-8 spacing, plus his V-8 grids of all 35 chord types [re-drawn for easy reading—this was a monster of a project!]  There’s also a page on V-3 dominant 7th voicings, and not least, Ted’s personal notes on “Conversion Methods” and “Transformation of One Style Voicing into Another” [with transcription pages attached for easy reading].

Ted loved Christmas songs, so in keeping with that spirit, every December we try to post more of his arrangements.  This month we’d like to thank new contributor, Dan Riley for sending us the GuitarPro5 and notation + TAB files that he created for 11 of Ted’s Christmas arrangements.  You’ll find these in the “From Students” section under “Contributions by Dan Riley.”  Thanks Dan!

Special thanks again to Anders Hagstrom (our busy TG transcriber) who recently transcribed and notated Ted’s live performance of White Christmas.  This is a wonderful piece worth learning.  You can find it in Dan’s “From Students” section.  Listen to Ted’s recording in the Video section (or on YouTube).  [It’s just an audio recording, so you can’t watch his fingers…darn!]  We’re looking forward to more of these transcriptions from Anders in the future. 

Each month we release one of Ted’s lesson recordings, and in 2013 we plan to post even more audio and video material for your musical inspiration, education, and enjoyment.

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MAKE A PAYPAL DONATION TO THE SITE     
Any contributions are gratefully appreciated. Thank You.

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New Lesson Material:

AUDIO:
* Ted Greene Lesson with Kevin Griffin, 1989, December [An mp3 of Kevin’s lesson #10, with Ted. – 46 minutes.]

BAROQUE:
* Modulation, (part 3) 1975-10-02  [The third of Ted’s 5-part series on modulation, with transcription pages, including grid diagrams for Ted’s examples.  This is in the Baroque section, but has good fundamental information for all music styles.]

BLUES & JAZZ:
* Walking Chord “Gospel Style” Blues, 1986-12-31 [Ted’s blues comping study in F#.]

FROM STUDENTS:
* Eleven Ted Greene Christmas arrangements—in standard notation, TAB, and GuitarPro5 files, created by Dan Riley  [Previously posted arrangements by Ted, now available with TAB and GuitarPro5 files.  Thank you, Dan!]
* White Christmas, Transcription of Ted’s live performance, by Anders Hagstrom.

THE V-SYSTEM:
* V-System Conversion Methods, 1989-02-04  [Ted’s hints and reminders for how to convert on voicing group to another.  Translation page included.]
* Transformation of One Style Voicing into Another, 2005 [with transcription page]
* V-8, The Seven Basic Qualities and Their Systematic Inversions, 1989-10-08
* V-8, The 43 Chord Types, 2000-08-26 [Ted’s voicings (in standard music notation only) of the 43 different chord types for V-8 chords.  Translation page included.]
* V-8, Voicings for the 35 Chord Types, 1985-11-05 [Ted’s grids for each of the 35 chord types, translation page of redrawn grids for easy reading (you’ll be glad for that!)]
* V-3, Some Choice V-3 Dominant 7th Voicings, 1986-01-25
* Conversions  [James Hober’s explanation for Ted’s V-System conversion procedures.]
* Conversions Listed by Conversion Procedure  [James Hober’s comprehensive list of V-System conversions, organized by the procedure used.]
* Conversions Listed by Source Voicing Group  [James Hober’s comprehensive list of V-System conversions, organized by the starting voicing group.]
* Conversions Listed by Target Voicing Group  [James Hober’s comprehensive list of V-System conversions, organized by the resultant voicing group.]

OTHER:
* Original Tuning [#3]:  R-b7-9-b3-5-R Tuning Organizational Plan, 1986-02-20 and 21 [6 pages of Ted’s planning and voicings for this tuning.  [Transcription of text only included.]

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Ted on Youtube:
*Many exciting videos are also available on The OFFICIAL Ted Greene Video Archive page on YouTube

Of course all the videos are posted under the Video Section of the .com

As always there is plenty more information in the Forums.
Please join up if you have not done so as of yet.

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NOVEMBER 2012 Newsletter

November in the United States is the month where the Thanksgiving holiday arrives. As we all probably know, that means the big sales will be on at all the major department stores. I was thinking about Thanksgiving and it occurred to me that although we acknowledge folks along the way, this might be a good time to do so again.

Barb, wherever you may be, thank you, my friend for all you have done for us. Who could have done more? For the care and love of the site, Dan Sindel and Paul Vachon — thank you both. You two enable all the rest of us to participate in a meaningful way.

The TedGreene.com Team: You guys all contribute every month in quiet but effective ways, and making the site that much more valuable and enjoyable. On behalf of all, thank you too.

To all our visitors, Forum members, and Ted Students — thank you for your support and interest. You make it all worthwhile, and you are the ones who remember Ted.

This month is once again brimming with new stuff. It always amazes me how much we are able to share. May everyone have a wonderful November, and may all take time to remember those whom they should.

~ Leon and the TedGreene.com Team

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New Lesson Material:

ARRANGEMENTS:
* Old Folks at Home (Swanee River), 1973-09-11 [Ted handwritten standard notation only]

AUDIO:
* Ted Greene Lesson with Kevin Griffin, 1988, October [An mp3 file of Kevin’s lesson #2, with Ted. – 48 minutes.]

BAROQUE:
* Modulation, (part 2) 1975-10-02 [The second of Ted’s 5-part series on modulation, with transcription pages, including grid diagrams for Ted’s examples. This is in the Baroque section, but has good fundamental information for all music styles.]

FUNDAMENTALS:
* Modern Chords and Extensions, 1974-01-23 [Ted’s 3-page lesson outlining the common chord extensions, substitutions, and extensions. Transcription pages included.]

HARMONY & THEORY:
Non-Harmonic Tones, 1973-09-16 [Ted’s lesson dealing with the practice of adding moving tones that are unessential and/or foreign to the chords with which they are being played.]

SINGLE-NOTE SOLOING:
* Melodic Patterns, 1978-05-22, 23 & 24 [Ted’s 11-page collection of melodic patterns for solo playing, all in key of D; handwritten standard notation.]

FROM STUDENTS:
* Old Folks at Home (Swanee River), 1973-09-11 [Paul Vachon’s compilation write-up of Ted’s arrangement. Suggested chord grids provided.]

THE V-SYSTEM:
* Method 3 [James Hober explains Ted’s V-System Method 3]
* Method 3 Computer Completion by Quality [43 additional Method 3 Tables, one for each quality.]
* Method 3 Computer Completion by Outer Voice Span [32 additional Method 3 Tables, one for each bass to soprano interval.]
* The Method 3 Computer Algorithm [The procedure used by James Hober to program his computer to generate the additional Method 3 tables.]
* V-7, The Seven Basic Qualities and Their Systematic Inversions
* V-4, Musical Passages Using Chord Scales with Crossovers
* V-1, Introduction to V-1 Major Colors on Mid-Low Strings

OTHER:
* Original Tunings – (Tuning #3) The Sweet Tuning, D-C-E-F-A-D, Various Progressions, 1991-08-7 [Some progressions with Ted’s tuning #3, from Ted’s Personal Music Studies pages on original tunings]
* Favorite Rhythmic Figures (Mainly Traditional), 1981-07-11 [A collection of rhythm figures for melodies. From Ted’s Personal Music Studies papers.]
* Rhythmic Types, 1981-03-08 and 1982-11-06 [Ted’s miscellaneous collection, 4-parts combined to one document with translation pages. From Ted’s Personal Music Studies papers.]
* Rhythms of the ‘50’s and ‘60’s, 1979-07-23 [a misc. collection of rhythms from Ted’s Personal Music Studies]

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OCTOBER 2012 Newsletter

Autumnal Greetings!

I wanted to share some excerpts of Barbara Franklin’s emails to me regarding the TedGreene.com Forums and the website in general. She was always concerned about how many people visited the site and if there was activity/discussions/dialog taking place. “Lurkers” was a term that was new to her, and she didn’t think she liked it (but I think that was primarily because it sounded like a negative description). Barb was pleased to know that people visited the site, but she longed for more feedback to help her make choices of what lesson pages of Ted’s to post. She was passionate about getting his name more well-known to the world, and especially in sharing the legacy of his teachings. These are extracts from some emails that I still have in my Inbox. The first one was actually addressed to someone else that she later forwarded to me:

My name is Barbara Franklin. I was Ted Greene's girlfriend for the last 13 years of his life. Since his passing I have dedicated myself to disseminating Ted's music, lesson materials, and spirit through TedGreene.com and several other sites created in his honor. The misfortune of losing Ted has been the most devastating blow that could have possibly happened to me. The one saving grace is to have the opportunity to acquaint the music world with Ted's unique and very special talents not only as a guitarist but a teacher as well….If you have a moment please take a gaze at TedGreene.com and see firsthand how much good Ted is continuing to do in the music world.

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The last thing any of us need is to feel pressured or overwhelmed by doing this website! Please never think of having a deadline for the website - it can be late. This is a gift we are giving and we do it because we love Ted and want to share his work - no one is demanding anything and what we do each month is on our time, at our convenience. When life gets more difficult with obligations - that must take precedence. I have my hands full everyday now with just taking care of myself, the cats and my house, on top of whatever curve life throws at me.

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I get the feeling that many people who have never studied with Ted might find the lessons perplexing to some extent, although no one seems to comment, so...

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Maybe this month we should include "And I Love Her" so there is something for everyone - it's so hard to know what to post without feedback! Ted told me he had the same problem with most of his students and had to "squeeze" it out of them - encourage them gently somehow. He said very few people are inclined to give feedback regarding anything, not just music. The Forums have been very quiet despite the huge increase of viewers. Oh well.

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Ted is becoming known more and more throughout the entire planet.

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We still get very little feedback - many people are very reluctant to comment or just don't want to bother. I don't know. We sure have increased the number of visitors though, so that's good. Whatever is comfortable and convenient for you is the way to approach any of the decisions on what to post. After all there is SO MUCH existing material we could even skip a month!

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The site is growing so much in popularity too. Lots more visits but still lacking in dialogue and commentary in the Forums. I guess most people just don't like to communicate much that way? But I am thrilled that Ted is getting so much more well-known and loved!
~ Barbara

This month we have more material to post than was originally planned…we had some last minute additions and we didn’t want to drop anything. In response to requests in the Forums, we’re posting more sheets on comping and on Ted’s original tunings. We’re also posting requested V-1 sheets for the first time. So take your time with all this stuff – don’t feel overwhelmed. Look at everything, but especially focus on the few things that you love. Right now we’re getting into the complexities of the V-System, or at least Ted’s thinking behind some of the chord possibilities, and in the months to follow you’ll be exposed to some chord voicings that are pretty outrageous. Think of your initial reaction to seeing Chord Chemistry for the first time. It may have seemed beyond your reach (literally!) And we might feel a touch of that with some of the V-System material. The very important article that James Hober has written on the 43 Four-Note Qualities covers something that Ted pursued for years, and which he elaborated on in several of the larger V-System worksheets by “gridding-out” all of these odd-ball chords. Ted was determined to try to catalog all possibilities: every quality, every voicing—whether it was a sweet-sounding chord, or a harsh dissonant tone-cluster. His usual method, as mentioned to me by James, was to:

1. Mathematically generate every possibility.
2. Reorganize this for clarity.
3. Cull the great sounding and useful stuff.
4. Discard the impossible and not useful.
5. Present the good stuff in different ways for different students.

So, as you approach this V-System material, be grateful to Ted for working out points #1 and #2 for us. His lesson pages offer us the fruits of his labors in point #5. And in some of the work sheets you’ll be presented with material which you’ll need to do points #3 and #4 yourself, that is if you’re interested or intrigued.

Other stuff we have for you this month that is a bit easier to digest: a walking bass blues, an arrangement of a Duke Ellington song, a comping study, two more original tunings pages, an article on baroque modulation, a contrary-motion page, a transcription of Ted from the Audio section, and two more recorded lessons mp3’s. [Thanks to Anders Hagstrom for his new transcription, and please note that he updated his transcription of Satin Doll to include chord diagrams.]

Enjoy the new material, and be sure to pop into the Forums to share your thoughts, ask questions, or just say hi.

~Paul and the TedGreene.com Team

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New Lesson Material:

ARRANGEMENTS:
* Prelude to a Kiss, 1992, key of A [Written up by Ted during 3 sequential private lessons in October and November 1992.  This is an advanced level arrangement, utilizing lots of V-1 chords.]

AUDIO:
* Ted Greene Lesson with Kevin Griffin, 1990, April [An mp3 of Kevin’s lesson #11, (part 1) with Ted. – 18 minutes.]
* Ted Greene Lesson with Kevin Griffin, 1990, April [An mp3 of Kevin’s lesson #11, (part 2 & 3) with Ted, discussing the song “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?” – 31 minutes.]

BAROQUE:
* Modulation, (part 1) 1975-10-01  [First of Ted’s 5-part series on modulation, with transcription pages.  This is in the Baroque section, but it is good fundamental information for all music styles.]

BLUES AND JAZZ
* Walking Bass Blues without IV at Bar 2, 1989-03-17  [ Blues in the key of D with walking bass line and some chord punches – combined with notation]

CHORD STUDIES:
Contrary Motion Sounds with a Diversion at End, 1978-07-04

COMPING
* Body and Soul, Comping Study, mostly V-2 middle 4 strings, key of C, 1991-09-08

FROM STUDENTS:
* Prelude to a Kiss, 1992, key of A  [Another one of Paul Vachon’s “compilation” write-ups of Ted’s grids plus music notation.]
* Body and Soul, Comping Study, mostly V-2 middle 4 strings, key of C, 1991-09-08.  [Paul’s notation and lead sheet, joined with Ted’s grid diagrams.  This is very similar to the comping page from last month, but instead of the top 4 string, Ted focuses on the middle 4 strings here, and moves the same chord voicings to the key of C, rather than Db.]
* Mediation (transcription of audio lesson with Nick Stasinos) [Notation and chord diagrams from Anders Hagstrom]

OTHER:
* Original Tunings – (Tuning #2) D9_D-C-E-F#-A-D Minor 7 Types, 1982-06-26
* Original Tunings – (Tuning #3) Voicings for R-b7-9-b3-5-R, Bill Evans Tuning, 1997-05-11

THE V-SYSTEM:
* Systematically Invertible Four-Note Chord Types, 1985-05-18 [Ted’s original page accompanied by a transcribed text]
* The 43 Four-Note Qualities [James Hober’s explanation of Ted’s calculations]
* The Mathematics of the Four-Note Chords and Beyond [James Hober’s in-depth explanation of why there are 43 four-note chord qualities]
* V-1, The Seven Basic Qualities and Their Systematic Inversions, top string set
* V-1, The Seven Basic Qualities and Their Systematic Inversions, middle string set
* V-1, The Seven Basic Qualities and Their Systematic Inversions, bottom string set
* V-1, Chord Voicings: ii7 - V7 - I with Connecting Chords, 1986-01-26
* V-5, Intense Drilling with Leaps (bottom set) combined pages, 1990-01-03
* V-5, Intense Drilling with Leaps (top set) combined pages, 1990-01-06

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SEPTEMBER 2012 Newsletter

September is here!

…and we’ve got a bag full of musical treats for you all.

September 26 would have been Ted’s 66th birthday. Several times over the years I (along with many others) asked Ted when he was going to record a follow-up album to Solo Guitar, and he usually said something like, “I just don’t feel I’m ready right now.” I believe that in his humility he was comparing himself to greats like George Van Eps and others whom he idolized, and that his “life-plan” probably included doing more recordings toward the later part of his life. Sadly, his plan was cut much too soon and we never got to partake in all the wonderful things he had in store for us. However, I think he would be very pleased to know that his “pet project”—the V-System—is now being disseminated via this website through the instrumentality of his students.James Hober has been hard at work deciphering all of Ted’s papers and presenting them in easy-to-understand lessons. This month we’re happy to release “Method 2” of the V-System, “The Tone Gap Method.” If you struggled a bit with Method 1, I think you’ll find Method 2 to be a little more guitar-friendly. As before, we’re including Quiz #3 and #4 along with the answers. Please use the Forums to let us know how it goes for you, and to post any questions or observations. This month we’re also adding V-3 chord forms and a couple more pages on V-6.

We’re happy to add a new member to our team of contributors, Anders Hagstrom, a GIT graduate from Sweden. Anders has transcribed Ted’s performance of Satin Doll from the short recording we posted in July in the Audio section. This is a nice treat indeed. Welcome, Anders!

Recently there was some discussion in the Forums speculating about Ted’s use of alternate tunings. Unknown to most, Ted dabbled and experimented a bit with various tunings, and notated—in his unique style—many of his discoveries. Instead of investigating the usual alternate tunings, such as open A, open E, G, DADGAD, and others, Ted seemed to be on a quest to find something original. There was a sound and a functionality for which he was searching. On one of his pages he wrote, “New wonderful tuning…maybe the one that will endure for me…the one I’ve been looking for all these hundreds of hours. It will provide 2 low roots to support the wonderful rich clusters and other voicings upstairs….” But it was his “Bill Evans Tuning” which he loved the most: R-b7-9-b3-5-R.

In order to properly present Ted’s tunings, it was necessary to review all of his original pages, label and catalog them, and then create some kind of summary page. We are now posting in the Other section an “Overview” document that represents each of his 10 tunings, using complete and excerpted diagrams from his original sheets. Many of the originals contain only a single line at the top of an 8.5 x 11 grid page; other full-size pages were excerpted, and some which are too involved were not used in the Overview. Those pages which were only excerpted will eventually be posted in full, as well as the omitted pages. We hope you’ll find the “Ted Greene Original Tunings—Overview and Excerpts” pages helpful, whether you regularly play with alternate tunings, or if you’ve never explored this realm. More to come on this in future months….stay tuned [pun intended!].

We had several requests for “More Comping pages!” So this month we have Ted’s V-2 comping of Body and Soul in Db, also notated by Paul in his “From Students” section.

We’re also staring a 5-part series on Baroque fundamentals, with a page on “Cadences.” Even though these pages are part of Ted’s Baroque material, you’ll find that they contain helpful information to all music styles. The transcriptions of these pages make the material easy to follow.

As usual we have a new arrangement, a lesson recording, and a blues study—so be sure to check out all the new items.

Thanks to David Bishop for his proofreading of all the many pages that get posted. He’s a treasure to have on the team!

Just to let you all know that all the contributors on this site donate their time to preparing Ted’s lesson sheets. Your donations—large or small—help to keep this site up and runnin’.
Thanks for your support!

~The TedGreene.com Team

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New Lesson Material:

ARRANGEMENTS:
* Days of Wine and Roses, 1982-04-12 [Ted’s “difficult” arrangement]

AUDIO:
* Ted Greene Lesson with Kevin Griffin, 1989, November [An mp3 of Kevin’s lesson #9 with Ted – 31 minutes.]

BAROQUE:
* Cadences, 1975-03-29 [Ted’s lesson on cadences, with transcription pages. This is in the Baroque section, but it is good fundamental information for all music styles.]

BLUES AND JAZZ
* East Side Blues, 1986-02-08 [Ted’s “Advanced Approach Chord-Based Material” lesson.]

COMPING
* Body and Soul, Comping Study, Mostly V-2 top 4 strings, key of Db, 1991-08-28.

FROM STUDENTS:
* The Days of Wine and Roses, 1982-04-12 [Another one of Paul Vachon’s “compilation” write-ups of Ted’s grids plus music notation.]
* Body and Soul, Comping Study, key of Db, 1991-08-28 [Paul’s notation and lead sheet, plus Ted’s grid diagrams take us on a tour of some advanced comping moves.]
* Satin Doll (transcription of audio lesson with Nick Stasinos) [Notation and TAB from Anders Hagstrom]
* East Side Blues, 1986-02-08 [Standard music notation for Ted’s blues study, compiled by Paul.]

OTHER:
* Original Tunings – Overview & Excerpts, from Ted’s Personal Music Studies File [a 15-page compilation and summary of all of Ted’s notes on his experiments with tunings]

THE V-SYSTEM:
* Method 2 – The Chord Tone Gap Method
* Method 2 – Further Insights
* Method 2, Quiz #3
* Answers to Quiz #3
* Method 2, Quiz #4
* Answers to Quiz #4
* V-3, The Seven Basic Qualities and Their Systematic Inversions, 1989-04-30
* V-3, Passages Using V-3 1st Inversion Diatonic 7th Chords, 1987-07-12
* V-6, Progressions Using V-6 Shadings, 1991
* V-6, Progressions for Learning to Hear V-6 Chords Colors, 1991-07-21

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AUGUST 2012 Newsletter

It was a year ago this month – August 13th in fact– that we lost Barbara Franklin, companion to Ted Greene. Honestly, my wife and I think of her almost every day for one reason or another. She maintained Ted’s music and this site. Last year we were reassuring all site visitors that things would remain the same, although without Barb’s gentle touch.

I hope we have kept our promise as far as the site. Paul, and new contributors, have made a tremendous effort, and I thank them for keeping part of Barb alive for me. It is more than a site in that regard. I hope to post some new pictures of her so you can get to know her a little bit better – we’re looking for room, along with converting lessons and such.I should like to add that she was accomplished as a musician as well. She devoted a large part of her life to art, and to Bach in particular. I’d like to describe her music room to you if I might.

It was a small bedroom in her house, and held her computer and a grand piano. In the corner by the door sat a silver faced Fender Princeton Reverb. The built-in closet had sliding doors, and large drawers. There some of her music and guitar books were kept, along with Ted material and material of her father Dan Franklin. The room was cozy. Above the windows on one wall were a carefully arranged set of small stuffed animals that looked on as she played. (She and Ted shared these guys.) She had a small desk with the computer where she did all her site work. A book case ran to the right of the desk with more music books. Most of the books are hardbound books on classical music, piano, composers and such. That was Barb working on the site. Of course it is only a fraction of Barb, but I hope I’ve given you a sense of her very well-organized but simple digs for her music. I will start to post more about her in future newsletters. Thank you for your kind support as we have found our way through her loss and into the future here on the site. I’ve posted this before, but it deserves a second look. From Barbara in an older newsletter:

At this most significant point in time, I wish to extend my thanks and appreciation to everyone for their efforts in helping to perpetuate Ted Greene’s legacy. May it extend forever beyond the reaches of time - sending forth a beacon of musical light and beauty as a gentle guide for all those who wish to find this path.

Wishing you inspiration and joy,

~ Barbara Franklin

I think that about says it all for me. We miss you Barb.

As Barbara wished, Ted’s legacy of sharing should continue, and so we present the following works. Again this is the work of Paul and others who really give of their time to the site in a way that reflects well on the rest of us, but especially on Ted and Barbara.

~Leon and The Ted Greene.com Team

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New Lesson Material:

ARRANGEMENTS:
* Meditation [Ted’s 1977-02-22 solo guitar arrangement]

AUDIO:
* Meditation [A excerpt of Ted playing this Antonio Carlos Jobim tune during a private lesson with Nick Stasinos, 1980-11-08]
* Ted Greene Lesson with Kevin Griffin, 1988, October [An mp3 of a 1988 lesson with Ted – 39 minutes.]

BLUES AND JAZZ
* Walking Bass Jumpback Blues, key of F#, 1989-10-09 [This is the blues sheet that Ted is discussing with Brian Totten in the YouTube videos, parts #7, 8, and 9]

COMPING
Embraceable You, 1980-09-18 [This page was previously posted in the “Arrangements” section. We’re now moving it to the “Comping” area where it belongs.]

FROM STUDENTS:
* Meditation, 1977-02-22 [A “compilation” write-up of Ted’s arrangement by Paul Vachon —music notation combined with Ted’s grid diagrams.]
* Embraceable You, 1980-09-18 [Another compilation page by Paul — music notation of the lead sheet combined with Ted’s chord grids]

FUNDAMENTALS:
* Family Tones Charts (dom.7, m7, m6), 10-16-77

OTHER:
* Bass Ear-Training Course, 1982-05-10
* Ear-Training Progressions – The Condensed List, 1992-05-09
[These two files replace the ones that were previously posted as “Ear Training 3” and “Ear Training 4.” These new version contains transcriptions combined with hi-rez. versions of the originals. The previously posted files were low-rez. scans and were difficult to read.]

SINGLE NOTE SOLOING
* Meditation Single-Note Soloing Outline, #1 and #2, 1981-06-04 [with music notation pages attached]

THE V-SYSTEM:
* The Natural String Sets
* Method 1 – How to Build
* Quiz #2 - Method 1, How to Build
* Answers to Quiz #2
* V-6, The Seven Basic Qualities and Their Systematic Inversions, 1987-11-26
* V-6, Gradual Program for Absorption of V-6 Chord Colors, 1991-08-31
* V-6, Learning V-6 Chord Colors, 1991-09-08
* V-2, Dominant 7th Type Chords (bottom set) Group 1 Colors

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JULY 2012 Newsletter

Summer Greetings!

Last month we were pleased to open up a new section in the Lessons on The V-System.  This month we unveil Ted’s Method 1 for his voicing group organization of 4-note chords.  James Hoberexplains it in a clear and concise presentation, complete with a 28 question quiz.  We were thinking to save the test answers for next month, but decided that wasn’t fair.  So the answers are included this month - no peeking until you’ve finished! 

We know that the V-System takes some getting used to and requires a mind shift for guitarists, so if you have any questions at all about Method 1, please post your comments, questions, observations, (and complaints!) in the Forums.  James will be happy to address all questions. 

Each month we’ll be posting some pages for a new V group until we’ve covered all 14.  Last time we put up the “Seven Basic Qualities” sheets for V-2 and V-4.  These are the most common chord voicings for guitar, and there are plenty of pages to come on these two.  However, this month we’ll be adding the V-5 7BQ pages plus two pages on V-5 m7 chord exercises. 

Also somewhat related to the V-System is Ted’s teaching about systematic inversions.  We’re adding his early pages (from 1973, 74, and 76) to the Chord Studies area.  At that time Ted wrote these he had not developed the V-System and was then referring to the different chord groups as “small, medium, and large density.”  Even though he later abandoned these terms the principles about inversions still apply.  You’ll find these pages to be helpful when working on the various V-system chords.  In addition, Steve Brodie has written a page on how he learned systematic inversions from Ted.  You’ll find that in the From Students section.  Thanks, Steve!

Coming from another angle, we’ve got a few new items circling around the song, “Satin Doll.”  We’ve got Ted’s “basic” arrangement, his comping study, and a “Walking Bass Style” page.  A new special treat that we just received is two rare recordings of Ted playing “Satin Doll,” excerpted from lessons with Nick Stasinos (thanks, Nick!).  The first one is an awesome impromptu chord-melody version, while the other is Ted just playing a bass line for “Satin Doll” [not to be confused with the “Walking Bass Style” page.]  You’ll find these both in the Audio section.  We hope to add more audio clips like this in the coming months.  Be sure to check out Paul’s compilation pages for “Satin Doll” in the From Students section.

Finishing up our 3-part series on Tonality, you’ll find the final installment in the Fundaments section.  And continuing with our housecleaning of some files that were previously posted, we’re adding two new versions of the Ear-Training Studies on 7th Chords - now with transcription pages and better scanned copies of the originals.  These are in the Other section.  Barbara mentioned that Ted regarded ear-training to be a very important element in music education because it directly develops the musician inside you, rather than just learning new finger gymnastics.  While we need both, the former is often neglected.  Ted used to urge students not to overlook this essential area. 

A special treat that came to us recently is a wonderful essay written about Ted by one of his former students, Omar Haddad. Sort of a grand-student if you will.  Written as part of his college studies, Omar goes into detail on Ted’s music, special techniques, his innovative influences on the evolution of solo guitar playing, and Ted’s personality and love of teaching.  The article is posted on Omar’s own website, and we’re providing a link to it in our “Articles & Interviews” section of the “Personal” tab.  Be sure to check it out.

And last, but not least, is an article that Paul Vachon wrote on “How to Read Ted Greene Chord Diagrams.”  Hopefully this piece will answer most of the questions people have when approaching Ted’s diagrams for the first time.  This will be placed in the “From Students” section, and we’ll put a link to it in the Forums. 

Special thanks to James Hober for his work on Ted’s V-system (which will continue over the coming months), and to David Bishop for his detailed proofreading of the many pages that get posted here each month.  And to all of you who regularly visit here and offer your continued support - we thank you for helping this to be one of the best guitar teaching sites on the web!

~The Ted Greene.com Team

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New Lesson Material:

ARRANGEMENTS:
* Satin Doll, 1977-08-03 [Ted’s arrangement as written up during a private lesson with William Perry]

ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS:
* Ted Greene – The Legacy Lives On  An essay by Omar Haddad

AUDIO:
* Satin Doll – from a private lesson with Nick Stasinos, circa 1977
* Satin Doll Bass Line – from a private lesson with Nick Stasinos, circa 1977

FROM STUDENTS:
* Satin Doll, 1977-08-03  [A “compilation” write-up of Ted’s arrangement by Paul Vachon - music notation combined with Ted’s grid diagrams.]
* Satin Doll, Walking Bass Style, 1977-08-15  [Paul transforms Ted’s original page into music notation combined with his grids for easy reading and learning.  Please note:  this study does not match the audio recording of Ted playing “Satin Doll Bass Line–lesson with Nick Stasinos 1977.]
* Satin Doll, Comping on the Top 4 Strings, [A “compilation” write-up of Ted’s comping study by Paul Vachon - music notation combined with Ted’s grid diagrams.]
* Systematic Inversions, by Steve Brodie.  [Previously posted in the Forums, we’re now moving this lesson to a more permanent home in the From Students section.]
* How to Read Ted Greene Chord Diagrams, by Paul Vachon

FUNDAMENTALS:
* Tonality, part 3, 1976-05-30.  [This is the last in a 3-part series on Tonality, complete with quiz pages at the end of each segment.]

OTHER:
*Ear-Training Studies - 7th Type Chords, 1990-10-16 and 1990-11-16 combined.  [This file replaces two files that were previously posted as “Ear Training 1” and “Ear Training 2.”  The new version contains transcription pages combined with hi-rez. versions of the originals.  (The previously posted files were low-rez. and difficult to read.).  The files, “Ear Training 3 and 4” will be replaced in August with similar improved and transcribed versions.]

THE V-SYSTEM:
* Method 1 – How to Recognize
* Method 1 – For the Table-Challenged
* Method 1 – By Letter Name
* Method 1, Quiz #1
* Answers to Quiz #1
* V-5, The Seven Basic Qualities and Their Systematic Inversions, 1990-01-03
* V-5, Learning V-5 m7s on the Lower, Richer String Set, 1989-08-05
* V-5, Learning V-5 m7s on the Higher, Sparklier String Set, 1989-08-05

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From Barbara Franklin’s Notes and Quotes from Ted:

“Undoubtedly we are among the lucky ones on this planet - those of us, musicians and otherwise, who just swoon for music, from music.  If musicians are lucky or are making their own luck, they’ll chase, find, absorb, and play the sounds they love the most.  Anyone’s musical heroes have, of course, done this.  J. S. Bach did.  Joni Mitchell did.  Wes Montgomery did, Chet Atkins, Beethoven, Debussy, Albert, B.B. and Freddy King, The Beatles, The [Rolling] Stones - name a musician you admire and usually that’s what they did.  Some of us lesser lights can follow their lead.  Why not?  Got to chase what you love if you can.”
~Ted Greene

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JUNE 2012 Newsletter

(This newsletter is a tad longer than most, so you’ll need some time to get through it. Probably best to grab an umbrella by the pool and a cool beverage before you start.)

Although summer is beginning here in the northern hemisphere, June is a mixed month for many of us.June 15 is Barbara’s birthday, and so I would ask that you take a moment to reflect on this special lady who gave so much to this site. We love you Barb!  Every day so many of us have reason to think of her and her kind and gentle persistence in taking care of Ted. We’ll just try to keep it going.

This month is also the start of new website pages, revisions and cleanup, and tons of new content. Paul and the transcribers have been hard at work. And there is a bit of surprise gift as well:  the V-system.

The V-system needs some explanation as it is somewhat different from other postings here. The V (for ‘Voicing’) system is an organization of chord forms and intervals. Ted had worked on it for many years, and in some ways it is the ‘next step’ from his earlier pages on chord density. It is also incomplete. That is very important to note.

We have posted all the notes we have from Ted regarding this topic, but it isn’t much. They are mostly notes to himself and are NOT an explanation for his students. Some of the V-system pages were given to students by Ted because he thought that specific page might help with something the student was working on. So, there are some of you out there who may have a few of these pages. (By the way, if you have any of Ted’s handwritten notes on the V-system, please send us a copy. It can only help.)  Overall, though, there is no real explanation of the V-system from Ted.

So, with little explanation, what are we to do with these pages?  Luckily for all of us you’ll see that one student, James Hober, was very interested in the system aspect of chord organization, and he worked out an explanation on his own at the time!  (You have to love Ted students!)  Upon showing it to Ted—as you will later see in Ted’s own writing—it was well-received. Barbara and Paul had started a hunt for James before her death as she felt it was important to post the V-system pages. Having found him, Paul convinced James to craft an explanation of the system.

We are providing that explanation to fill in the enormous blank spaces Ted left in his narrative. James, we thank you with all our hearts. We’ve created a new tab in the Lessons section of the website entitled, “The V-System”  It will contain all of the pages relating to the various V-chords, Ted’s original writings (to come later) and James’ explanation pages. James has also provided some additional material we have placed in the “From Students” section.

As a policy we do NOT post other people’s teaching pages on the website out of respect for Ted.  (And we’ve got plenty to post already!)  The “From Students” area is reserved for that.  BUT – this was a unique situation and so we have moved forward.

Posting Ted’s V-system materials will be an on-going project and will continue until it is all posted (which will be a long, long time!). We’ll be taking it step by step, so don’t worry about being (too) overwhelmed with it.

We’re very grateful to James for working so hard to craft a crisp explanation and still stay true to Ted – not easy, but well done. This is a somewhat advanced topic, focusing on four-note chords and voices, so if you’re a beginner don’t be discouraged if it isn’t easy at first. On the other hand, you may see chord organization from a completely different angle after spending some time with these ideas.

On a different note, please check out a website that is working through Ted’s Modern Chord Progression material. The site is brand new, but there is video and more, and an orderly spin through MCP could be a nice way to get back in touch with the book and Ted. It is free and quite straight forward. The site is from a former student, and is called “Jazz Guitar Workout of the Day.” http://jazzguitarwod.com

In addition, we would like to ask for a mid-year donation for those of you that can afford it. All of the new site work is above and beyond the webmaster’s regular work. You have been very supportive in the past, and we thank you. And behind the scenes . . . not to give anything away . . . there is more work being done to make more space for audio and video material from student’s and others. You’ll hear more next month, but we think you’ll be very happy. Very happy.

Now to the Paul Vachon “Guitarist Buffet.”  And thanks to James and Paul for all the work they put in this month.  Whew!

~The Ted Greene.com Team

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New Lesson Material:

ARRANGEMENTS:
* I Can’t Get Started, 1992-06-06  [Ted’s arrangement as written up during a private lesson with William Perry]

FROM STUDENTS:
* I Can’t Get Started, 1992-06-06  [Yet another “compilation” page by Paul Vachon of Ted’s arrangement put into standard music notation and combined with his grid diagrams.]
* Tips for Practicing Systematic Inversions [from James Hober]

FUNDAMENTALS:
* Tonality, part 2, 1976-05-29.[This is the second in a 3-part series on Tonality, complete with quiz pages at the end of each segment. Part 3 will go up for the July Newsletters.]
* Chord Construction (Formulas), 1976-05-26. [An excellent reference file. Retyped for easy reading.]

OTHER:
* Chords for Stretching the Hands, 1974-11-02. [Previously posted in the Forums by Barbara, this pages has some excellent exercises Ted developed to help your hands be able to grab those large chords. The page has been cleaned up for easier reading.]

THE V-SYSTEM:
* “Who Is James?”
* The V-System Introduction [by James Hober]
* V-2, The Seven Basic Qualities & Their Systematic Inversions (top set)
* V-2, The Seven Basic Qualities & Their Systematic Inversions (middle set)
* V-2, The Seven Basic Qualities & Their Systematic Inversions (bottom set)
* V-4, The Seven Basic Qualities & Their Systematic Inversions (top set), 1989-09-30
* V-4, The Seven Basic Qualities & Their Systematic Inversions (bottom set), 1989-10-03
* V-4 Blues, 1988-11-19  [Ted’s original page plus a compilation page with notation]
* Ted Greene Lesson with Mark Levy, on Voicing Groups System [transcript excerpts]
* Ted Greene Lessons with Kevin Griffin, on Voicing Groups System [transcript excerpts]
* Ted Greene Lessons with Paul Vachon, on Voicing Groups System [transcript excerpts]

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A Note from Ted’s Journal (7/22/83)

Because I noticed I am loving this naturally (it has evolved little by little), more and more it becomes clear—it finally comes to me:  in my own fight for and against my playing, it is imperative to first and foremost, play with lots of feeling and emotions and a beautiful, lots of reverb, mellow full tone. Fancy fills are nice but not the essence of what I want to say.
~Ted Greene

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MAY 2012 Newsletter

G’day Mates and Happy May Day!

This month we’ll continue with (and finish) all of Ted’s lesson sheets for the song, I’ll Remember April—the “advanced” chord-melody version from 1983 and another page from1977 in which he wrote out “different chord-melody treatments for the first phrase of the tune.”  The 1977 page provides great insights into the thought processes behind each variation, as Ted included a brief description for each treatment, such as, “Diatonic lines in fast harmonic rhythm over a pedal (root).”  Check ‘em out.

I’m really pleased to be able to present Ted’s pages on “Diminished 7th Chords—Common Progressions and Principles.”  There are so many different opinions, questions, misunderstandings, discussions (and disagreements!) among musicians about diminished 7th chords, and Ted lays it all out there and gets into all the nitty-gritty details. This is one lesson that everyone should read and absorb…it may change the way you view these little symmetrical beasts.

We’ll also be starting Ted’s 3-part series on “Tonality.”  Parts 2 and 3 will be presented in June and July. They’re great fundamental lessons for beginners, but even veteran players may find it an interesting read, and it may be something you’ll want to give to your students.

In the Forums we had a special request from Peter Smart for anything Ted wrote up for the song, You Don’t Know What Love Is. Although he didn’t create a chord-melody arrangement, he did write out a comping lesson “on-the-fly” for one of his students. The page we have contains Ted’s grid boxes but with chord names that were later added by the student (with a couple of corrections penned by Ted). If you use your ingenuity a bit, you may find that many of the voicings can be modified to include the melody, and thus you can create your own “Ted-inspired” chord melody arrangement. Have fun!

You wanted blues—and blues you get!  We’re posting two new pages of variations on Walking Bass Blues that you’ll find to be an easy yet satisfying addition to your blues bag of tricks.

Last month two of Ted’s former students came forward and sent us copies of their recordings of private lessons with Ted. Hopefully we’ll be sharing these with you in the coming months, so please stay tuned….

We’re posting two of Ted’s pages on contrary motion studies. Leon wrote: “The contrary motion [pages] are some of my most treasured nuggets from Ted. He often employed them near the end of an arrangement and seemed to ‘stop the audience cold.”

We want to thank David Bishop and Mike de Luca for their valuable proof reading of many of the “transcribed” lesson sheets and “compilation” arrangements that are posted each month.

Thank you once again for your financial support of this website…every donation helps to keep it up and running, serving your musical inspiration and edification.

~The Ted Greene.com Team

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New Lesson Material:

ARRANGEMENTS:
* I'll Remember April, Key of F, 1983-08-28[Chord-melody arrangement, advanced level]

BLUES:
* Walking Bass Blues, #1 [contains compilation pages of notation]
* Walking Bass Blues, #2 [contains compilation pages of notation]

CHORD STUDIES:
* Contrary Motion Studies, 1977-07-13
* Diatonic Contrary Motion Progressions, 1-to-1 Motion in the Other Voices, 1992-05-09

COMPING:
*You Don’t Know What Love Is, Comping, 1992-03-30 

FROM STUDENTS:
* I'll Remember April, Key of F, 1983-08-28  [Ted’s advanced arrangement with compilation pages (notation with Ted’s diagrams) by Paul Vachon.]
* I'll Remember April, Different Chord-Melody Treatments of the First Phrase, 1977-12-02
[This contains notation by Paul Vachon for each of the examples.]

FUNDAMENTALS:
* Tonality, part 1, 1975-05-28 [This is the first of a 3-part series on Tonality, complete with quiz pages at the end of each segment. Great for new students, or older players going back to learn the ABC’s of music theory. Parts 2 and 3 will go up for the June and July Newsletters.]

HARMONY & THEORY:
* Diminished 7th Chords – Common Progressions and Principles, 1974-12-29. [This is a very valuable lesson on diminished 7th chords—highly recommended for all musicians to read and absorb.]

OTHER:
* 9 Areas of Music, 1984 thru 1987-01-17.

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A Note from Ted’s Journal (7/22/83)

Because I noticed I am loving this naturally (it has evolved little by little), more and more it becomes clear—it finally comes to me:  in my own fight for and against my playing, it is imperative to first and foremost, play with lots of feeling and emotions and a beautiful, lots of reverb, mellow full tone. Fancy fills are nice but not the essence of what I want to say.
~Ted Greene

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Ted on Youtube:
*Many exciting videos are also available on The OFFICIAL Ted Greene Video Archive page on YouTube

Of course all the videos are posted under the Video Section of the .com

As always there is plenty more information in the Forums.
Please join up if you have not done so as of yet.

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APRIL 2012 NEWSLETTER

April Celebrations!

This is the time for most of us that the weather begins to warm up a bit, things start to grow, we get a little more sunshine, perhapssome more exercise, and we look forward to the coming summer months.

This month we’ll also be celebrating April with the classic jazz standard, I’ll Remember April. Ted has several pages on this song, and we’ve prepared them all for you (but saving the more advanced chord-melody version of it for next month). In August of 1983 Ted wrote out two “harmonized melody” versions (essentially for a duo, trio, or quartet situation), a comping study, and a lush chord-melody arrangement. In December 2000 he wrote up another page with examples using advanced harmonies on the first 4 measures of the song. We also found in his personal music study paper a very early “roadmap” to the George Van Eps recording. So if you’ve never learned this song now might be a good time to do so.

One of Ted’s private students inquired to see if Ted had written anything for the classic song by Hoagy Carmichael, Heart and Soul. We weren’t planning to publish it this month, but we’re happy to have found that lesson and to share it with you all.

We had another request for anything Ted wrote about the II7 chord and various ways to use it in progressions. Again, we’re happy to have found something on that subject that seems like it could belong in a “Modern Chord Progressions Vol. II” book.

Continuing on with our series on scales, we offer Ted’s early pages on “The Pentatonic Blues Scale.” These had been posted previously, but they now come with transcription pages for easy reading (thanks to David Bishop). I think you’ll find Ted’s perspective and application on learning these scales is fascinating.

Finally, another mind-blowing page from Ted’s personal music study pages is his listing of “Embellishment and Substitution.” His original page is packed as full as possible and with micro-writing to fill every inch of space (this was common for Ted). Some of it is difficult to decipher but we’ve done our best to document his thoughts on this subject. As with his other personal papers, he wrote this list for himself, and perhaps some of the abbreviations and cryptic phrases are not meaningful to others. Still, it may provide you with some musical food for thought as you read though it.

We’ve wanted to let you know that we made a few small modifications in the webpage Lessons layout (thanks Dan!). One change to make note of is that the section previously labeled as “Tunes” is now called “Arrangements” - since this is what that area is all about.

Once again we’d like to encourage anyone who is interested in helping with transcribing some of Ted’s pages to contact Paul Vachon or Leon White via the Forums. And we want to thank you all for your continuing support of this website. It is here for you, and we want to bring out Ted’s music and teachings to help with your musical growth.

~The Ted Greene.com Team

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New Lesson Material:

BLUES & JAZZ:
* The Pentatonic Blues Scale (Transcribed by David Bishop, you’ll find these pages give a nice overview of Ted’s approach to learning the pentatonic scale.)

COMPING:
* I'll Remember April, Comping, 1983-08-26 (For accompaniment chord playing style.)

ARRANGEMENTS:
* I'll Remember April, Key of G, 1983-08-17 (Basic Ensemble Harmonized Melody Style – top strings)
*I'll Remember April, Key of Gb, 1983-08-17 (Ensemble Harmonized Melody Style – middle strings)
* Heart and Soul, 2000-12-18 (written during a private guitar lesson)

FROM STUDENTS:
* I'll Remember April, Key of G, 1983-08-17 (Ted’s arrangement for ensemble playing (top strings), key of G. Compilation pages (notation with Ted’s diagrams) by Paul Vachon.)
* I'll Remember April, Key of Gb, 1983-08-17 [Ted’s arrangement for ensemble playing (middle strings), key of Gb. Compilation pages (notation with Ted’s diagrams) by Paul Vachon.]
* I'll Remember April, Comping, 1983-08-26 (For accompaniment chord playing. Compilation pages—Ted’s diagrams aligned with the lead sheet to compare his voicings against the standard changes—by Paul Vachon.)
* I'll Remember April, Harmonized Melody, 2000-07-08 (Ted’s examples of “Jazz Piano and Orchestral Cues” harmonization of the first 4 measures. Notation by P. Vachon)
* Heart and Soul, 2000-12-18 [Compilation pages (notation with Ted’s diagrams) by P. Vachon.]

CHORD STUDIES:
* I'll Remember April, Harmonized Melody, 2000-07-08 (Ted created 4 examples of different harmonization approaches for the first 4 measures of this song, using ‘Jazz Piano and Orchestral Cues’ style harmonizations. It utilizes a lot of 4th chords.)
* Progressions to Illustrate Different Types of II7 Chords, 1977-05-06 (Twenty-five different examples of vi7-II7-ii7-V7 progressions.)

HARMONY & THEORY:
* Embellishment and Substitution, 1974-07-09. (This is a very interesting collection of various approaches to how to embellish/re-harmonize or revitalize a melody or progression. Lots of advanced concepts to make one think!)

OTHER:
* I'll Remember April, Ted's Analysis of George Van Eps’ Recording, 1973-08-17 [This is from Ted’s personal music study pages and are his notes about George Van Eps’ version of this song from his Mellow Guitar recording. The chord diagrams are for regular 6-string guitar (not George’s 7). It is a little difficult to decipher, so if anyone cares to spend the time to redraw the chord diagrams and type out the text we’d all be thankful for that.]

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Ted on Youtube:
*Many exciting videos are also available on The OFFICIAL Ted Greene Video Archive page on YouTube

Of course all the videos are posted under the Video Section of the .com

As always there is plenty more information in the Forums.
Please join up if you have not done so as of yet.

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From Barbara Franklin’s Notes and Quotes from Ted:

“It is your responsibility to work hard until you are confident [in] playing music that touches others' hearts the way it has touched yours.”
~ Ted Greene

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MARCH 2012 NEWSLETTER

March is upon us!

From Leon:  Let’s hope the weather relents wherever you are – this has been a strange winter. Some of my wife’s garden bloomed in December - the plants don’t seem to know what’s going on either!

Paul suggested I might share a “Ted story” now and then, and so I thought I’d touch on my first lesson. Another guitarist, Jay Graydon,told me, “Ted is the guy!”  If you know Jay, you know his knowledge is only eclipsed by his enthusiasm. So off I went to the west San Fernando Valley to Dale’s Music. “Ted has a waiting list,” - okay, I get that. “Two years.”  Ah...well...okay, put me on the list. I’ll take any cancellation. “There are people ahead of you on the cancellation list.”  Hmmm. This guy might be too advanced for me. “Why don’t you try our other teacher, Chips?  A lot of guys study with him while waiting for Ted.”  And there you have it:  my first lesson with Ted was with Chips Hoover. And I learned a lot from Chips who was a great teacher in his own right! And he did prepare me for Ted, which was really a gift.

This month’s material must have something for everyone in it. Paul and the gang have really stretched out from Water Music, to Bluesette, to roadmaps to Beatles songs. And there is continued ‘cleanup’ and organizing as well. Make good use of it all, and most importantly, enjoy!

Thanks to everyone who donates in whichever way they choose. It’s all appreciated.
~The Ted Greene.com Team

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New Lesson Material:

FUNDAMENTALS:
* Some Ways to Learn a Scale Fingering, 1975-02-08 and 1975-02-09 [transcribed by David Bishop]

BAROQUE:
* Water Music - Air, by G.F. Handel. Arranged for guitar by Ted on 1972, March 13 (also included is Ted’s “preliminary sketch”, dated July 12, 1970). These two scores are Ted’s original pages of handwritten music notation.

TUNES:
* Bluesette (advanced version) - Ted’s 1985 arrangement in the key of Db, D, and G

FROM STUDENTS:
* Bluesette (advanced version) - Ted’s 1985 arrangement in the keys of Db, D, and Gb, with compilation pages (notation with Ted’s diagrams) by Paul Vachon
* Water Music - Air, by G.F. Handel. [Compilation pages by Paul Vachon and David Bishop, which include newly generated music notation and chord diagrams.]

SINGLE-NOTE:
* Diatonic Harmonic Minor Arpeggios, 1976-03-25
* The 7#9 Scale - Very Bluesy 1993-01-13 [This page has been in the Single-Note section for quite a while, but is now being replaced with a copy that contains a transcribed and notated version as well. We think you’ll find it easier to read and learn from this new version.]

CHORD STUDIES:
* Using m7b5 Types in iim7b5 - V7 - i Progressions:  Some Favorites, 1990, March 22 & 28

OTHER:
* Roadmaps - Tune Structures by Number - (1977-1979) [This is being posted upon request in the Forums to see more of Ted’s “roadmap” analysis of some standard jazz tunes.]
* Roadmaps (various tunes) [A collection of “roadmaps” to some jazz tunes that Ted wrote out for students]
* Roadmaps - Understanding Chord Progressions, 1973-11-11 [Roadmaps for some Beatles tunes]
* Moods and Feelings – [A collection of miscellaneous notes from Ted’s personal study papers, plus translation pages for easy reading. Note: there is some repetition among these pages.]

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Ted on Youtube:
*Many exciting videos are also available on The OFFICIAL Ted Greene Video Archive page on YouTube

Of course all the videos are posted under the Video Section of the .com

As always there is plenty more information in the Forums.
Please join up if you have not done so as of yet.

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FEBRUARY 2012 NEWSLETTER

February greetings!
Scales, scales, and more scales!  This is what we’re focusing on this month with the new items from Ted. We continue with the series on single-note playing which we started last month, plus we’re adding some of Ted’s early “music fundamentals” sheets on various scales-their construction, fingering,building blocks for chords, relation to arpeggios, etc. It’s a good review for all of you veterans as well as beginners. You might also consider sharing these pages with your students. Special thanks goes out to David Bishop for his transcribing several of these pages into a more legible and digestible format.

Last month was rather quiet in the Forums. Barbara once remarked, “I’d like to think that the reason for so few postings in the Forums is because everyone is so busy with the new lessons from Ted that they don’t had time to chat.”  A new thread was recently added, “What Are You Working On Now?” http://forums.tedgreene.com/post/What-Are-You-Working-On-Now-5660385 as a kind of informal survey. We’d love to hear what you’re currently woodshedding, so please drop in and share… it helps us to choose which materials from Ted’s teaching archives we post each month.

We think you’ll enjoy Ted’s arrangement of Handel’s The Harmonious Blacksmith as well as Bluesette and Walking Chord Style Blues-all of which are written up by Paul Vachon with his usual “compilations.”  Also going up this month is Paul’s updated compilation of Autumn Leaves, which now includes a more complete notation of Ted’s arrangement.

Lastly, you’ll find the collection of quotes on “Solo Guitar Strategies and Concepts” from Ted an interesting read. It’s not meant to be a definitive selection of solo playing possibilities, but just some that Ted noted and kept in his personal music studies files. Barbara Franklin posted her transcription of two of these in the Forums: http://forums.tedgreene.com/post/Teds-quotSOLO-GUITAR-STRATEGIESquot-1192057?trail=15#9 but we wanted to share the original pages and to combine them with other related notes.

We’d also like to ask once again for your continued support of this website by monetary donations. Please use the PayPal link on this website homepage http://www.tedgreene.com Every dollar counts toward keeping Ted’s teaching freely accessible to all via this website.

Anyone who is interested in helping out with doing some transcribing of Ted’s teaching pages should contact Leon White or Paul Vachon via the PM feature in the Forums. It’s helpful if you have some experience with music writing software, Photoshop (or similar) and the ability to create PDF files… plus a healthy amount of time and patience!
~The TedGreene.com Team

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New Lesson Material:

BLUES:
*Walking Chord Style Blues, 1986-12-30 
[Another blues chord study from Ted with a compilation page by Paul Vachon and with proof-reading help from Tim Lerch]

FUNDAMENTALS:
*The Chromatic Scale and Major Scales, 1974-02-19 - [An early lesson page from Ted on scales. Transcribed by David Bishop. A helpful companion to the previously posted lessons. There’s Some overlap of material, but different presentation. This is excellent fundamental information for newer players.]
*The Major Scale and the Foundations of Harmony, 1973-06-05 [transcribed by David Bishop]
*Minor Scales, 1974-02-26 [transcribed by David Bishop]
*The Harmonic Minor Scale, 1978-09-12 [transcribed by David Bishop]

BAROQUE:
The Harmonious Blacksmith, G.F. Handel 
Arranged for guitar by Ted on July 12, 1970  [Ted’s original page of handwritten notation] 

TUNES:
* Bluesette - Ted’s 1979 arrangement in the key of G (Basic version)
* Autumn Leaves

FROM STUDENTS:
*Bluesette - Ted’s 1979 arrangement in the key of G with compilation pages (notation and grid diagrams) by Paul Vachon
*The Harmonious Blacksmith, G.F. Handel. [Compilation pages by Paul Vachon, including Ted’s notation plus Ted-style chord diagrams drawn by Paul with help from David Bishop for proof-reading.]
*Autumn Leaves - Ted’s 1992 arrangement in the key of Dm with compilation pages (notation and grid diagrams) by Paul Vachon. [Paul had made a compilation of this arrangement a couple of years ago (with lead-sheet notation), but he’s now updated it to include standard notation of Ted’s full arrangement.] 
*Autumn Leaves - Ted’s Comping Study and Harmonization Sketches. [These two were previously combined in the same webpage as Paul’s compilation of Ted’s arrangement. We’re now moving it into its own page so as to avoid confusion]

SINGLE-NOTE:
*Single-Note Playing in Minor Keys, 1976-03-25 thru 28 - [This series contains some basic fundamentals about minor scales soloing, chord formulas and progressions. A total of 11 pages: (4 original pages from Ted, plus 7 transcribed pages by Paul Vachon). Continuing with our studies on single-note soloing, these pages offer some excellent material for understanding minor scales.]

CHORD STUDIES:
* Progressions for Learning #11 Dominants, 1979-04-13

OTHER:
* Solo Guitar Strategies and Concepts - [This is a collection of pages from Ted’s personal music studies. It’s not meant to be a comprehensive list, but some miscellaneous thoughts that Ted jotted down over the years. Transcribed text for easy reading.]

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From Barbara’s collection of “Notes and Quotes from Ted”:

“Make your playing have a good feel, always-as much as possible. This is the most crucial area because it is the most delicious area in many styles of music. Don’t be blown away by all the failure that usually happens at first. Don’t give up; results will come. Accept the work and aches and pains-they’re part of it. I still have aches after over 40 years of playing. So what?-it’s just part of the deal. Nobody wants to hear us complain about something that is as beautiful as the guitar and the magic music that can come out of it. Stay with this amazing instrument and near-miracles happen. And for some people, it is simply so important that they look for more and more ways to make their practicing enjoyable, even a real pleasure. One big thing for me has always been to put rhythmic life into everything I’m working on as soon as possible. It’s got to groove.”
~Ted Greene

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Ted on Youtube:
*Many exciting videos are also available on The OFFICIAL Ted Greene Video Archive page on YouTube

Of course all the videos are posted under the Video Section of the .com

As always there is plenty more information in the Forums.
Please join up if you have not done so as of yet.

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JANUARY 2012 NEWSLETTER

2012 is finally here, and looking back on 2011 I can only say it was a difficult year with Barb’s passing. Both personally and on the site, she remains in mind and heart.

And now to business:  Please keep the donations coming so we can continue the webmaster’s full participation (There is an anonymous paypal link on the homepage).

Also, we need more transcriptions!  Lastly, I believe there are a number of Ted’s former students who have teaching pages, videos, or audio tapes that would be most welcome. So many of Ted’s ‘gems’ are hidden in brief discussions with students, and my personal mission this coming year is to get more of that material on the site.

In terms of material for this month we continue the ‘cleanup of odds and ends’ started several months ago as well as both Jazz and Baroque work. This seemingly distant pair of genres calls to mind the notion of “Solo Guitar” rather than “Solo Chord Melody Jazz Guitar” which is often how many of us arrived here musically.

One of Ted’s greatest contributions was his breadth of musical resources. He went wherever he found an emotion he connected with – Jazz, the American Songbook, film score, Baroque, do-wap and so on. All that experience backs up what he’s playing in even the most simple blues. I think it’s one of the most defining traits in his performances – deep emotion touching us in so many different places musically. So, dig in!

Here is this month’s menu:

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New Lesson Material:

JAZZ:
* Walkin’ With Wes (#1) 1982-02-26  [This page was posted a while back as “Wes Walkin’.”  Paul has written up a compilation page for it and we’ve given its original name. Even though it is a blues we’ve put it in the “Jazz” section since it relates directly to one of the greatest jazz guitarists.]

HARMONY & THEORY:
*Descending Chromatic Bass Progressions from ii7/5 in Bass, 1987-01-10  [This page had been posted in the Forums sometime ago, and we’re now moving it to a more permanent home in the Teachings section.]
*Learning to Use Altered Dominants on One Degree at a Time (4 parts), 1986-05-27 thru 29  [Blurry copies of these pages had been previously posted; we’re now replacing them with better files, which also contain transcriptions by Paul for easy reading.] 

BAROQUE:
*Bach Invention #4, 1970-11-17  [This is a transcription that Ted wrote in standard notation (although a bit non-standard in his handwritten design!) in 1970. He transposed the original score from Dm to this new version in Em. Some very low notes require that you retune your sixth string to D.]

TUNES:
* Cute - Ted’s 1977 arrangement

FROM STUDENTS:
* Cute - Ted’s arrangement with compilation pages by P. Vachon
*Walkin’ With Wes (#1) 1982-02-26 - Ted’s jazz/blues study with compilation page by P. Vachon

SINGLE-NOTE:
* The Scalular Rainbow, 1998-09-19 - [Barbara had posted this in the Forums; we’re now moving it to the Lessons / Single-Note section of the website.]
* Single-Note Playing, 1976-02-27&28 (parts 1-4)  [This series contains some basic fundamentals about soloing and about chord construction and progressions. It also has some chord voicings to match the progressions examples and a page for arpeggio fingerings. Excellent for new students!  Transcribed pages from Paul included.]

CHORD STUDIES:
* Learning Basic Chords for Comping, Chord Soloing (4 pages) 1979-02-3 &4 and 1979-03-01

OTHER:
* Why Study Harmony? 1974-09-01 - [Ted’s thoughts from 1974 about the importance of studying harmony and theory]

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Ted on Youtube:
*Many exciting videos are also available on The OFFICIAL Ted Greene Video Archive page on YouTube

Of course all the videos are posted under the Video Section of the .com

As always there is plenty more information in the Forums.
Please join up if you have not done so as of yet.

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