|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
December 2016 TedGreene.com Newsletter
Holiday Greetings to all Ted fans, friends, and students (past and present)!
The last few Newsletters have been rather lengthy, so we’re gonna keep this one relatively short and sweet so you can jump right into the new lesson pages. Recently we’ve been highlighting Ted’s first book, Chord Chemistry – with student reminiscences, a bit of background history from Barbara Franklin’s book, and then Leon White’s wonderful free eBook, Trail Guide to Chord Chemistry.
When Leon was putting the book together he sent me an advanced copy to review and to check the chord grid diagrams for Ted’s arrangement of “Greensleeves” that’s in Chord Chemistry. To be fair I first wanted to write up what I thought Ted would have used for chord forms – without looking at Leon’s version. So, I did my usual notation & grids page and then compared it to Leon’s. They were very similar, with only a few variations. One of the main differences is that I chose slightly different forms to use on the second “verse,” as I think Ted would probably not have played exactly the same thing two times in a row. I also tended to choose chords that sit in the middle or upper part of the neck, as I believe Ted didn’t play much open string chords except when he wanted that sound.
This month we’re posting my pages for “Greensleeves” so you’ll have fun learning both versions, comparing them, and perhaps coming up with some combinations or variations of your own.
This process got me thinking about the other solo guitar arrangement in Chord Chemistry: “O Come All Ye Faithful.” Ted used both of these songs as vehicles for demonstrating how to take a simple melody line and harmonize it: first simply, then by adding more chords, substitutes, embellishments, etc., and then a more advanced version. Both of these pieces are now posted along with their original notation from CC and a few of Ted’s comments. Check out the grids and see if you agree with the choices we made, and make your own modifications when you find something you like better. Keep in mind that the added grids are merely suggestions.
We thought December would be a good time to post both of these arrangements.
Happy Holidays to you all. Enjoy all the new lesson material. And if you don’t have a copy of Leon’s Trail Guide to Chord Chemistry be sure to get one…it’s on the house!
~ The friendly folks on the TedGreene.com Team
NEW ITEMS
ARRANGEMENTS:
* Greensleeves – Ted’s Arrangements from Chord Chemistry [Ted’s four versions from CC, written up with standard notation and new “suggested” grids added. 1) Basic Lead Sheet, 2) Basic Chord Melody, 3) Using relative minors and majors “and a few more chords,” and 4) a Jazz treatment in 4/4 time. See Newsletter message above.]
* O Come All Ye Faithful – Ted’s Arrangements from Chord Chemistry [Ted’s four versions from CC, written up with new notation and “suggested” grids. 1) Using Closed Triads, 2) Using the relative major and minor chords (6 measures only), 3) Using Open-voiced Triads, and 4) Using 4-note Chords. See Newsletter message above.]
BAROQUE:
* Neo-Baroque Descending Bass Progressions, 1985-03-15_26 [These two pages had been previously posted as “Neo-Baroque_1” and “Neo_Baroque_2.” We’ve now combined better quality scans of those files, and added “compilation” pages (notation combined with Ted’s grids), and added chord names for page 2. Hopefully this will make it easier to play and absorb.]
BLUES:
* Jazz Blues in F, 2000-07-27. [Here’s a nice blues study that’s pretty easy to play and is a good example of practical application of some of the chord forms presented in the new lesson page in the “Comping” section: “Dominant 7 Exercises for Low-End Playing” (see below).]
CHORD STUDIES:
* R37 Voicings, 1986-10-11. [Five original pages, plus five pages of the “filled-in” versions. These are great little diatonic chord scales that can be used in a thousand different ways. You might want to print out the original pages (with the blank grids) and give as an assignment to your students.]
* Dynabass Voicings – Melodically Organized, 1989-09-02. [Two pages from Ted’s Private Music Studies papers, as meant for himself for writing up lessons sheets and/or his intended book on “Bass-Enhanced Triads.” Ted has organized the main 4 bass-enhanced triads according to their top voice. An additional page, “Energized Bass & Triads, Bass Rich(ened) Triads,” is also included, but it has almost identical information as the first page. A transcription page was prepared to accompany the first page, but not the second.]
* For Intros, Endings, 1977-05-20. [Here are a few contrary motion studies which Ted created as ideas for intros and endings. They’re not pure contrary motion. They start off simple and move to complex, modern chords. We’ve provided notation for the whole page, and added suggested grids for the last section, based on Ted’s chord names.]
* Using R373 Diatonic Major Scale Voicings in Short Phrases, 1985-09-15 and 1986-01-11. [Taking another step with the 7th (no 5) chord scales, here Ted puts these into short usable phrases. Again, we’ve added a “filled-in” version with names and dots added.]
COMPING:
* Dominant 7 Exercises for Low-End Playing, 1986-03-05. [This is a 4-page series of dominant 7 chord exercises on the bottom 4 strings for D7, F7, Ab7, and B7. It’s another “assignment” sheet for the student to fill in the dots on the blank grids…and of course we went ahead and did the work, but you can, as always, disregard the “answers” pages and do them yourself. Or you might want to hand out these pages to your students for them to do the work.]
* How Insensitive, 1989-12-04. [For this comping page Ted moved this song to the key of B minor. He wrote up two pages for this, one on December 4 and the other on December 11, both in 1989. The Dec. 11th one is incomplete. I believe the reason there are two is because the one on Dec.4 was written up during a private lesson. Very often Ted would give the original pages to the student and then ask them to make him a Xerox copy for his records. It is very possible that this student kept the copy and gave Ted the original page. The various colored ink on this page suggests that. Apparently, Ted tried to reproduce the voicings a few days later on a more “official” lesson sheet for “V-1 Comping for How Insensitive” but never finished it. Maybe the student gave him the page before he got too far along in it. As an added bonus, Ted wrote up a few exercises for “Piano-Type V7-I’s.” [New notation combined with Ted’s grids are included along with a copy of the lead sheet with Ted’s re-naming of some of the chords.]
HARMONY & THEORY:
* Triads in Root Position, 1973-09-14. [This is the first of a 3-part series of triads in Root, 1st, and 2nd inversions. Ted explains and shows examples of the various cadences. One original page plus 2 re-drawn grid pages for easy reading.]
* Triads in 1st Inversion, 1973-09-15. [The second in this series, here Ted talk about 3rd in the bass triads. One original page plus two re-drawn grid pages.]
* Triads in 2nd Inversion and Figured Bass, 1973-09-15. [This is the third in a series of lessons about triads and inversions. Here Ted explains figured bass, using several examples in grid diagrams. Transcription pages included.]
JAZZ:
* Jazz Progression: Descending Bass, Small Texture, 1979-12-10. [A little bit of contrary motion action here. Also on this page: “Harmonizing Large Interval Melodies (3rds or more).” One original page + standard notation combined with Ted’s grids.]
SINGLE-NOTE SOLOING:
* Pentatonic Major, 1989-07-24. [In groups of 3 (or 6), Ted gives us some pentatonic scale patterns for each of the five positions. Four original pages, plus notation with “follow-thru” on some of the examples.]
THE V-SYSTEM:
* V-2, 7b9 Longer Chord Connections, 1984-11-10. [Three examples of 7b9 to I with long sequences of the diminished 7 chord (7b9 without the root): G7b9, Ab7b9, and D7b9.]
* V-2, 7b9s and 8-Note Dominant Scale Ext, Top 4 Strings, 1984-12-23. [Please read the grids on this page as from top to bottom, as indicated by Ted with the arrows on the left side of the page. Ted shows that the forms of the 7b9 and the altered dom7 chords can be move up and down the neck in minor 3rd intervals. Four different forms are given.]
TRANSCRIPTIONS:
* They Can’t Take That Away from Me (from “Solo Guitar), Transcribed by Mark Thornbury. [Mark shares his 1977 transcription of Ted’s classic rending of this song on “Solo Guitar.” This is a grids-only transcription. Thanks, Mark!]
* Ted Greene and the Cycle of 6ths (parts 1-2), transcribed by Robert Smith. [Robert did something very cool here: he found multiple instances in the audio recorded lessons with Ted wherein he discusses the cycle of 6ths and plays examples. Robert transcribed both the discussions and the examples (in grids) to aid us in absorbing this concept. This page includes parts 1 and 2, and Robert is in the process of writing up part 3. Thanks, Robert!]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
November 2016 TedGreene.com Newsletter
Welcome to our November Newsletter. This month we’re going to continue with our focus on Ted’s book, Chord Chemistry. Last month Leon White released his new free Trail Guide to Chord Chemistry, and there have been over 2000 downloads and much praise for this helpful guide. Now, as a bit of a history, we’d like to share some extracts from Barbara Franklin’s book, My Life with the Chord Chemist, in which she takes a look at the early development that led to the birth of Ted’s first book:
…At 19 years old Ted was able to devote himself full-time to the guitar, and the pursuit of knowledge became all-encompassing. Ted practiced and studied for hours and hours on end, sometimes remaining in his room for several days. He supplemented the rudimentary education he had gained from his early guitar lessons. In this way Ted gained an extensive knowledge of theory and harmony. For example, if a book suggested doing an exercise in a few keys, such as spelling major triads, Ted would do the exercise in ALL keys, major and minor until he had memorized them cold. Ted learned to instantly recognize everything from interval identification, including being able to sing each interval and distinguish them when listening, to knowing the quality of every chord on each scale degree, the many uses for each chord, the inversions, traditional voice leading, and more. I could go on and on, but essentially Ted absorbed college level music education that was more in-depth than if he had gone the academic route. He utilized many different harmony and theory books and soon began to analyze and refine the way the material was presented in the books. As he acquired this knowledge he was able to determine which methods for learning were most effective. He applied these theoretical studies to the guitar, and slowly began to realize there would be a need to refine these concepts specifically for the guitar. However, since he was just beginning to expand his own learning process, the formulation of his music studies and lesson materials were still a few years away.
…At 22 years old he was fast becoming legendary, and in demand. Despite all the positive recognition, and people raving about his playing, Ted was not satisfied with the level of musicianship he had attained. He realized that there was so much more he wanted to be able to express musically, and also realized he lacked the knowledge to do so. Therefore, around this time he began to apply and experiment with the vast amount of music theory and harmony he had been accumulating and assimilating. In his own words: (c. 1968) “This is likely when I fell in love with J.S. Bach et al…”
Besides still being “nuts about & obsessed with composing and playing Bach…,” Ted also began specifically formulating written lesson material, devising his own “diagrams,” and song “roadmaps” for himself and his students. He began translating and refining the many concepts he had studied into a written format for guitar, which he felt was more accessible for the student. Initially the lesson material format was quite rudimentary. The diagrams were tiny red boxes stamped by hand unevenly across the page denoting chords or patterns. The system of dots, x’s, triangles and squares, denoting playing order, with a clearer depiction of the fingerboard was yet to come.
What many never realized, or much less understood was that Ted had the capacity to spend countless days or even weeks reading, studying, pondering and dissecting music, and then applying this knowledge to the guitar. More than that, his innate proclivity for organization compelled him to analyze and categorize every possibility from every angle. Everything was committed to paper. Ted’s love of music, and desire for knowledge became a total obsession that fed on itself. It was not at all unusual for him to spend untold hours focused on developing and experimenting with one single idea to its utmost extent. This process was applied to many genres of music. As Ted said many times, there was always something to love or find interesting, or learn from in everything. Through heeding his own philosophy, he did just that, and consequently he could eventually emulate so many styles of music, that the uninitiated would be hard-pressed to determine which style was Ted’s main focal point.
…At 25 years of age, Ted felt this juncture in his life was, “the biggest musical transformation period.” By this time, Ted had been playing the guitar and studying music for 14 years, and when you throw 5 years of teaching into the mix, it is daunting how much written material these years yielded. At this stage, Ted’s lesson sheets could be extensive and perplexing for his students that requested basic theory and harmony skills. Sometimes the demands he placed on his students included many of the methods and in-depth memorization he, himself utilized. It was not unusual for a student “hand-out” sheet to include a chart of all closed voice triads, in one key (in every position on the fretboard), to be memorized, then to do the same in all major and minor keys. Along with that, on the same page would be a list of the most common chord progressions to be memorized in all major and minor keys. The page went on to include adding the 6th, 7th, 9th, 11th, and 13th degree to each chord and learning how these chords functioned and the common substitutions. Ted felt that this was a solid musical foundation to be mastered then built upon.
During that period of teaching alone, he had amassed a considerable amount of lesson material primarily based on the needs of his students. According to Ted, there was so much written lesson material, “Someone suggested he write a book.” So he did. A new intensity set in as the assimilation of all his studies thus far became slowly and assiduously churned into what was to be Ted’s first book, Chord Chemistry, which was completed in the late spring [of 1971].
Chord Chemistry was a phenomenal book. There had never been a book like this written for the guitar. Utilizing music theory and extensive, creatively devised examples he opened up the guitar world to a plethora of chord possibilities, and more. Chord Chemistry became “a bible” for guitar players, an indispensible work that was to be read and studied by guitarists throughout the world. Through Chord Chemistry Ted gained international respect and recognition as an amazing musician and music scholar. Upon the completion of Chord Chemistry, Ted now felt freed to pursue a long desired interest and begin a new career: Solo guitar and the study of the great “Golden Age of American Popular Songs.”
…In May of 1976 Ted retired from 11 years of teaching at Dale’s (formerly Ernie Ball) and began his home teaching career. He also wrote and published his 2nd book, Modern Chord Progressions Volume 1. Due in part to the inspiration and education he obtained from J.S. Bach, Debussy, Max Steiner, George Gershwin and others, and due, once again, to the interest and encouragement of students, Modern Chord Progressions Volume I came into being. His plans for Modern Chord Progressions Volume 2 were in the making, there was much material already written that he wanted to include, however the book was never completed.
~ The TedGreene.com Team
NEW ITEMS
ARRANGEMENTS:
* The Gypsy in My Soul, 1982-03-00. [Ted wrote this arrangement in notation only, and in some places only gave chord names instead of exact voicings. Perhaps this was an early preliminary sketch before making grids for students. New notation (with lyrics) and suggested grids are provided that will make it easier to learn Ted’s version of this 1937 song.]
* Bach – “Sleepers Awake” [Ted wrote this notated transcription of Bach’s tune sometime in the 1980’s, but he didn’t make grid diagrams. We’ve created a new version with clean notation plus grids that’ll make it easier for you to learn. New notation by Paul, Ted-style chord diagrams by Robert Smith (and Paul), and proofreading by David Bishop.]
ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS:
* Guitar One Magazine – “Chord Chemistry and Beyond” – A Tribute to the Harmonic Genius of Ted Greene” by Dale Turner. December 2005. [This is the article as it appeared in the magazine, published just a few short months after Ted’s passing in 2005. It includes several lesson examples in notation and Tab, and there were audio tracks available at that time to listen to the examples (don’t know if they still exist somewhere).]
BAROQUE:
* Baroque Minor Key Cycle of 4ths, 1990-08-30 & 1990-09-23. [Here we have 2 pages Ted wrote for minor key chords progressing through the cycle of 4ths. The first page gives some basic forms in different keys and a taste at creating variations in texture. The second page is a wonderful collection of triad exercises using forms on the top 3 strings, utilizing “delays” and “prepared” 7ths. Good stuff and easy to play! Notation and “follow-thru” examples included for easy reading.]
BLUES:
* Slow Blues, 1982-02-22. [From a private lesson given in 1982, here Ted wrote out a blues in the key of G with what he often called “walking chords” – that is, each chord gets one beat. This provides a nice pulse and the impression of a quasi-walking bass. There’s some great voice-leading here, and this study can work well for comping or for solo guitar when you need to fill a chorus in a blues. Since it’s a “slow” blues you’ll definitely want to add some rhythmic punches, few extra melody notes, maybe some slides, and additional bass lines to bring more life to this piece.]
CHORD STUDIES:
* Contemporary Harmonized Scales, 1992-07-01. [Ted walks us through some different chord scales with more modern sound (7ths no 5, “2” or add9 triads, 7th no 3, etc.) The three original pages don’t include chord names (left for the student to fill in as an assignment). We’ve created a clean version with notation and added the names. One of these pages had been previously posted in the “Harmony & Theory” section – we’ve now combined it with the other pages in this series and placed it in the “Chord Studies” under the “Chord Scales” header.
* Major Triads – Dynabass Voicings, 1978-07-18 and 1989-08-29, 30. [Ted examines the big 4 major (“Slash Chords”) triads or “Dynabass” voicings: 1) Major 9no3, 2) Dominant 11, 3) third inversion of the Dominant 7, and 4) 2nd inversion major triad. This comes from his “Personal Music Studies” papers and was not intended as a lesson hand-out, but rather some notes to himself for the book he intended on writing on “Bass-Enhanced Triads.”]
* R373 Voicings, 1986-10-15 & 16. [More chord scales using major 7 chords without the 5th. This is another “fill-in-the-dots” assignment in which we’ve included the completed pages (ignore these if you want to do the exercises yourself). You’ll notice that the chords on 7th degree (vii) are not named as half-diminished 7ths – this is simply because the voicings do not contain a 5th – so Ted named them accordingly. However, if you wanted to be extremely precise, these chords could be named as minor 7 (no 5), or half-diminished 7 (no 5th), or something like that – to indicate that this chord is a vii chord, which is a slightly different animal than those minor 7ths on the ii, iii, and vi degrees.
* Using R373 Diatonic Major Scale Voicings in Short Phrases, 1985-09-15 and 1986-01-11. [Taking another step with the 7th (no 5) chord scales, here Ted puts these into short usable phrases. Again, we’ve added a “filled-in” version with names and dots added.]
* Construction of Chords by Location and String Grouping, 1974-10-11 & 12. [This is an early collection of chords that’s very similar to something right out of Chord Chemistry. As an aid to learning how chords are constructed, Ted shows various forms with locational similarities on the fingerboard. All examples listed in relation to A, A7, or Am. A great reference page. Newly drawn grids are provided to save your eyes!]
COMPING:
* Cherokee, 1984-02-22. [Ted created this page as a “comping or chord solo” study. He indicated that it could be played as 1 beat per chord or “2 beats per in a medium-up swing feel.” We’ve include Ted’s grids combined with notation and the lead sheet with basic changes so you can see how Ted re-harmonized and voiced his comping. We used the “2 beats per measure” option in the notation. Oh, and if this wasn’t enough, Ted adds, “Play the whole arrangement one half-step down and think in the key of A, not just pictures.” Whew!]
HARMONY & THEORY:
* Seventh Chords, 1975 and undated. [Ted’s early lesson pages for 7th chords. Some of this is basic, some of it a bit more advanced, including explanation of figured bass naming and formulas. We’ve combined a few related pages into this 11-page file that includes translation pages. There’s a little bit of redundancy, but they say we learn through repetition, so....]
JAZZ:
* Jazz Single-Line Texture: 2 Beats per Chord, 1986-03-14 and 1986-06-10. [Here Ted gives us a single-note solo over a ii-V-I-VI-ii-V-I and a ii-V-iii-VI-ii-V-I progression. Using grid diagrams, he shows how this same line can be played in all areas of the fretboard. This is another “fill-in” assignment, and of course we’ve added the completed versions for you. Three original pages.]
OTHER:
* Ted Greene Song Lists, Group 9. [This 22-page collection contains Ted’s final song lists, including a wedding he play for on 5/7/2005, his gig at Spazio on 5/15/2005, and his final gig on 7/10/2005. At this point Ted was just (reluctantly) starting to use a computer, so his lists here are typed out. This final group concludes the collection of Ted’s song lists.]
SINGLE-NOTE SOLOING:
* Descending 5ths, Ascending 5ths and their Combination, 1992-11-08. [Eight patterns for playing 5th intervals – all examples given in the key of D, 2nd position. New notation is provided for easy reading/absorption.]
THE V-SYSTEM:
* V-2 - 7b9 Chords – Drills and Quiz, 1984. [Three original pages (two of them are fill-in assignment pages) for 7b9 chords - which “look” like diminished 7th chords. Ted gives some helpful pointers for “visual anchors” for how to think/view the fingerboard when using these chords.]
* V-2 – Learning to Hear and Use 1st Inversion Dominants with b9’s – Top 4 Strings, 1986-12-21. [Practical application of 7b9 chords in I-VI7-ii-V7-I progressions in four different keys.]
TRANSCRIPTIONS:
* Send in the Clowns (from Ted’s “Solo Guitar”) transcribed by Mark Thornbury. [Here’s another Ted-style grids transcription from one of Ted’s long-time students.]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
October 2016 TedGreene.com Newsletter
Autumnal Greetings to all Ted fans, friends, and students!
 Last month the Newsletter focused on Ted’s book, Chord Chemistry and its impact on players world-wide. By a strange coincidence I was simultaneously attacking something on my “bucket list”: jotting down some ideas on how guitar players who are new to the book might use it more effectively. I’d been working on this for a bit but had no idea Paul was thinking about it too when he wrote the September Newsletter message. So we decided this would be a good time to get “Trail Guide to Chord Chemistry” out for September 26, Ted’s birthday.
While most players will agree that Ted’s first book can transform one’s playing, I think it is also fair to say that a lot of players have a hard time getting started with it. Ted and I spoke often of about this when we discussed teaching techniques. He thought he could have done it differently, etc. – thoughts everyone who writes always has about their finished projects. But there have been a lot of questions in different forums over the years about how to get start with Chord Chemistry.
Although I’m certainly not in Ted’s league (is anyone?), I thought I might be able to suggest some ideas on how to approach the book, depending upon where you are as a player. This 32-page guide is the result. It doesn’t teach the book – it just gives an overview and ideas on how various sections can help you. I’ve also included a ‘boxed out’ version of one of the chord melody arrangements in the book that was in music notation only: “Greensleeves” in 4/4. I thought everyone (especially those who don’t read standard music notation) should have a chance to hear what he was doing there. We also included a few ‘family pictures’ of his various guitars over the years.
I hope you enjoy it, and for those new to Chord Chemistry I hope it helps you get started more easily. In the course of writing this “Trail Guide” I also took a look at Ted’s second book, Modern Chord Progressions. It’s been decades, literally, since I went through it. Wow! What a wonderfully organized set of great chord progressions to just play and listen to. It’s my new favorite book at the moment. If you haven’t done so, revisit it and you’ll certainly get some inspiration from Ted’s wonderful voicings there.
The Trail Guide is FREE. It is in electronic format (PDF File). It was typeset and assembled by the folks at my new publisher, Six String Logic. Download it here.
In the past few months Paul and Jeff have been working very hard to improve Tedgreene.com. There are lots of technical things going on as well as more frequent posting of lesson material. Thank you both. This is a prelude to us moving the site to a newer platform which will fix some video problems, support mobile devices better, and increase accessibility. It’s gonna take time, but I think all their efforts are going to make it even more wonderful to use. Help them if you can, and keep transcribing!!!
~ Leon and the people that do all the work at TedGreene.com
NEW ITEMS
ARRANGEMENTS:
* A Wonderful Guy, 2001-08-16. [This is a fairly easy arrangement to play of the popular song from the 1958 musical, “South Pacific.” Ted plays this on the “Messin’ Around at Home - I” recording, part 1, starting at 15:29, but in the key of Db. If you don’t have it, you can download it here.]
* Bach - English Suite III: Gavotte I, 1995-12-25. [Ted’s arrangement in notation (no grids). Ted didn’t finish the last 9 measures. We’ve re-notated the whole piece, and added the bass notes (in blue ink) at the end, as taken from Bach’s score. It’s not clear what Ted intended with this page—it could have been a preliminary write-up for him to then transpose to a more “guitar-friendly key, or it could have been intended to be played with a lowered 6th string, because some of the bass notes go down to a low D or Eb.]
* The Look of Love, 1993-02-02. [Previously posted, we have now added standard notation for clarity. This page was reviewed and played by Ted in the California Vintage Guitar seminar on May 18, 2003 (part 7). Check out the video starting at 7:00 for the review, and at 13:14 for Ted playing the song: YouTube.]
ARTICLES & INTERVIEW:
* Guitar Player Magazine – “Vibrant Voicings–Ted Greene’s Tips and Examples” November 2005. [Here is Ted’s article as it appeared in the magazine, published a few short months after his passing in 2005.]
BAROQUE:
* 10ths and Inner Pedal, 1988-12-31 and 1989-01-16. [These are two nice studies with excellent voice-leading and were previously posted, as “10ths and Inner Pedals_1 and _2,” but we’ve now added notation and chord names to the grids for easy reading.]
* 10ths and Contrary Motion or Stationary Voices, 1989-01-01. [These are nice studies that can be helpful for creating Baroque-like interludes, intros, endings, etc. This page was previously posted, as “10ths and Inner Pedals_3,” but we’ve now added notation and chord names to the grids and given this its proper title as Ted listed it. Even though Ted marked this sheet as “p.2” we have no “p.1” to go along with it.]
BLUES:
* Jazz Blues – Approach Chord Format, 1995-06-21. [Here’s another one of Ted’s famous “approach chord blues” pages, this time in the key of F. This was written out during a private lesson and is similar to another one of Ted’s lesson sheets. Notation plus grids included for easy reading.]
CHORD STUDIES:
* 1573 Diatonic Major Key Voicings – String Crossing in Chord Scales, 1985-07-05. [In the “Chord Scales” section, this page focuses on playing chord scales using the bottom 4, middle 4, and top 4 strings, and the crossing the string sets as they ascend or descend. Good exercises for getting fluid with this V-2 voicing. In his original sheet Ted left a lot of the grids blank for the student to fill in. We’ve gone ahead and done this, added notation, and aligned the various possible crossings above the notation so you can see the different variations as Ted indicated in his page.]
* 1573 Voicings, 1985-1986. [Four original pages by Ted on this popular V-2 voicing. Even though he didn’t title this as a “chord scales” lesson, that is what it is essentially. Translation/notation added for easy reading. We’ve also gone ahead and filled in the blank grids that were left for the student’s homework assignment.]
* Major Triad Polychords – Type 1, 1977-07-17 & 1978-07-23. [In this lesson Ted gives us some forms for major “bass-enhanced” triads, or as he is calling them here, “major polychords.” Also included is a chart he created showing all possible melodic harmonization of these chords based on the top or soprano melody voice, in reference to the key of C.]
* Master Harmonization Chart for Power-Bass Triads, Major Key, 1989-09-25. [This is a complex chart. Here Ted is taking each scale degree of a key, listing it as K2, K3, K5, etc., to indicate it is the “Key’s 2nd degree” or the “Key’s 3rd degree,” etc., and then harmonizing that note with the various “Bass-enhanced major triads – or what he is calling here, “Power-bass major triads.” The resultant chord is given different names, depending upon how it is analyzed. Ted’s original sheet is from his Private Music Studies files, and is mainly a worksheet for him. We’ve provided translation pages that includes examples given for the key of C, notation and chord names (instead of just the Roman numerals.]
* Phrases Using Diatonic Major Key 1573 Voicings, 1985-07-05. [In the “Chord Scales” section, although these are not strict scales, but melodic phrases using the same chords as in a chord scale (with a few exceptions). This is just Ted’s way of making a practical a chord scale more practical and musical. On the original sheet he left many of the grids blank for the student to fill in. Once again, we’ve added these dots and chord names – disregard if you want to do the work yourself.]
COMPING:
* The Look of Love, 2000-02-28. [This version is in the key of Bm, and was written up during a private lesson. Notation and lead sheet added to Ted’s grids for clarity.]
FUNDAMENTALS:
* Harmony: Basic Chord Types and Their Uses, 1977-10-30. [Ted explains and gives examples for basic major chord types (major, 6, add9, 6/9. maj7, maj9, maj13, maj7/6, #11, 2, and 6/4 chords). It starts off pretty simple, but as usual, Ted kicks it up a few notches and includes some examples that will challenge even veteran players. Translation pages were created for easy reading]
OTHER:
* Extremely Dissonant 6-Note Voicings for Harp-Harmonic Technique, 1979-12-03. [For the “Harp-Harmonics” section, this page is a collection of 144 very challenging chord forms to be used for creating unusual harp-harmonic runs. Re-drawn grids to save your eyes!]
SINGLE-NOTE SOLOING:
* Playing Thru Changes Using Arpeggios, 1977-11-08 & 1978-05-25. [Eight single-line solo examples over a short 5-measure progression. Arpeggios are emphasized here. The is phrase is I–biii7–ii7–V7–I. Standard notation with numbers for fingerings/positions. New notation added for easy reading.]
THE V-SYSTEM:
* V-2, Focusing on V7’s with b9’s, Top 4 Strings, 1st Inversion, 1986-02-18. [Here Ted gives us several ii-V-I progressions utilizing V-2 7b9 chords. This page is posted in the “Progressions and Other Stuff” section of the V-2 folder.]
* Learning to Visualize the V-2 7b9’s – All 3 Sets, 1984-03-29. [In this lesson Ted gives us some tricks for how to visualize the V-2 7b9 chords using various visual “anchor points.”]
TRANSCRIPTIONS:
* You’ll Never Walk Alone, from Ted’s California Vintage Guitar seminar on May 18, 2003 (part 5). Transcribed by Robert Smith. Grids only. Watch the video on YouTube starting at 8:42.
FROM STUDENTS:
* Changing Chord Qualities - From Bob Holt. [Bob recalls a chord study from Ted on changing the quality of a chord by lowering a note. Thanks Bob!]
* Simply Ted: V-to-I - From Bob Holt. [Bob shows us an exercise he learned from Ted on cycling through a series of V-I progressions. Thanks Bob! Note: This page had been previously posted but somehow got lost when we made some changes on the site a couple of years ago.]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
September 2016 TedGreene.com Newsletter
Fall Greetings!
 This month we’re gonna hear from a few of Ted’s students and friends about his monumental book, Chord Chemistry. First up is an excerpt from Steve Lukather in an article that was published in the November 2005 Guitar Player Magazine (which we’ll post in full next month):
Ted Greene is probably the most important teacher and guitar innovator that has ever come to earth. He taught and inspired real students of the guitar with his unreal and unbounded passion for the instrument. He was a legend when I started out, and will always be a legend. I once asked him how he thinks, and he just laughed and said, “I just do my thing.” But anyone who ever saw Ted play—which was rare as he was so shy—was left with their jaw on the ground. He made it all looks so easy, yet those of us in the “know” know better.
The wealth of info and technique in his books will always be the standard escape route for any player who wants to break out of “the box” on guitar. Chord Chemistry is a book that will live forever. His books have always been and will always be on my music stand in my living room. Ted was a giant and the nicest cat a guy could ever meet. I am sure he is giving lessons in heaven with a long waiting list. May God bless him and may his legacy be treated with respect and awe.
~ Steve Lukather
And now some excerpts from the Ted Greene Memorial Blog:
I had bought Ted’s Chord Chemistry book and referred to it when I was a young guitar teacher. It was like a volume of encyclopedias contained in one book. In the 80’s I saw Ted for the first time at a NAMM show where he played the most incredible version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” The group gathered around him were just devastated; it was so beautiful. It brought tears to my eyes and is the only thing I can remember from the entire event. When I moved to Los Angeles ten years ago I finally took a lesson from Ted. He was such a remarkable man, so humble, warm, and he delighted in what others played. It was exciting to be in the same room with him and I learned so much in that one lesson. To hear him play and teach was inspirational. I’ve often thought of Ted Greene as a musical national treasure.
~ Lyle Workman
My brother, Jeff, pointed out that Ted Greene, the guy who wrote Chord Chemistry was doing a workshop at Boulevard Music. I went wondering what kind of person and player could write such a complex book at such a young age. I was totally transfixed on his knowledge, tone, talent. I took three or four private lessons from him after that. I attended the last workshop he offered at Boulevard Music a few months ago and asked him if I could hire him to play two sets for my 55th birthday last December. He said, “It would be an honor....” The honor was all mine. It was the best birthday I ever had.
~ Mark Josephs
Like many guitarists, I didn’t learn to play guitar from Ted’s book, Chord Chemistry, but I learned to play guitar better from that book. It remains a constant and daunting challenge that I’ve never successfully met, but each attempt has improved me. I would compare it to an enormous buffet of the best food imaginable: at first it’s intimidating since you can’t eat it all at once, and if you try, you know you’ll fail. But once you realize this amazing buffet is always there, it will keep feeding you for life. I have returned over and over to Ted’s book during the last 30 years—each time hoping I’ve become good enough to somehow find it trivial this time. Well, that’s never happened, and I suspect it never will. I’m content to keep revisiting it and being satisfied with small victories.
The only part of Ted that I know hasn’t gone away. It’s still on my bookshelf mocking me (in the nicest possible way), challenging me to be better. As always, I’ll be thinking of Ted whenever I play.
~ John
Ted Greene was a real inspiration to me over the last 30+ years. Back in the 70’s the choices for guitar instruction books were pretty lame. I remember the Mickey Baker and Mel Bays books. Then Chord Chemistry and Modern Chord Progressions came out and it was mind-boggling to see so much in a book. I always wondered if Ted could actually play all that stuff. Then in 1979 I attended GIT in Hollywood, and while there I went to a local music store and heard something what to me sounded like a Bach organ piece. This guy, who I immediately knew was Ted, was sitting on the floor making all these great sounds out of a Stratocaster. Afterwards he asked if I wanted to check it out. I politely declined. What was I going to play, maybe a little “Stairway”? I think not.
~ Philip from NY
In the seventies I discovered this book, Chord Chemistry by Ted. I didn’t pick it up for months, but when I did I was totally overwhelmed by its harmonic approach to playing the guitar. To this day that book is still within reach at all times. I lost my original copy and was delighted to find a used version of it in London while shopping around in a used music bookstore. Ted no doubt has been an enormous influence on my guitar playing through the years, and his books never stop teaching us something new every time we pick them up.
~ Gil
And be sure to check out the new audio excerpt of a lesson with Ted and Nick Stasinos reviewing comping for “Moonglow.” If you’ve been keeping up on the comping lesson pages in the past few months, you’ll have worked through several versions of that tune. It’s nice to now hear Ted demonstrate different ways to approach it. This excerpt comes from one of Nick’s cassette tapes, one in many that we hope to hear more of. Thanks, Nick!
Enjoy this month’s new offerings and be sure to visit the Ted Greene Facebook page and “like” us and share your thoughts and comments!
~ The TedGreene.com Team
NEW ITEMS
ARRANGEMENTS:
* You Don’t Know Me, 1979-12-15. [From an arrangement given during a private lesson, Ted has a unique approach to this country hit. Notation combined with Ted’s grid diagrams provided. Ted didn’t complete the last two measures of verse 2 (before the Bridge), so we added blank grids for you to fill in.]
ARTICLES & INTERVIEW:
* Guitar Player Magazine – “Greene on Montgomery,” August, 1998, p.99. [Here is the article as it appeared in the magazine.]
AUDIO
* Moonglow Comping, Ted Greene Lesson with Nick Stasinos, 1978-05-22. [Another gem from Nick’s audio library. Here Ted is demonstrating different comping approaches – straight, syncopated punches, swing feel, with melodic decorations and half-step embellishments. – 4:10 minutes, 320 kbps.]
BAROQUE:
* Counterpoint Exercises – Lower Voice Movement, 1979-02-23. [Ted’s notation for 45 different counterpoint exercises, using mainly 8-to-1 (the ratio of 8 notes in the bass to 1 note in the soprano/melody) in the key of E. New notation included for easy reading.]
BLUES:
* Jazz Walking Chords (Blues in Bb), 1989-07-20. [One of Ted’s classic blues pages written up during a private lesson with a bass player. Probably intended to be played on bass, but it is very applicable for guitar. Standard notation included combined with Ted’s grid diagrams.]
CHORD STUDIES:
* Melodic Continuity as Applied to Modulations Up a Major 3rd, 1976-09-02. [Ted shows us different ways to modulate from I chord to the III chord, or a new key up a major 3. Notation added with Ted’s grids provided. Five pages.]
* Examples of Diatonic Chord Scales in Major Keys, 1977-04-03. [In the “Chord Scales” section. Notation added. The new pages were rearranged to read left-to-right rather than top-to-bottom.]
* Diatonic Major Key R 3 5 and 7 R 3 Chord Scales, 1985-07-06. [In the “Chord Scales” section. Ted gives us 3-note chords moving up the scale. On his original page Ted left most of the grids blank for the student to fill in. We’ve gone ahead and added the dots and notation. Ignore these if you want to test yourself.]
* String Transference Chart (modern dominant family nucleus voicings), 1978-11-28. [Ted later added to the title of this page, “Harmony from the Melody viewpoint.” This chart is meant to be read vertically: read the grids in the columns from top to bottom. All examples given for B7 or F#7 with extensions and alterations.]
* Standard Resolutions of the Dominant 7th Chord, 1973-03-27. [On this lesson sheet Ted gives us 53 examples of A7 to D with good voice-leading. Some are marked with a red dot, probably to indicate that these are essential ones to learn. He also wrote on this page, “Do all exercises in relative minor key and also move them to other sets of strings wherever possible.” This will keep us busy for a while!]
COMPING:
* Basic Chords for “Low End” Accompaniment, 1979-05-02. [Ted gives us a page grid diagrams for major types, minor & minor 7th types, and dominant 7th types of low-end voiced chords that are excellent for comping. All examples are given as root A chords.]
JAZZ:
* Summary of Most Common Chord Movements in Modern Jazz Harmony, 1977-06-16. [Ted lists all the common ways to progress to a chord (major, minor, or dominant). This can be a great reference page if you want to embellish your comping, or as a tool for composition.]
* Dissonant Turnarounds: III7 - VI7 - II7 - V7, Top 4 Strings (mostly V-2 derived voicings), 1984-05-29. [Ted gives us 17 examples of turnarounds in the key of Db with some very cool voice-leading. Despite the title of the page, they don't sound dissonant, but very modern. These are mostly V-2 derived chord voicings on the top 4 strings. Great stuff for jazz tunes]
* iii7-VI7-ii7-V7, 1981-02-11. [Ten single-note solos in the key of C. New notation included.]
SINGLE-NOTE SOLOING:
* Learning Minor7 Sounds in Context: I - biii7 - ii7 - V7 – I, 1977-11-08. [Examples of soloing on biii7 and ii7 chords in jazz progressions in the keys of G, Eb, and C. New notation provided for easy reading.]
THE V-SYSTEM:
* Drills with V-2 7b9 Chords on All 3 String Sets, 1984-11-24. [Three pages.]
* Reinforcing Melodic Patterns with V-2 7b9 Chords on Top 4 Strings, 1984-12-23. [Four pages of patterns to use on 7b9 chords as well as 7b9 with extensions. Ted supplies the first chord in each row and the student was assigned to write out (if necessary) the rest of the chords. Four pages with the filled-in grids added as a reference.]
* V-2 7b9 Chord Transformation, 9ths to 7b9s, Top 4 Strings, 1985-05-21. [Ted shows us how V-2 dominant 9th chords are transformed to 7b9 by lowering the 9th interval, and by focusing on the visual root in the chord forms. This is a fill-in assignment page, and an additional page with the answers are provided if you want it.]
FROM STUDENTS:
* Ted Greene Original Baroque Composition (circa 1971) with Chord Diagrams. [Robert Smith has added chord diagrams to the notation of Ted’s composition that was posted in May in the “Arrangements / Classical” section. Robert posted several variations of this in the Forums, before arriving at this final version. Thanks, Robert!]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
August 2016 TedGreene.com Newsletter
A Hot Summer Greetings from Los Angeles!
We wanted to share with you an edited excerpt from the brief interview in Guitar One Magazine, March 2004 issue “Harmonic Exploration with Master Instructor Ted Greene” by Dale Turner. (We posted the full article last month in our Articles and Interviews section.) Dale asked Ted a question that frequently comes up when guitarists first approach Ted’s books (and the lesson materials on this site):
Dale: How do you recommend a student go about absorbing some of the materials in your earlier books, Chord Chemistry, Modern Chord Progressions, and Single-Note Soloing (Volumes I & II)?
Ted: The most successful way for many players is to find an area of interest in the table of contents, go to that chapter, play until they find something that thrills their ear, and learn that as best they can—just that. Then close the book and ask: “Why do I like it? What is it about it?” They might come up with a general answer: “I just like 9th chords, and this thing had a lot of 9th chords.” Or maybe a specific one, such as: “I love the sound of a minor 9 on a vi chord.” The next step is to write their own example, using this thing they like, taking as long as necessary…. Get their favorite sounds flowing out of their hearts, into their hands...try to find their favorite examples on other string sets, or possibly in different voicings, and of course, in other keys—all for the joy of discovering where their musical friends live. Have fun with it. Music’s supposed to be a blast.
And another unrelated extract from the Ted Memorial Blog:
Ted was without a doubt one of the most gifted musicians I have ever been in the presence of. I was referred to Ted by another teacher of mine about 8 years ago. Our first lesson was one of the most eye- and ear-opening experiences of my life. Hearing and watching him play gave me so much inspiration and love for music because it was so easy to see how much joy it brought him. What was so admirable about Ted is that he never had any pretension about him. He always made me feel good about music and my playing, even if I was having trouble with an idea or concept.
What I loved about Ted was that after his lessons I would race home and practice. He is one of the only teachers that ever inspired me to such an extent. I always felt that if I could play like him then life would be great, so I had no time to waste.
I remember after one of our first few lessons I was talking to him about how I was saving up to buy an archtop and would probably have one in a few months. As if I had asked him for a soda, he walked through the abyss that was his apartment and pulled out an archtop. He said I could have it until I got my own. I was in such shock when I left the apartment that I felt like I had stolen it from him! But that was Ted. He was always just trying to make our musical lives a little bit stronger and happier. He put as much time and effort into helping others as he put into becoming the musician that he was.
~ Brian Green
By now you all have certainly noticed some changes around the house here in TG Land. Our web wizard, Jeff Brown has been very busy making some tweaks and additions to the site, plus he has expanded our outreach in social media. So, now a word from Jeff:
From Jeff Brown:
Since the time I originally built this site over 10 years ago, much has changed and evolved in the way we build web platforms. TedGreene.com is a static site with literally hundreds of independent pages. Making “global” changes or improvements is a laborious, page-by-page task. Yet, for the moment, that’s what we’re doing as we set the stage for a major upgrade to the platform in the future.
You’ll probably notice subtle changes, like the addition of footers to most pages, improvements in the type and size of fonts and a few other things. What you won’t see are many “under-the-hood” improvements designed to shore-up the infrastructure in the interim.
Most noticeable are the enhancements to our outreach program, especially on social media. We’ve added a new Twitter feed (@TedGreeneLegacy) and dramatically stepped up our Facebook activity, adding over 500 new fans to the page just in the last couple of weeks. And you’ll also see some additions to our outbound messaging, most notably that we are “collecting, archiving and preserving this extraordinary work, not just for today's musicians, but for the next generation and more.”
One more thing… I would encourage you to sign up for Advance Updates to receive notification of new content before the rest of the world. Thanks for your continued interest and support.
~ Jeff
So now let’s go dig into the new lesson material, remembering what Ted said, “Have fun with it. Music’s supposed to be a blast.”
~ Paul, Leon, Jeff, David, and the rest of the guys on the TedGreene.com Team
New Lesson Material:
ARRANGEMENTS:
* For Once in My Life, 1977-07-07. [Ted’s “chord melody style” arrangement of this 1966 song by Ron Miller and Orlando Murden. It was originally written as a slow ballad, but Stevie Wonder made an upbeat rendition of it in 1967 that became the most well-known version. If you haven’t heard a ballad version of this song, head on over to YouTube and take a listen to some other versions. Ted’s version isn’t the same as Stevie Wonder’s, and if you try to interpret it like that you’ll find that it doesn’t quite match up. Ted wrote this page in an “outline format” – meaning that you’ll need to add some missing melody notes that are not indicated on the grid diagrams. We’ve added music notation (along with the missing notes) and combined it with Ted’s grids. This should make it easier to follow and learn.]
* Here’s That Rainy Day, Chord-Melody Style, circa 1978. [Here we have another TG arrangement of this well-loved jazz standard. Ted’s other version (already posted) is also in the key of G, but at the end of this 1978 sheet Ted wrote out two alternate voicings for the first 8 measures in the keys Eb and Db. After learning both of these arrangements and the fragments, try combining them to extend your arrangement, and experiment with different modulations to these other keys.]
ARTICLES & INTERVIEW:
* “Chord Voicings” – Ted Greene Article in Guitar Player Mag., June 1980. [As it appeared in the GP issue.]
* “Guitar Chords and Voicings” – Ted Greene Original Manuscript for 1980 GP Article, 1979-09-24. [Ted’s handwritten text and grids for the article which was renamed and published in the GP June 1980 issue.]
BAROQUE:
* Counterpoint Studies – Bass Movement, 1979-01-01. [Some exercises to get your bass lines moving, utilizing 4-to-1 or 8-to-1 (that’s the ratio of bass notes to melody notes). New notation provided for easier reading.]
BLUES:
* 12-Bar Jazz Blues, 1995-06-22. [Ted gives us 2 versions of a jazz blues in the key of E, both as comping chords, 2 beats per chord. From a private lesson sheet in 1995. Standard music notation combined with Ted’s diagrams provided.]
CHORD STUDIES:
* Diatonic Chord Scales – Major Key, 1979-09-18. [Located in the “Chord Scales” section. Ted takes some triads up the diatonic scale – in the keys of A, E, D, G, and C. This is good fundamental info for those just starting to understanding harmony. You might want to share this with your students.]
* Diatonic Major Key Triads - R35 Triads, Top 3 Strings and Pedals, 1985-08-31. [Posted under the “Chord Scales” header in the “Chord Studies” section. Using R35 (Root, 3rd, 5th) triads on the top strings along with open string bass pedals, Ted gives us some chord scale exercises with short melodic phrases. And of course, to take it to the next level you’ll want to run it through other keys. On Ted’s original page he left some of the grids blank for the student to fill in. We’ve gone ahead and done this for you along with providing standard music notation for easy reading.]
* R-3-5 Triads and 7-R-3 7th Chords in Short Melodic Phrases, 1985-07-05. [In the “Chord Scales” section. Ted gives us some short exercises to help us to get fluent with these chord sequences. On his original page Ted left many of the grids blank for the student to fill in. We’ve gone ahead and added an extra sheet with those dots filled in. Ignore this or use to check your answers.]
* R-5-3 Diatonic Chord Scale Studies, 1986-10-16 & 1985-09-30. [In the “Chord Scales” section. Various chord scales starting on different degrees of the scale. Ted left some of the grids blank for the student to add either the dots or chord names. Again, we’ve added pages with the completed answers.]
* Diatonic Contrary Lines with 2-to-1 Melody, 1977-09-11. [Great exercises in contrary motion. Redrawn grids and music notation included for easy reading.]
COMPING:
* Moonglow – Comping on Top 4 Strings, Keys of G and Eb, 1977-02-22. [In this 1977 lesson Ted gives us two versions of comping chords on the top 4 strings for this jazz standard: the first in the key of G, followed by another in Eb. This page is not too difficult and contains a lot of excellent and useful chord moves that you can apply to other songs. Standard notation provided combined with Ted’s grids. Enjoy!]
FUNDAMENTALS:
* Learning the Fingerboard Through the 3 Triad Diagonals, 1973 and 1989. [These two pages were previously posted as “Triad Diagonals_pg1 and pg2. We’ve now combined them and include “translation” pages to make it all easier to read and absorb.]
SINGLE-NOTE SOLOING:
* Learning the Dominant 7th Scale in Context: I - bVII7, 1977-11-05. [23 exercises for soloing over Cmaj7 to Bb13. New notation added for easier reading.]
THE V-SYSTEM:
* V-2 7b9s in I-V7 Chains, 1985-04-27. [Posted in the V-2 Dominant 7b9 section. Three I chords followed by three V7b9 chords, then three I chords again. Very useful moves for fills in solo playing or comping.]
* V-2 Dominant7b9 Cycle of 4th Challenge Exercises, 1984-11-24. [Posted in the V-2 Dominant 7b9 section. Here Ted uses a lot of repetition to get the sounds and forms into our fingers and brain (ears). Four pages.]
TRANSCRIPTIONS:
* Embraceable You (from CA Vintage Guitar Seminar), 2003-05-18. Transcribed by Lucio Rosa. Chord grid diagrams only. [From the video: Ted Greene – Embraceable You. Lucio has provided us with the grid diagrams and some of the chord names. You might want to add the names of the other chords as your “assignment.” This was originally posted in the Forums, but there have been some changes and improvements, so you’ll want to download this new version. Special thanks to Lucio for sharing this with us!]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
July 2016 TedGreene.com Newsletter
Mid-Summer Greetings to all Ted Greene fans, friends, and students!
We’re still basking in the glow of the recording we just released last month, “Ted Greene – Private Concert at Alec Silverman’s Home, July 1975” and wanted to share with you some comments/reactions/impressions from various people about this recording:
From Steve Herberman:
“This 1975 Ted Greene private concert is mind blowing. Ted is fully formed and yet still a young man. It’s all on full display here: clever modulations, magical interludes, cascading harmonics, baroque-style counterpoint, George Van Eps-inspired chord soloing etc. What is most jaw dropping is the perfect flow and execution in which Ted plays. He makes it sound so easy, and it is anything but that. Masterful, complex, beautiful, soulful and inspiring. Thank you for bringing this recording to light! I’m learning lots from it and am consistently amazed by Ted.”
From Daniel Sawyer:
“Thanks so much. You have made my week (or my year). Ted’s playing on this recording is simply amazing. He’s really in control and playing wonderfully; at the top of his game I think. I’m driving my car around LA listening to it while simultaneously laughing and crying at how great Ted was. This even beats the Backenstoe Wedding recording. This new recording overwhelms me with Ted’s musical genius. It’s a pretty monumental thing for us TG fans.”
From Tim Lerch:
“Here is a bit of stream of consciousness on Ted’s recording of when ‘Sunny Gets Blue’ from the ‘Silverman’ collection:
From the opening chord streams of the intro to ‘When Sunny Gets Blue,’ Ted’s beautiful low-tuned telecaster is singing out into the evening. Every note given its full due, the great respect for each harmony and melodic phrase, the flow we have come to expect from Ted. The elegance of his musical mind coming forth as sound. At this time in his life (he may have been at the peak of his physical powers) we hear the preponderance of beautiful harmonic enhancements. Like Art Tatum, he would cram a lot of harmonic information into each bar, but it never sounds crowded! It just sounds full, rich, and exciting. Then after an opening statement and a smooth and stealthy key change, he slips into a really groovy swinging feel, occasionally letting things breath by playing in two, then back to four, always swinging. Then another key change—always the key change, wonderful! —making sure every note is placed just so, grooving effortlessly. It doesn't sound ‘thinky’ or intellectual; it just sounds like he knows the tune inside and out, and loves the tune inside and out, and shares his love with us. Sheesh! And that’s just the first four minutes of this incredible recording!”
From Andy Brown:
“Just wanted to say...WOW!!! That Ted recording is so incredible. Been listening to it non-stop. Still can’t get over ‘Girl Talk / Nice Work if You Can Get it.’ Holy cow! I’ve been listening to a ton of Van Eps lately, and when that ‘Nice Work’ kicks in, it’s like...wow, those lessons with George Van Eps really paid off! Just flawless. Thanks for making this recording available!”
From Nick Stasinos:
“Every track is a polished gem! To think this was a spontaneous, serendipitous moment in time just makes me even more awestruck regarding Ted’s concert that day at Alec Silverman’s home in 1975. His musical finesse and technique in executing it are flawless! Yes, it is definitely a ‘prequel’ to the Solo Guitar album released just a couple of years later in 1977. The Gershwin medley from ‘Porgy & Bess’ is here along with ‘Danny Boy (Londonderry Air)’ completed with the ‘London Bridge is Falling Down’ tag at very end. The other tracks recorded here also have that Solo Guitar feel to them, are just as intriguing, and...so many of them are my personal favorites! I grew to love these tunes through Ted’s introduction of them in my lessons with him. The 1st pass on ‘Girl Talk’ sounds just like his lesson hand-out sheet, but then he takes it to a whole new level. I love the very last track, ‘The Summer Knows’! I call this track my ‘lost lesson,’—lost due to my using a very cheap cassette tape during one of my lessons with Ted—but here it is, just the way I remember it, in pristine detail!
This concert is a musical treasure chest filled with years and years of valuable exploration for the solo guitarist: sequences of chords all strung together with harp-harmonics, interesting key transitions, the swing vibe with very cool walking bass lines, even his noodling to supposedly check his tuning, is on a higher plane. A worthy journey where the road will no doubt intersect with those of musical legends like Lenny Breau, Wes Montgomery, George Van Eps, J.S. Bach, etc. Happy trails!
From Leon White:
“Listening to this recording took me back to those days when everything was new. We take Ted’s playing for granted a little bit today as we’ve had decades to hear it. But to hear it when it was still new for him—energetic, even a little dangerous when he would try something or get in the zone—those are some of my favorite memories. I think the playing on this concert is incredible and still sounds fresh even 40 years. But imagine 1976 or so and hearing that for the first time—unimaginable! Those were the sounds that made me hound Ted into recording his Solo Guitar album.”
From Pedro Bellora:
“OH MAN! Huge news!! I can’t even begin to thank you for posting this!!”
From Thomas Bater:
“Hands down one of the greatest!”
From Güray Özcana:
“Made me happy like a 3-year-old child Thank you so.”
From Robert Ray Greene:
“I’m astounded, and literally in tears.... THANK YOU!”
 In recent months there have been some interest and inquiries about lesson sheets from Ted concerning chord scales. This month we’ve added a new header in the “Chord Studies” section titled, “Chord Scales” – which mostly refers to diatonic chord scales. Ted has some sheets that we’ll be posting over the next few months, but we’ll start off with one big monster page: “Diatonic Chord Scales – Forms for Building in Major Keys.” The original page is actually a collection of 113 chord forms that are meant to be the first chord (the I chord) of a diatonic chord scale. The student was supposed to build the rest of the scale. I don’t think Ted really expected students to write out the chord scales for all of the forms, but just those that he liked or found useful. To make this page more helpful as a reference we’ve gone ahead and included the full chord scale for each of the forms. Yep, big job!… aren’t you glad you didn’t have to do it? If one really wanted to take it to another level they could change the first chord to a minor type and then write out the chord scales for the three main minor scales (natural, harmonic, and melodic minor). I haven’t seen any minor chord scale pages in Ted’s teaching archives, so you might have to do this yourself if you’re interested in this. Most of his other lesson sheets deal with diatonic chord scales utilizing short passages or melodic phrases and sometimes with decorations instead of straight scales. But this “Forms for Building” page covers a lot of great foundational work for taking your playing to new heights.
Last month began a slight change in the “TedGreene.com Team”: Our “humble” Webmaster Dan Sindel has retired as our technical support, monthly updates, maintenance wizard, video creator, and countless other things he did to support the site for more than a decade. He worked closely with Barbara Franklin for years, helping with the monthly newsletters and new lesson pages on this site, and with her book, My Life with the Chord Chemist. He was involved with getting the Ted Greene YouTube and Facebook pages going, and with other projects. Dan will still be around but he’ll be taking a break from the monthly demands. He did a wonderful job for many years, and all of us are very grateful. THANK YOU, DAN!!!!!!
From Dan Sindel:
Ten years, a decade, is a long time, a marker of sorts. It signifies an end of an era of my service to Ted’s legacy in some capacity. I was asked to update and maintain the original launch of tedgreene.com after the main architects of the site had completed version 1.0 upon Ted’s passing.
I was a student of Ted’s, on and off for 20 years and had asked him at least 3 times if I could build him a website, maybe trade that service for some lessons every now and then. Each time I was met with the same answer, which was “No.” Ted wanted nothing to do with the Internet, computers and the like. He said it would only serve as a distraction for him, and ironically after his passing was I asked to sit in the captain’s chair and keep the site running.
For many years it was just me and dear Barbara getting together over the phone or meeting at her house, sorting and planning what things to upload and share with everyone who admired Ted and his seemingly infinite archive of musicology. Barbara and I became very close friends and I helped her every step of the way in putting together her book about her life with Ted. It was quite the honor to be in such close circles with some of the most beautiful people I’ve ever met.
Then “Sir Paul” Vachon came onboard about 5 years in and began helping me and Barb. He took over the main bulk of what files to upload and was/is instrumental in the development of the site. We had 1000’s of emails back and forth, getting things “just so,” in order that the site would be a better place for all.
So yes, this is the end of an era for me, and I’m off to pursue a national certification in the medical field and can’t seem to find the time to help keep the site “up and running” any longer. I want to thank Leon White and Paul Vachon for their tireless effort and each and every one of you guitar cats I’ve corresponded with over the past decade. I’m always a part of the Ted Team.
~ Blessings, Dan Sindel, “your humble webmaster.”
Now we want to extend a warm welcome to our new webmaster, Jeffrey D Brown. Jeff was the original builder of the TedGreene.com site back in 2005, so he knows the site very well, and he has stepped in several times over the years to backup Dan whenever the need arose. We look forward to working with him. Expect to see a few changes and improvements in the months and years to come. Welcome back, Jeff!!!
~ Paul, Leon and the TedGreene.com Team
New Lesson Material:
ARRANGEMENTS:
* Li’l Darlin’, 1977-09-19. [This Ted’s early arrangement as an “outline format” and doesn’t include the bridge section. Notation has been added, and the bridge melody & basic chords provided for you to finish it yourself.]
ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS:
* “Lesson Lab – Chord Chemistry: Harmonic Exploration with Master Instructor Ted Greene.” Guitar One Magazine, March 2004. [An interview with Dan Turner. Be sure to play through the examples—great stuff!]
BAROQUE:
* Counterpoint Exercises Focusing on Bass in Motion, (1977-08-14), 1978-08-25, 1982-10-13
BLUES:
* 12-Bar Blues for Martin Brody, 1992-07-11. [Blues in Bb, written up during a private lesson. This is great for beginner students. Be sure to add some rhythmic life and some melodic decorations to this!]
* Blues for Martin B., 1994-05-04. [Another blues in Bb for the same student, written up a couple of years later. This one is a bit more advanced. Try combining the two.]
CHORD STUDIES:
* Diatonic Chord Scales – Forms for Building in Major Keys, 1976-05-05, 1978-08-18. [Ted provides 113 different chord forms as the I chord for building diatonic chord scales. Completed scales with grids are provided. An excellent reference page for chord scales. As usual, Ted starts off fairly easy then ends with some very challenging voicings.]
* Consonant Major Slash Chords, I IV V, 1987-08-12. [In the Bass-Enhanced Triads area.]
* Power-Bass Triads: Harmonizing 4-5-6-7, 1989-10-14. [In the Bass-Enhanced Triads area.]
* Using Slash Chords (Dynabass Harmony) in V7-I Type Applications, 1989-08-16. [In the Bass-Enhanced Triads area.]
COMPING:
* Moonglow (key of G, ver. 1), 1976-06-09. [An early comping study for intermediate level playing.]
JAZZ:
* Jazz Turnarounds: One-Six-Two-Five (parts 1-6), 1985. [Great chord sequences for turnarounds. Previously posted as individual pages, we’ve now combined parts 1 thru 6.]
* Jazz Turnarounds: One-Six-Two-Five (parts 7-10), 1985. [More advanced chord voicings for turnarounds, mostly located above the 12th fret. Chord names provided.]
SINGLE-NOTE SOLOING:
* Chord Tone Outlines: ii - V7alt – I, 1982-09-20 & 21. [Diagrams for fingerings for soloing over ii-V7alt-I progressions. Notation with chord names added for easier reading and absorption.]
THE V-SYSTEM:
* V-2, 7b9 Chords on Middle and Top Strings in V7-I Progressions, 1984-11-25.
* V-2, Dominant7b9 Large Leap Drills, 1984.
* V-2, Learning the V-2 7b9 Forms Thru V7-I Progressions, 1984-11-16.
TRANSCRIPTIONS:
* Just Friends (from Ted’s “Solo Guitar”), transcribed by Mark Thornbury. [Mark made two versions of this transcription: one with grids only, and other with grids + standard notation.]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
June 2016 TedGreene.com Newsletter
Summer Greetings!
We have a very special, rare treat for you this month: a 1975 recording of Ted playing a private concert for a small group of guitarists. This cameto us from Mark Thornbury, so we’ll let him tell the story:
This performance (and recording) of Ted Greene happened due to the efforts of a gentleman named Alec Silverman. We all owe a debt of gratitude to Alec, as his keen ear and eye for all things fine, and his efforts to make this happen so long ago.
As best as I can remember, Ted’s performance at Alec Silverman’s home came about rather shortly after Ted had performed at a Grand Opening party at the (now defunct) Valley Arts Guitar store on Ventura Blvd. Quite a number of renowned players performed there that day, including Grant Geissman and Larry Carlton. It was quite a show, and went on for hours. I attended, but left before everybody had played, so I missed Ted’s performance. However, Alec stayed for the entire set of players, and was so blown away by Ted’s performance that he called me soon after and told me that I had really missed something special.
He contacted Ted and asked him if he would play for a private setting of musicians, and how much he would charge. Alec already knew that Joe Pass would do it for $50.00 (please bear in mind that in 1975 the minimum wage was $2.10/hr, a gallon of gasoline  was about $.59 cents/gallon, the median price for a home was $38,800.00. So $50.00 for a gig was actually pretty good). He offered him $75.00, provided he could get a commitment from enough people. He figured that he knew at least 15 people who would be interested, and would be willing to pay $5 each. Ted eventually agreed (his humility caused a bit of hesitation), with the stipulation that the liquor at the gathering would be no stronger than light beer.
When Alec told me that a private performance was going to happen, I was quite excited at the prospect of seeing and hearing what this author of the amazing Chord Chemistry book would do with all of those chords (which, of course, we ALL owned a copy of), and I committed to providing $20.00 as ‘insurance’ in case a few folks couldn’t make the event.
Alec got it all set up, and on the night of the mini-concert we cleared all the furniture out of the living room, folks came in and sat down pretty much cross-legged on the floor and waited. Then in strode this rather tall, hippy looking man with a Fender Twin Reverb in one hand and a Fender Leslie in the other, looking just like the guy on the cover of Chord Chemistry. He was accompanied by a very striking woman carrying his guitar case, his sister Linda (I remember she bore a strong resemblance to Katharine Ross, an actress that many of us had a crush on).
Ted got set up, and there was a gentleman there with a Revox reel-to-reel tape recorder and two microphones, who asked Ted’s permission to record the event. Ted granted him permission, of course, but he wanted a verbal agreement that the recording was not to be used in a commercial manner. I was struck by Ted’s approach to this total stranger: he smiled and began his conversation with saying, “My friend....” I guess I was struck by his natural warmth and gentleness, something that spiritually advanced people display, at least to my rather So Cal New Age mind-set. (This impression has stuck with me to this day.)
I made sure that I was right in front, probably only 5 feet in front of Ted, who was seated in what appeared to be a dining room chair. He was playing a modified blond Fender Telecaster, with heavy round wound strings, and his tuning that day was down a whole step. I clearly remember the side of the guitar (facing his chin) had a strip of paper attached which had very tiny writing with a HUGE list of songs. He did have a foot pedal to switch from the Twin Reverb speakers to the Leslie. He got things lit up, and I remember his first test chord was a C major ninth chord, which I recognized from both Chord Chemistry and Joe Pass Guitar Chords, both favorite books of mine. HOWEVER, after Ted lightly strummed the chord, he immediately played the harp-harmonic arpeggio technique across it, and I GASPED when I heard and saw it done—with such speed, flair, and smoothness. I realized that I was in for a real experience. He then played a sequence of rather dark sounding chords (which I later learned were minor sixth inversions), and it was at this time that the recorder was switched on, leading into “When Sunny Gets Blue.”
This event was stunning, absolutely stunning, for me (I had seen Joe Pass play many, many times at Donte’s, and loved every note, but the only guitarist that had such a beautiful sense of ‘touch’ that I had ever seen play like this was Andres Segovia). After Ted was finished, I (along with others, to be sure) ‘pestered’ him with questions, starting with a close-up of the harp-harmonic arpeggio technique. In typical Ted fashion, he responded with “No big deal, here’s how you should approach it” followed by several demonstrations and a specific exercise (that I remember to this day) on how to start to practice it. I also asked about studying with him, and was a bit disappointed to learn that there was a 9 month waiting list involved (I signed up anyway within a week at Dale’s Guitars on Topanga Canyon Blvd).
It was interesting to watch the other players clamor about him, peppering him with questions, and his patient answers. We were clearly in awe of him, and yet he displayed great humility. Shortly after Ted left I remember somebody joking out loud that there must have been a hidden guitarist in the Leslie playing all the extra parts, and guitarist Danny Costello (of the DeFranco Family band) joked, “You know, maybe we should just put all our gear together and sell it!” We all knew that we had been treated to an unusually fine musical experience, of the sort that is very, very rare, and were sort of ‘basking in the afterglow.’
Knowing that the concert had been recorded, I made sure that I was very soon a recipient of a copy of the performance (which is what is preserved here, again thanks to Alec Silverman). Not long after getting it I had friends over to my house to listen to it with me, including guitarists Steve Lukather and Mike Landau, who were my childhood friends as well as very powerful musical heroes and influences. I remember Steve recognizing “Bess, You is My Woman Now” from “Porgy and Bess,” and when he heard “Here’s That Rainy Day” he sat there with an amazed expression on his face and asked “Has Joe Pass heard this guy? This is amazing! Mark, you should cop this arrangement!” I also distinctly remember Mike’s reaction to a certain portion of “Danny Boy,” saying, “It sounds like a bass player is playing with him right there! Wow!”
This recording has been a treasured part of my musical enjoyment and education, and it is still, for me, as thrilling to listen to today, some 40 years later, as when I first heard it performed. It is now a part of the Ted Greene archives, where it  deserves to live. While it is a shame that a better recording in terms of sound quality by today’s standards is not available, I am grateful for the recording that we have, as it has preserved a high standard of performance. He really played the heck out of the guitar that night, and showed us what could indeed be done with a rare combination of knowledge, touch, tone, taste, and talent.
I will be forever grateful to Alec Silverman for introducing me to Ted’s music. I am also grateful to Paul Vachon for so wonderfully handling the transfer process from crude analog to the digital domain, where this recording will be heard and appreciated by many musicians for many years to come.
Thank you, Ted!
~ Mark Thornbury
Wow! You guys are gonna love these tracks. We’ve uploaded mp3 files on our site for you to download, but we’re also making available the WAV files on a file storage site, along with artwork if you want to burn your own CD’s — all this as a free offering in the spirit of Ted. If you enjoy this recording we’d like to ask that you make a contribution to keep this site running. Our “suggested donation” is $15.00. Considering that you can have both mp3 and WAV files of all 18 tracks – that’s over 90 minutes of music – this is a real bargain, plus it helps one of your favorite guitar websites!
Thank you for your support.
Other less exciting news for this month:
We’ve now created a new area in the “Chord Studies” section called “Bass-Enhanced Triads.” Ted has many lesson sheets dealing with this subject. He created many terms to try to define these chords, but the one he seemed to use most was “Bass-Enhanced Triads,” and in his Personal Music Studies papers he has a folder for “New Book Ideas” which includes his intention to write a book on “B.E.T.” (Bass-Enhanced Triads), so that’ll be the area’s header name. But the files themselves may have other names, such as: Bass-Energized Triads; Polychords; Poly-Triads; “Slash” Chords (or “Slashers”); Power-Bass Triads; Triads and Bass-Enhancement; Dynabass Harmony; Dynabass Voicings; Tri-Level Chords; Triads with Supercharged Bass Notes; Bass-Rich(ened) Triads.
On one of the lesson sheets he wrote:
* Tri-level Harmony = can be viewed as:
1) Triads with added “supercharging” by way of wonderful bass notes.
2) Bass notes with added resonant (and even non-resonant) triads above.
3) Functional chords and/or harmony as usual.
See Chord Chemistry, page 12, for related information about Polychords or Bi-tonal Chords.
And you might also find an interesting conversation about these in the Mark Levy recorded lesson with Ted on 1993, Sept. 20 (lesson #40), starting around 55:50 onwards. I think the simplest explanation for why he called them bass-enhanced triads is because by the addition of a “special” bass note, a simple triad could be transformed to have a much different sound, often a more powerful and majestic sound. So the bass note kind of “energized” the triad.
Also please note that in our “Transcriptions” section for this month, Francois Leduc has updated his transcripts for Ted’s “Solo Guitar” album, and he has created an entirely new version which also includes chord grids. Both of these files are of a much better quality than was previously posted (you can zoom in closely and it won’t get pixilated) — so you’ll want to upgrade to these new files.
~ Paul and the gentlemen on the TedGreene.com Team
New Lesson Material:
ARRANGEMENTS:
* I’m Getting Sentimental Over You, 1995-01-22 [From Ted’s folder of “difficult” arrangements for students. New notation combined with lyrics and Teds’ grids.]
ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS:
* “Ted Greene Remembered” CD Review - Vintage Guitar Magazine, April 2008 issue. [In a column titled “First Fret,” Jim Carlton reviews the tribute CD which was compiled by Tom Bocci after Ted’s passing.]
AUDIO:
* “Ted Greene - Private Concert at Alec Silverman’s Home, July 1975”
[See Newsletter message. 25 songs, 18 tracks, total length: 1:34:06. Free downloads: Mp3 files at 320 kbps and WAV files, 44.1 KHz, 24-bit.]
BLUES:
* 12-Bar Blues - Chord Progression Exercises ala Wes Montgomery to Learn String Crossing, 1997-12-11. [A blues in Bb using dominant and its “co-minor 7” chords. From a page written up during a private lesson. New notation provided.]
JAZZ:
* Shiny Stockings, Solo on Chords, 1977. [Previously posted, we’ve now added new notation for easy reading.]
* Just Friends, Solo on Chords, 1978-04-13. [Previously posted, we’ve now added new notation for easy reading.]
CHORD STUDIES:
* Tri-Level Chords and their Progressions, A Beginning, 1989-09-06. [Previously posted, we’ve now combined Ted’s grids with notation and added chord names. In the new Bass-Enhanced Triads section.]
* Triads and Bass-Enhancement: Harmonizing a Long Scale Line, (part 1) Beginning on the 4th Degree, 1989-11-12. [In the new Bass-Enhanced Triads section. Notation and chord names added to Ted’s grids.]
* Triads and Bass-Enhancement: Harmonizing a Long Scale Line, (part 2) Beginning on the 3rd Degree, 1989-11-12. [In the new Bass-Enhanced Triads section.]
* Bass-Energized Triads in Harmonization of Ascending Major Scale, Degrees 5-6-7-8, 1989-10-03. [In the new Bass-Enhanced Triads section.]
* More Harmonization of 5, 6, 7, 8 via Bass-Enhanced Triads, 1989-12-01. [In the new Bass-Enhanced Triads section.]
* I-IV-V with Consonant Polychords and Friends, 1987-06-21. [Previously posted, we’ve now combined Ted’s grids with notation and added chord names. In the new Bass-Enhanced Triads section.]
* Contemporary Bass-Enhanced Triads in Expanded Diatonic Chord Progressions, 1990-09-02. Previously posted, we’ve now combined Ted’s grids with notation and added chord names. In the new Bass-Enhanced Triads section.]
* Power-Bass Triads: List 1, 1989-09-21. [Subtitled: Bass-powered Triads, Bass-Energized Triads, Tri-level Chords. On this page Ted gives various cord voicings for Major 9 no3, Dominant 11, third inversion dominant 7, and second inversion major triads. In the new Bass-Enhanced Triads section.]
DISCOGRAPHY & PUBLICATIONS:
* Ted Greene Remembered CD Booklet. [We’ve posted the booklet for the CD. It contains comments from the contributing artists, as well as “The Many Facets of Ted Greene” written by Barbara Franklin
THE V-SYSTEM:
* V-2 Co-Minor 7 and Dominant 7s, 1985, 1988, 1989. [Six pages by Ted on “co-minor 7 chords. Translation pages added for easy reading, plus the chord names are provided for some of the pages.]
* V-2 Dominant 7b9 Hook-Ups, Diagonals, and Compact Patterns, 1984. [Five pages of exercises for using 7b9 chords.]
* V-2 Minor7b5 Chords, 1985-03-02. [Systematic inversions spanning from the bottom 4 string set to the middle set.]
TRANSCRIPTIONS:
* Ted Greene - “Solo Guitar” (complete album)
Notation + Tab by Francois Leduc
* Ted Greene - “Solo Guitar” (complete album)
Notation + Tab + Grids by Francois Leduc
[Both of these files contain transcriptions of the entire album, and are new improved revised versions by Francois. See Newsletter message above.]
FROM STUDENTS:
* All the Things You Are - V-2 Top Set. [From Matt Lord.]
* V-2 Diatonic Chord Scales. [From Matt Lord.]
* V-2 Major 7 - All Sets, All Keys. [From Matt Lord.]
* V-2 Middle to Top Switchovers. [From Matt Lord.]
* V-2 Systematic Inversions. [From Matt Lord.]
* V-4 Diatonic Chord Scales. [From Matt Lord.]
* V-4 Systematic Inversions. [From Matt Lord.]
* V-5 Diatonic Chord Scales. [From Matt Lord.]
* V-5 Systematic Inversions. [From Matt Lord.]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
May 2016 TedGreene.com Newsletter
May Greetings!
We wanted to share with you an extract from a piece Barbara Franklin wrote for the “Ted Greene Remembered” CD, which she titled, “The Many Facets of Ted Greene”:
TEACHER
Ted had the rare gift of insight into how to connect with people. First, and most importantly, he took a genuine interest ineach 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 setting 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 performances Ted’s preference was a small, quite 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 ever 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 color 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.
This month we present a recording of Ted playing with Emily Remler. It was a very informal recording, probably made at Ted’s apartment sometime in the 1980s. Here they play “Cisco,” a composition by Pat Martino, “Whistle While You Work,” and “’S Wonderful.”  They sound like they’re having a lot of fun, and I think Ted was charmed by Emily and especially her spectacular Wes-influenced playing, one of Ted’s top guitar heroes. Ted steps a little out of his comfort zone and does some extended single-note solos and does a great job, and of course his comping is swinging and brilliant. We know that you’re gonna love this recording. Also be sure to check out the new comping page posted this month for “You Must Believe in Spring.” At the bottom of the page Ted penned a brief but sweet dedication to Emily. And go to the allthingsemily.com site for more recordings of Emily.
 Other news this month: We’ve split our “Blues and Jazz” section into two separate areas. So you’ll notice two new links in the site menu page. The Blues section has grown quite a bit, and we hope to add more to the Jazz section in the coming months.
Also be sure to keep checking in on our “Transcription” section each month. This month we have another contribution by Mark Thornbury and two new transcripts by Francois Leduc.
Last month we compiled some comments from guitar players about Ted’s “Solo Guitar” album, as well as a few thoughts Ted had about it. This month we are posting a brief review by Adrian Ingram that was featured in the May 2000 issue of Just Jazz Guitar magazine.
And finally: recently our webmaster and manager of the Ted Greene Facebook page, Dan Sindel, posted on Facebook a video clip of Ted playing at the Joey Backenstoe wedding. In just 4 days we got over 25,000 hits! Be sure to check it out and “like us” on Facebook. Also, if you haven’t done so, please subscribe to the Ted Greene YouTube channel. More great stuff to come in the weeks and months ahead!
~ The boys on the TedGreene.com Team
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
New Lesson Material:
ARRANGEMENTS:
* Someday My Prince Will Come (key of E), 2000-04-10. [Ted’s arrangement as written up during a private lesson and which utilizes a walking bass in “3.” Notation added to Ted’s grids. Also included is Ted’s lead sheet]
* Someday My Prince Will Come (key of Bb) Partial, 1994-04-19. [This is an incomplete arrangement by Ted. It might have been that he wanted to document a few voicings that he liked, or it might have been an assignment for the student to do. We’d added blank grids along with a lead sheet for you to finish. Notice that last chord on Ted’s original page: it’s a Bb diminished major 7 with a slash and K5 written under it. Right now I’m not clear about what K5 means, but this mystery may get solved next month when we delve into Ted’s “Bass-Enhanced Triads” series, which he uses these slash K numbers.]
* Ted Greene Original Baroque Composition, circa 1971. [This was in Ted’s papers among his Bach studies, but our classical experts do not identify it as one of Bach’s pieces. We have concluded that it is one of Ted’s compositions that was influenced by some of the Bach and other pieces he was working on at the time.]
ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS
* “Ted Greene’s Solo Guitar Review” [Just Jazz Guitar Magazine, Classic Jazz Recordings, review by Adrian Ingram, May 2000 issue. With thanks to Just Jazz Guitar magazine.]
AUDIO:
* Ted Greene and Emily Remler - Jammin’ [An informal recording of Ted and Emily jamming together sometime in the 1980’s, probably at Ted’s apartment. A single jam-packed 38-minute mp3 file, at 192 kbps., 53 MB download.]
* Duets with Ted and Emily. Comments about the Ted Greene and Emily Remler Jammin’ recording, Song list and comments excerpted from Terrence McManus’s thesis on Ted, “Ted Greene: Sound, Time, and Unlimited Possibility.” Thank you Terrence!
* Mark Levy’s Recorded Lessons with Ted Greene-General Index. [This index can be found on the home page for Marks recordings. It’s just a rough summary of subjects discussed.]
CHORD STUDIES:
* Diatonic Cycle of 4ths (part 1), 1975-05-31. [Ted thoroughly explores I-IV in the key of A. Ted wrote up instructions at the top of this page indicating to do all the other degrees in the key. This may have been an assignment for the student to take this lesson to another level, or it may have been a note to himself to later write up these progressions. But he only did I-IV on all three of these parts. New notation for easy reading.]
* Diatonic Cycle of 4ths (part 2), 1975-05-31. [I-IV continued.]
* Diatonic Cycle of 4ths (part 3), 1975-08-09. [I-IV continued.]
* Low-End Major 6th Voicings - Systematic Inversions. [Ted indicated with an arrow on the left-hand side of this page (and the other “Low-End” Systematic Inversions pages) that one should read these grids top-to-bottom (as well as the “derivation” of reading them left-to-right).]
* Low-End Dominant 7th Voicings - Systematic Inversions. ]
* Low-End Minor 6th Voicings - Systematic Inversions.
* Low-End Minor 7th Voicings - Systematic Inversions.
* Low-End Minor 7b5 Voicings - Systematic Inversions.
* Low-End Diminished 7th Voicings - Systematic Inversions.
* Major Triad Voice-Leading I-IV-V, 1984-07-14. [In the key of A.]
COMPING:
* You Must Believe in Spring, 1991-12-10. [Ted’s comping chords for this jazz standard. Previously posted, we now have “upgraded” this lesson to include notation for Ted’s harmony, and the melody and “basic changes” from a lead sheet. Please note Ted’s dedication to Emily Remler at the bottom of his page.]
HARMONY & THEORY:
* Multi-Possibilities of Voice-Leading via ii7-V7-I, Top 4 Strings, 1980. [A fantastic collection of fifty ii-V-I voice-leading examples compiled by Ted. Many are utilize V-1 type close voicings. Hunt for some of your favorites to love and use. This is under the “Voice-Leading” header in the “Harmony & Theory” section.]
THE V-SYSTEM:
* Fill-in Quiz, V-2 Minor 7th Chords on the Middle Strings, 1984-11-30 & 1984-12-30. [Test your knowledge of the V-2 m7 chords.]
* V-2 Dominant 7/6, 13, and 9th Chords on the Top 4 Strings, 1984-12-22.[Ted indicated with an arrow on the left-hand side of this page that one should read these grids top-to-bottom, not left-to-right.]
* V-2 Minor7b5 Chords, 1985-03-02. [Systematic inversions spanning from the bottom 4 string set to the middle set.]
TRANSCRIPTIONS:
* A Certain Smile (from “Solo Guitar”). Transcribed by Mark Thornbury. Ted-style chord grid diagrams.
* Medley from Joey Backenstoe's Wedding. Transcribed by Francois Leduc.[This includes “Embraceable You”, “Time After Time”, “I Remember You”, and “Till There Was You.” Standard notation and Tab.]
* As Time Goes By. Transcribed by Francois Leduc. [From Ted’s “Special Recording,” which can be found in our Audio section. Standard notation, Tab, and chord grids.]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
April 2016 TedGreene.com Newsletter
Greetings to all Ted fans, friends, and students!
This month we have some great new stuff in the Lessons section, and we especially want to draw your attention to a contributionto the new Transcription section from Mark Thornbury. Mark is sharing one of hisTed-style chord grids transcriptions that he wrote up for Ted’s “Solo Guitar” album way back in 1977, shortly after it was first released. We’ll be posting more of his transcriptions slowly (hopefully one per month), since Mark is reviewing and double-checking them all. We’re starting off with “Danny Boy,” and you’ll want to read Mark’s comments that are attached to his transcript wherein he tells how he had several lessons with Ted reviewing this arrangement together. Thanks for sharing, Mark!
Another treat for this month is the conclusion of the Just Jazz Guitar interview with Ted—more great insights into his views on music, guitars, gear, players, and more. I wanted to share one quote from the interview that I thought was interesting regarding Ted’s view on his “Solo Guitar” recording:
“I tried being a studio player, but that wasn’t for me. I also recorded a solo album, but it only sold maybe 50 to 100 copies in many of the 10-15 years it was available. It was displayed right on the counters of guitar stores where they sold my books, but there was never much interest. Year after year. I figured, tough call, so what. I got over the disappointment. And truth is, I could understand the lukewarm response, because I seldom liked my playing either [laughs]. Not that I don’t keep trying to. I haven’t given up. These days, because friends, students, a few colleagues and a couple of family members have asked me to, I’m looking forward to at least attempting to satisfy their request for another recording or two. Yes indeed.”
That was in the year 2000. Too bad Ted never made it into the studio for a follow-up album. But there are other recordings that have survived, and we’ll have a special treat coming up soon that you’ll all surely fall in love with. Stay tuned!
Finally, to contrast Ted’s “skewed” opinion about his “Solo Guitar” album, here are some comments from the Ted Memorial Blog by his friends, colleagues, and students:
I remember the first time Ted shyly told me about his LP. He was nice enough to put it to cassette for me. When I listened to it for the first time, I thought to myself, “This is the best guitar album I’ve heard yet, and it’s Ted!” I haven’t heard anything better since. I will always cherish the tape. Now I need the CD so I can put it on repeat!
~ Jason D. Kuhar
A few years ago I called him up and asked him if his “Solo Guitar” album would ever be released on CD, and if he was planning any new recordings. He told me the CD was in-the-works, and that he was planning to go into the studio to record some more pieces. I don’t know whatever became of this, but hopefully we all will be able to taste more of his wonderful music. My only wish was that he would have made more solo recordings. With all his humility he didn’t feel he was quite ready to record! Ted was certainly the best music teacher I ever encountered, and one of the gentlest of souls.
~ One of Ted’s students
I’ve listened to his “Solo Guitar” album so many times, yet every time I listen to it I always hear something new. Ted was a true gift to this world. Is there any way other unreleased recordings of his or lessons that were recorded could possibly be released? One album—as brilliant and long-lasting as it is—is just not enough!
~ John R.
Back in the 70’s I was buying a copy of Chord Chemistry and the salesman said “You’ve heard this guy play, haven’t you?” “No,” I said. With a wink he pulled out a copy of “Solo Guitar” from under the counter and said, “This will change your life, man.”
~ Brad Benefield
Music and guitar playing specifically has occupied most of my life. Early on in my adventure/quest I came upon the “bible” of chord work, Ted’s Chord Chemistry. It stunned me. When I finally picked up his LP the question, “Oh sure, but can he actually play this stuff?” was answered like a clap of thunder. I have a collection of over 5000 records, CDs, and tapes, the vast majority of which is the work of the best guitar players who have walked this planet. Ted was absolutely one of them. He is one of the only guitarists whose playing has ever brought tears to my eyes.
~ Scott Dercks
I’ve been a great fan of Ted’s since the late 70’s when I purchased his album at Johnny Smith’s music store while passing through Colorado Springs. Off and on for the next two decades I wore a hole through that LP trying to transcribe those beautiful arrangements and steal Ted’s unique chord voicings.
~ Rick Schmunk
…When Ted released his “Solo Guitar” LP, I sat down with my reel-to-reel and worked out every song, and wrote it down in his chord-grid system. He and Leon White got a bit of a kick out of that, and we had a laugh…. I do hope that we can all get together in some way to share his amazing contributions.
~ Mark Thornbury
~ From the Friendly Folk on the TedGreene.com Team
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
New Lesson Material:
ARRANGEMENTS:
* Beautiful Love, 1997-07-09. [This 1997 arrangement written out during a private lesson poses some challenging, but has some beautiful chord forms and moves. The page doesn’t include the chord names, and it is an incomplete arrangement. To help one to follow and navigate these grids properly we’ve included standard notation for the grids, song lyrics, and the missing measure—all this aligned with Ted’s original grids. In addition, chord names (in blue text) were added along with a few suggestions for the omitted chords. The last unfinished 8 measures of the piece are written out with the melody only, and we’re provided some blank grids with “basic” chord names—your job is to finish the arrangement.]
* Something, 1992-1993. [Previously posted with only Ted’s original grids and his lead sheet, we now are including a fully notated version which may help as a guide to learning.]
ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS
* “Music is My Life” – Interview part 2, Just Jazz Guitar magazine, August 2000 issue. [A continuation of the interview from the cover story of the JJG May 2000 issue. Made available with the kind permission of Just Jazz Guitar. (Thanks, Ed Benson!)]
AUDIO:
* Your Song. Audio taken from the Joey Backenstoe Wedding video recording, 1989-03-04. This file is located in: Audio/Miscellaneous/Ted Greene Plays at Joey Backenstoe’s Wedding. [The audio was digitally cleaned up a bit. Length: 3:25, mp3 at 320 kbps.]
BAROQUE:
* Counterpoint Exercises – Imitation, 1978-07-01. [Some great beginning exercises for counterpoint. New notation provided.]
* Counterpoint Based on Harmonic Intervals from Bass, 1978-08-16. [New notation provided.]
* Counterpoint Exercises – Motion in Alternating Voices, 1979-12-31. [New notation provided.]
* Modern Counterpoint Studies, 1978-11-24_26 [This is an update for this file. The mysterious and elusive “Page 2” has been discovered and added.]
BLUES & JAZZ:
* Chicago Blues ala Jimmy Reed, 1990-08-17. [Some basic blues comping in E, with a cool turnaround at the end. Notation provided as a guide for following the form.]
* Harmonized Blues Melodies (1-to-1), 1985-04-27. [A short chord phrase in E blues. Notation provided.]
* Slow Blues Lines in Triplet Speed, 1985-11-07. [Single-note exercises using a Bb dominant scale. Translation page provided.]
* Trills in Blues Triplet Runs, 1989-08-20. [Two E blues single-note runs shown on various positions on the fretboard. Includes translation page.]
CHORD STUDIES:
* ii-V7-I on the Top 4 Strings, 1986. [Five pages of exercises in which Ted provides the grids for the first example on each line, and we’re supposed to continue with those structures for the remaining examples on that line. These are all very useful voicings to get under your fingers – with a few challenging ones thrown in for good measure, as Ted is known to have done!]
* Progressions to Learn Major Type Chord Forms, 1979-01-05. [Some basic “must-know-chords” presented in interesting progressions.]
* Close Harmony Derived Voicings, Organized by String Groupings – from the Bass Up, 1980-11-09. [For those who love V-1 type chord voicings (close harmony) this is a nice collection of minor 7th types on the top 4 and the middle 4 strings.]
COMPING:
* My Favorite Things, 1995-12-11. [Some cool voicings (with a lot of open strings) for this well-know piece from the film, “The Sound of Music.” It has become a jazz standard. Notation provided with lead sheet including lyrics.]
HARMONY & THEORY:
* Common Chord Progressions and Harmonic Principles, 1973-10-22. [Ted explains some basics about chord progressions. Good stuff here.]
SINGLE-NOTE SOLOING:
* Melodic Patterns Repeated at the 4th, 1978-05-28. [Notation provided for easy reading.]
* Polyrhythmic Diatonic Triads in the Major Scale, 1985-08-20. [Notation and translation provided for easy reading.]
THE V-SYSTEM:
* V2, ii7-V7-I Middle Strings, 1986-02-16. [Basic ii-V-I chord moves with V-2 types on the middle 4 strings. Two pages.]
* V2, ii7-V7-I with String Crossing, 1986-02-16. [More basic ii-V-I chord moves with V-2 types using the middle and top 4 strings. Four pages.]
TRANSCRIPTIONS:
* Danny Boy (from “Solo Guitar”) transcribed by Mark Thornbury. [Ted-style chord grid diagrams. (See Newsletter message above.)]
* Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (Power Tab file) from Andrew Schmidt. [For those who use Power Tab, you can now download the file for this transcription. Thanks, Andrew!]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
March 2016 TedGreene.com Newsletter
Spring Greetings to all (well, it’s on the way!)
This month we have several treats that we hopeyou’ll like.
The first is to announce the addition of a new section on the site called, “Transcriptions.” It’s exclusively for transcriptions of Ted’s playing. In it you’ll find several files that people have shared with us over the years. We’ve moved them out of the “From Students” section and a few from the Forums, and collected them in this one spot. Check it out.
There are few new transcriptions that have just been added, and more will go up in the months to come. We would like to encourage you all to share anything you may have written down from any recordings of Ted: audio recordings, videos (seminars, live performances, or video lessons), excerpts from audio lessons (such as the Mark Levy recordings), etc. And your offerings can be in the form of standard music notation, Tab, grid diagrams, Power Tab, Guitar Pro, TuxGuitar, and even Midi, Finale, Sibelius, or other similar transcription formats. If you’d like to contribute your work, please contact us here and we’ll work out the details with you. If necessary we can help to make it a nice presentation.
So to kick-start this section we have a very special transcription of “Watch What Happens” from Nick Stasinos. I’ll let him give you a little history about this score:
In 1977, shortly after starting lessons with Ted, I just happened upon his newly released “Solo Guitar” LP at Valley Arts. Yes, Ted not being a self-promoter said nothing about having an LP out. I was awestruck by what I heard. Who keeps this kind of thing a secret? But what I was to learn “Solo Guitar” was a mixed bag for Ted.
By 1997, I had done some transcription work for Hal Leonard, Warner Brothers, and Mel Bay. I felt I was ready to tackle “Solo Guitar” and started with this song. Unlike the CD release, “Watch What Happens” was not the first track on the LP, but being a Legrand fan, I gravitated toward this track as the first song to document... and sensing I may not get through all eight songs with Ted’s help before he felt burned-out on the project, I stacked my favorites first. Fortunately, it was also Ted’s favorite track on the album.
Ted constantly wanted to improve upon the music rather than get down what was already recorded. I had to find a balance between letting him explore, hence the variations on the YouTube video YouTube.com/Ted Greene-Watch What Happens and bringing him back to the recording. We shared some really great times together during this process, but also some bittersweet moments in which I learned how difficult it was for Ted to endure these recordings! How could they have been better? Needless to say, we only got through two tracks before he said, “Let’s take a break from this and do something else.” I tried to prod Ted into starting the transcriptions again, but he would reply, “Nick, my album has been out-of-print for years! Who would want them?” Really?
The end of 2004 released “Solo Guitar” on CD. I overheard a fan at Spazio Restaurant ask Ted about transcriptions for “Solo Guitar.” Ted turned and pointed towards me, “My friend is doing a great job on them!” I was elated! Was this the green light? Sadly, we were never to return to those six other tracks together.
- Nick
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Nick’s transcription is music notation + grids + Tab – It’s pretty awesome, so please check it out. Another new transcription is from Anders Hagstrom, of Ted’s “Someday My Prince Will Come (Baroque variations)” taken from the new “An Afternoon with Ted” album. Be sure to give this contrapuntal piece a run-through.
Another treat this month is the Ted Greene interview which was the cover story in the Just Jazz Guitar magazine May 2000 issue. As you may already know, JJG magazine will be ceasing their publication in May 2016. After 21 years with this magazine, Ed Benson decided it was time for him to retire. Many of us will miss that great publication, and Ed was kind enough to give us permission to post the articles in JJG that relate to Ted. Last month we posted a short piece of Ted’s remembrances of George Van Eps. This month we’re posting part 1 of a 2-part interview. It goes pretty deep into some of Ted’s thoughts about music and guitar. You’ll find it in the “Articles & Interviews” section. Part 2 will go up in April.
And finally, you may notice some small changes to the website, such as the modified navigation sidebar. This was done in order to add a link to the new “Transcriptions” page, plus we got rid of some redundancy and removed an obsolete page (the “Subscribe” page). We want to send a special round of applause to our “humble webmaster,” Dan Sindel for all his work on keeping the site running smoothly, and for uploading all the new items and newsletters each month. Thanks brother Dan!
Thanks to our transcribing contributors: Anders Hagstrom, Nick Stasinos, Francois Leduc, Will Kriski, Lindsey Blair, Ric Molina, Mike de Luca, Mark Thornbury, Andrew Schmidt, and Rich Schmunk.
~ Paul and the Great and Generous Guitar Guys on the TedGreene.com Team
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
New Lesson Material:
ARRANGEMENTS:
* Ain’t Misbehavin’ (key of D), 1985-11-03. [Ted arrangement that he called here, “Harmonized melody…for an ensemble setting ala jazz trio or….” Also included is Ted’s lead sheet, dated 1974-07-04. Notation included. This is fairly easy to play with only a few challenges (as usual per Ted).]
* Ain’t Misbehavin’ (key of G), 1985-11-13. [Ted’s, “Harmonized melody…ensemble setting or solo. Modern piano voicings and others.” Also included is Ted’s lead sheet, dated 1974-07-04. Notation included. This arrangement is a bit more challenging. Ted had it in his “difficult” folder. But it is still very doable if you put in the time.]
* Ain’t Misbehavin’ (key of A, Db, Eb), 1991-03-28. [“For unaccompanied Guitar. Medium to difficult level. Notation included.]
ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS
* “Music is My Life” – Interview part 1, Just Jazz Guitar magazine, May 2000 issue cover story. [A wonderful in-depth interview with a master guitarist/musician. Made available with the kind permission of Just Jazz Guitar. (Thanks, Ed Benson!)]
BAROQUE:
* Baroque Counterpoint – 2 Voices Yielding 3 via Ties, 1989-07-23. [A couple of nice diatonic progression exercises. Notation provided for Ted’s grid diagrams.]
* Baroque Counterpoint – Application of 1-to-1 Counterpoint, 1985-05-22. [“Adding a bass part to a given theme.” New notation provided for easy reading.]
* Counterpoint Exercises - 2-to-1, 1978-02-24. [Notation only.]
* Baroque Counterpoint – Focusing on 3rds with 3, 4, 5 of the Key in Soprano. [Notation provided for Ted’s page.]
BLUES & JAZZ:
* Blues with a Walking Bass – Approach Chords Variation, 1987-05-23. [Another classic “approach chord” blues by Ted with a walking bass – key of Eb. Notation included.]
CHORD STUDIES:
* Diatonic Cycle of 4ths (major key), 1983-03-30.[Excellent exercises for cycle-4 progressions with good voice-leading. Notation provided along with Ted’s grids.]
COMPING:
* Ain’t Misbehavin’ - Walking Chords, 1984-10-07.[Comping with “walking chords” (1 beat per chord). Notation combined with Ted’s grids, with comparison to the lead-sheet. This lesson was reviewed by Tim Lerch a few years ago in a YouTube video: check it out: Tim Lerch - Ted Greene’s Ain’t Misbehavin’ Walking Chords]
FUNDAMENTALS:
* Dominant 7th Type Chord Forms, 1979-01-09. [Excellent chords forms to have under your belt (or under your fingers) for comping or solo guitar playing.]
OTHER:
* Right-Hand Chords, 1976-06-30 & 1978-10-18. [This is a collection of chords which use an extra note that is fretted with the right hand. Re-drawn grids for easy reading.]
PERFORMANCES/LIVE:
We’ve added a YouTube link to the video of Ted playing, “Just a Little Lovin’” at Mark Joseph’s birthday party, 2004-12-18. And be sure to check out the new “Transcriptions” section for several write-ups this song.
SINGLE-NOTE SOLOING:
* Melodic Patterns – Specific Intervals, 1978-07-08. [Patterns built on 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th intervals. New notation for easy reading.]
TRANSCRIPTIONS:
See Newsletter message above. This is a new section for transcriptions of Ted.
THE V-SYSTEM:
* V-2, Ear-Eye-Hand Connection Exercises, V-2 Dominant 9th Chords, 1986-01-10. [Ted outlines some drills for V-2 dominant 9th chords, based on intervals in the soprano. He provides blank grids with numbers for the top voice, and your assignment is to fill in the chord forms. It’s also designed for ear-training as well. Four pages.]
* V-2, Ear-Eye-Hand Connection Exercises, V-2 Major 6th, 1986-01-10. [Drills for V-2 major 6 and minor 7th chords, based on intervals in the soprano. Ted provides blank grids with numbers for the top voice, and your assignment is to fill in the chord forms.] (already put away)
* V-2, Ear-Eye-Hand Connection Exercises, V-2 Minor 7th Chords, 1986-01-10. [Drills for V-2 minor 7th chords, based on intervals in the soprano. Ted provides blank grids with numbers for the top voice, and your assignment is to fill in the chord forms.]
* 4-Note Voicings for Am11 noR,5. [This is located in the V-System Lesson Sheets / Combined Groups section. Redrawn grids by Enrico Dell’Aquila. (Thank you, Enrico!)]
* 4-Note Voicings for Cmin-maj9 no5, 1980-11-29. [This is located in the V-System Lesson Sheets / Combined Groups section. Redrawn grids by Enrico Dell’Aquila. (Thank you, Enrico!)]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 2016 TedGreene.com Newsletter
February Greetings!
This month we wanted to share with you some excerpts from the interview with Ted from the Just Jazz Guitar Magazine May 2000 issue. Here Ted talks a bit about diversity in regards to playing/studying different styles of music:
Ted Greene: When I’ve stayed with one style for a long time I’ve ended up feeling very bad inside. But when I spread myself out to the natural areas I’ve craved ever since I was a tiny kid, I feel pretty good, sometimes even really good. So I’ve just got to keep all of my musical strands alive...or at least usually quite a few of them. Anything less and you’re lookin’ at the sad-boy… Life sure would be simpler (though not necessarily easier), going after just one thing. But at least this kind of approach to music does give you more friends to call, so to speak. If Beethoven seems to be out for the day, maybe Jimmy Smith will be home. You know, more ways to satisfy your moods.
…Without addressing the career or business aspects, both being areas where the pluses and minuses of diversification sometimes pretty well cancel each other out, and are probably not the all-time fun things to talk about anyway, let’s go instead to the satisfaction bag. And here, one can’t help but notice that many musicians do seem to find all the diversity they need within the spectrum of just one style or area. Some do best with two or three. Others, myself for instance as I’ve been saying, crave a life spent with widely different musical colors.
…Everyone has their own loves, needs, abilities, and situations. To tie this back to whether I’d recommend that students pursue various musical styles, we also know that what is so rewarding for one to study, may prove to be a drag and a half for somebody else. So I seldom say anything about diversity (in the sense that we’re discussing it at least) to a student. Oh, I may expose them to something new if it seems right, or guide them if they seem to need it or ask, but ultimately, really, the choice should be theirs. Let their own heart lead them. Let each person choose for themselves.
…“Let them have fun, the world’s a troubled place, let them love the guitar,” I say to myself. If they want to work though, really work, then boy do I have stuff waiting for them, if I do say so myself. You were asking me before, in a sense, what I was most proud of. It’s my teaching material. The ego really shows up inside of me here because I feel so proud and honored to have been allowed the time, energy, and motivation to come up with the systems and concepts I have, and to have been able to have taught these things to hundreds, maybe thousands of other people.
AA: What are the systems or concepts you are most proud of?
TG: Well these words aren’t gonna mean much here without quite a bit of explanation I’m afraid, but I’ll just say them anyway. Certainly my Systematic Inversion concept is one that students have loved over the last three decades. Also the Voicing System, The Complete Chords of Nature, still dazzles my students, and I still get a thrill from it too. And an overview of The History of Harmony for certain students who crave this; as well as an alternative view. The Harmonic Solar System, which works really well in exciting some players who can then finally make sense out of the whole deal out there. A particular favorite of any student who gives it a chance has been The Harmonic Rainbow. There are some others. Listen to me—going on like that about my own stuff. I feel like a dad with his baby pictures at a party. I admit it—these systems and concepts are my pride and joy.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Next month we’ll be posting the full article (which is part 1 of a 2-part interview), and then we’ll follow that up with part 2 in April. But we’ll start off our series of articles this month with a very short one of Ted’s comments about George Van Eps from the cover story of JJG magazine, May 1999 issue, “Remembering George Van Eps.” All this is made possible with the kind permission of Just Jazz Guitar Magazine publishers. (Thank you, Ed Benson!)
Now I’d like to draw your attention to one of Ted’s V-System pages we posted this month:
V-1 Outline - Seeing Modern Close Harmony Voicings. This page was transcribed (redrawn grids) by Enrico Dell’Aquila using a new font he just developed called “Ted-Chemist.” This is something he created to be shared freely as an open-source font. You can read more about it and download a copy along with some instructions from Enrico’s website here: Ted-Chemist Font.
So, if you’re interested in writing up some of your own arrangements using Ted’s grid method, this may be an option you might like. Or it could be just the tool to use if you’d like to help in writing up some of Ted’s unpublished papers for this site (please contact Paul via the Forums if you’re interested in helping out).
And finally, you may notice that several of the lesson pages posted this month are ones that had been posted years ago. The reason for that is that a few of the pages that were put up in the past were a bit blurry, or were difficult to read, follow, or understand. A lot of Ted’s lessons need a bit of clarification, as he would have given during a private lesson. Usually we will not assume to speak for Ted, and a lot of understanding comes as you work through the pages. However, there are some exceptions, most notably the V-System explanations given by James Hober, which provide wonderful clarity and insights into an otherwise mysterious corridor of guitar and music organization as devised by Ted. So, as an aid to studying Ted’s lessons we do, when necessary, include “translation” pages which make the lessons easier to follow and understand. In addition if it is needed or helpful, a comment or two may be added to explain things that are not obvious. Several people from the Forums have written in thanking our Team for doing this work to make their lives (and eyes!) a little easier. So, for the next several months you’ll see some of these “old lessons sheets” get a new look to them – an “upgrade.” We hope you’ll dive into them a second time, perhaps this time coming up with a few more gems to add to your musical bag of tricks.
~ Paul and the Great Guitar Guys on the TedGreene.com Team
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
New Lesson Material:
ARRANGEMENTS:
* Climb Every Mountain, 1974-09-21. [Ted’s lead sheet with harmonic analysis. New notation included.]
* Eight Days a Week, 1970’s. [This is a early arrangement of a Beatles song. In 2003 Ted reviewed it and wrote: “Early 1970’s: my incipient phase with lots of back-cycling. 2-21-03: Not bad! In my head sounding good.” Notation and new grids added for easier reading.]
ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS
* “Remembering George Van Eps” – Comments by Ted Greene on page 17 of the cover story in Just Jazz Guitar Magazine, May 1999 issue. [Made available with the kind permission of Just Jazz Guitar Magazine.]
AUDIO:
* “An Afternoon with Ted” [Ted’s playing during a lesson for Phil DeGruy on September 15, 1981. This month we’re releasing the final 6 tracks of the 16-track collection: 11) The Girl with the Flaxen Hair, 12) Greensleeves (fragment), 13) (Back Home Again in) Indiana, 14) Someday My Prince Will Come (Baroque variations), 15) Oh! Susanna (fragment), and 16) Love with the Proper Stranger. Originally from a tape cassette, we’re offing mp3 files at 320 kbps.]
BAROQUE:
* Baroque Counterpoint: Top 2 Strings (mainly), 1989-01-09 & 1989-03-25. [Ted explains how two notes can imply chords, using simple I, IV, and V chords with some moving lines. Blurry copies of these pages were previously posted as “Baroque Counterpoint_1” and “Baroque Counterpoint_2.” We’ve now provided clear scans and combined them with translation pages for easy reading.]
* Baroque Counterpoint and the Guitar Fingerboard, 1988-12-26. [In this lesson Ted takes one simple counterpoint phrase and shows how it can be played all over the fingerboard. A blurry copy of this page had been previously posted as “Baroque Counterpoint_3”, but now we’ve replaced it with a clean scan and added the notation.]
* Baroque Counterpoint: Cycle of 4ths Chord Progression - 2 Bass Notes per Chord, 1989-07-08. [This lesson focuses on cycle of 4ths diatonic progressions using counterpoint to imply the changes. A blurry copy of this page was previously posted as “Baroque Counterpoint_4”, but now we’ve swapped it a clean scan and added the notation. Chord names have not been added – that’s Ted’s homework assignment for you. As the title states, there should be two bass notes per chord, so think of these examples as having a chord on the “one” and “three” beats. Apparently Ted wrote a page 2 of this, but we don’t have a copy of it…at least we haven’t found it yet!]
CHORD STUDIES:
* 8 Note Dominant Scale Chords – Learning to Use, 1991-04-17. [Ted gives practical application of the 8-Note Dominant scale (also known as an altered dominant scale – or the half-step, whole-step scale) with V-I progressions. Previously posted, we now provide a cleaner scan copy combined with notation.]
* Minor 7th Type Chord Forms, 1979-01-09. [Ted shows minor 7th chords in the seven basic areas of the guitar. He also adds some m11 and m9 forms.]
* Mixing Minor and Major Triads in Minor Key Chord Progressions, 1989-09-06. [Chord stream-type moves mixing major and relative minor and secondary relative minor chords.]
COMPING:
* Autumn Leaves (key of Fm), 1984-03-27. [Another great V-2 comping page from Ted that is pretty easy to play. Notation provided.]
HARMONY & THEORY:
* 20th Century Modulation, 1975-04-29. [From Ted’s Personal Music Studies papers, this page outlines various ways of modulating to new keys. Translation page provided for easy reading.]
* Complete Formulas for Discovering All Voicings of All Chords, 1993-08-20. [Another page from Ted’s Personal Music Studies papers, this gives an insight to how Ted approached figuring out musical possibilities. He was very mathematical with his calculations and developed many new methods for discovering every variation on whatever subject he was working on. There are many, many similar pages in his files that we’ll be releasing in the future. Translation pages provided for easy reading.]
OTHER:
* Ear-Training and Analysis List of Intervals of Songs, 1985-08-23. [This is a list of songs that Ted compiled which can be used for learning to sing/hear intervals based on the initial melody of a song. This is a common practice in music study…though Ted took the song list to an extreme! Typed out pages for easy reading.]
PERFORMANCES/LIVE:
* We’ve added Ted’s set list for his performance at the Wilshire Presbyterian Church: 1973-08-21 Wilshire Presbyterian Church – Fall Guitar Series (1 hour solo program)
* We’ve added a summary of Ted’s 1999, January 29th Seminar at Papashon Restaurant, in Encino, CA. 1999-01-29 Seminar at Papashon Restaurant, Encino, CA
* We’ve added Ted’s comments about his performance at the 1999 NAMM show:
1999-01-30 NAMM Show – Plays for Fender/Guild/DeArmond (Saturday afternoon)
* We’ve added Barbara and Ted’s comments about his performance at the 1999 George Van Eps Tribute: 1999-01-30 George Van Eps Tribute – Papashon Restaurant, Encino, CA (Saturday evening)
PERFORMANCES/VIDEO:
We’ve added links to the videos of Ted’s lesson with Adam Stark, discussing Lenny Breau. 1997 Adam Stark Video Lessons – Ted teaches Lenny Breau style, etc.”
SINGLE-NOTE SOLOING:
* 8 Note Dominant Scale – Learning in ii7-V7-I Runs, 1985-05-27. [Ted gives practical application of the 8-Note Dominant scale (also known as an altered dominant scale – or half-step, whole-step scale, as covered in Ted’s Single Note Soloing Vol. II book.) using ii-V-I progressions. This lesson was previously posted, but we’re now offering a better quality scan with notation for easy reading and absorption.]
* 8 Note Dominant Scale – Ascending Melodic Fragments as Learning Tools, 1985-05-28. [Ted breaks down this altered dominant scale into ascending scale exercises in fragments of 4 notes, and then connects these small pieces in a variety of ways. Also previously posted, we’re now offering a better quality scan with notation for easy reading and absorption.]
* 8 Note Dominant Scale – Descending Melodic Fragments as Learning Tools, 1985-05-29. Ted breaks down this altered dominant scale into descending scale exercises in fragments of 4 notes, and then connects these small pieces in a variety of ways. Also previously posted, we’re now offering a better quality scan with notation for easy reading and absorption.]
THE V-SYSTEM:
* 4-Note A13b9 noR,5 – All Voicing Groups, 1984-01-27. [From Ted’s Private Music Studies files, this comes from Ted’s work on “gridding” all of the V-System voice groups (V-1, V-2, etc., for an A13b9 noR,5 chord, which is #10 on his list of the 4-note 43 chord types (Even though Ted listed it here as #16, probably due to calculating from a different worksheet. It utilizes the notes F#, G, A#, and C#. (See The 43 Four-Note Qualities page written by James Hober.) Ted also titled this page as being derived from the 8-note dominate scale, or the altered dominant, aka the half-step/whole-step scale. Yet the page is all about the voicing groups, and not about the scale. You can see how thorough Ted is with his documenting every possible voicing for this specific chord. We’ve included a “comments” pages with additional explanations by James. (Thanks James!) Re-drawn grids for easier reading. This lesson is being placed in the “Combined Sets” section. ]
* V-2, Ear-Eye-Hand Connection Exercises, V-2 Dominant 7th Chords, 1986-01-10. [Ted outlines some drills for V-2 dominant chords, based on intervals in the soprano. He provides blank grids with numbers for the top voice, and your assignment is to fill in the chord forms. It’s also designed for ear-training as well.
* V-1 Outline - Seeing Modern Close Harmony Voicings, 1980-01-15. [Another page from Ted’s Private Music Studies, here he shows various major-type V-1 chords in relation to basic major triads in the same physical area on the fretboard. Good for substitutes reference. Redrawn grids by Enrico Dell’Aquila. (Thank you, Enrico!)]
* V-2 Dominants – Constant 3 and b7, Top 4 Strings, 1985-06-22. [Exercises in V7-I progressions using a variety of V-2 dominants with 3 and b7 as lowest notes.]
* V-2 Dominants Constant b7 and 3, 1985-05-21, 22 &24. [Exercises in V7-I progressions using a variety of V-2 dominants with b7 and 3 as lowest notes.]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
January 2016 TedGreene.com Newsletter
New Year’s Greetings!
Every New Year’s Eve and January is usually a time for personal introspection – reviewing the events, thoughts, and actions of the past year –trying to gain greater clarity of who we are, where we are, and where we’re going.
I also include this website in that process and take a look at what we’ve accomplished as far as sharing Ted’s teachings and music to you all, plus a look ahead.
Here are some highlights from 2015:
Contributions by:
- Will Ray – shared some memories of Ted and an mp3 of “Holy Smokes” of he and Ted playing together
- Rowanne Mark – shared her experiences of rehearsing and singing with Ted
- Andy Brown – wrote of his memories of Kenny Poole, Ted, and let us hear two tracks from his latest CD “Soloist”
- Tim Lerch – created a YouTube video lesson reviewing in detail Ted’s arrangement of “Sweet Lorraine”
- Dan Sawyer – wrote an article “Ted Remembrance” commemorating the 10-year anniversary of Ted’s passing
- Phil DeGruy and George Winston – donated to this site a wonderful new collection of recordings of Ted playing solo from a private lesson tape
- Mark Levy – we posted the final installment of his fantastic recorded lessons with Ted, and Mark shared some comments.
- James Hober – gave us an update on the dissemination of Ted’s “V-System”
- Barbara Franklin – we excerpted several quotes from her book about Ted
- Leon White – shared some reminiscences of Ted
- Plus an assortment of excerpts from the Ted Greene Memorial Blog
For the New Lessons by Ted here’s a running total of what was posted in 2015:
- Arrangements: 10
- Bach arrangements: 10
- Other classical arrangements: 3
- Blues lessons: 8
- Baroque lessons: 4
- Chord Studies: 21 (many of which are multiple pages)
- Jazz lessons: 2
- Comping: 12
- Fundamentals: 8 files (many of which are multiple pages)
- Harmony & Theory lessons: 23 files (many of which are multiple pages)
- Harp-Harmonics: 13
- Ted’s Song Lists: 7 groups
- Ear-Training lessons: 6
- Single-note Soloing studies: 8
- The V-System lesson sheets: 33 files (most contain multiple pages)
- From Students: 9
- Misc. lessons or items from Ted: 8
All this has kept us quite busy preparing them for the site, and no doubt they have given you plenty to chew on for a long time to come. It’s hard to predict what new items will go up in 2016, but I’m sure the sampling will be similar with perhaps a few surprises. One thing coming up is copies of some interviews, reviews, and a lesson that were previously published in various guitar magazines.
Recently I was reviewing the content in some of the Lessons sections and thought that if someone were to analyze all the material he might easily conclude that many “basic fundamental” lesson material is missing from Ted’s “teaching program.” This is true. The simple reason for that is because much of the “basic stuff” is thoroughly covered in Ted’s published books: Chord Chemistry, Modern Chord Progressions, and Single-Note Soloing Vol. 1 and 2. The lessons on the TedGreene.com might be thought of as an extension of those books – exploring new roads and providing musical examples of many things covered in them. So it is highly recommended to obtain copies of these books if you don’t already have them. One member in the Forums wrote and told me that every month he downloads and prints out every new arrangement, every comping page, every V-System lesson – in short, every lesson – and then adds them to his collection. He has amassed several 3-ring binder “Ted books” to last a lifetime of music study.
Overall, I’d like to think that this site has something for every guitar student at whatever level, and that it opens doors to new avenues of playing and thinking. It’s also inspiring to see that many of those who have registered in the Forums this past year are quite young players – in their early twenties or teens! Wow, I wish I had a jump on this kind of material at that age.
February 2016 will mark 10 years in existence of the TedGreene.com, started by Barbara Franklin and Leon White. It looks like the official “Welcome” date was February 19, 2006: forums.tedgreene.com/post/welcome but it took a few more months before the regular Newsletters began, and then the lessons began to slowly roll out. Now it’s like an avalanche! Personally I’m very pleased with the current state of the site and the great individuals who have helped develop, support, and grow it… and we hope to continue to upgrade and improve it as the years go on.
Wishing you all a wonderful New Year of musical exploration, discovery, and satisfaction.
~ Paul and the TedGreene.com Team
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
New Lesson Material:
ARRANGEMENTS:
* California, Here I Come, 1991-03-04. [Ted’s arrangement written up for a specific student. Notation pages with Ted’s grids provided.]
* Someone to Watch Over Me (Fragment), 1997-07-14. [This is from a private lesson wherein Ted gave a voicing for measures 2-5. Notation included with Ted’s grids. Ted’s original page also includes a study for E7 inversions as they relate to E7b9 and Eo7 Chords.]
* Someone to Watch Over Me (Outline), 1974-09-11. [Ted’s guide for this song in the key of Gb, with embellished chord changes. Ted marked this page as an “arrangement,” so it is more than just a lead sheet. New notation added for easy reading.]
AUDIO:
* “An Afternoon with Ted” [Ted’s playing during a lesson for Phil deGruy on September 15, 1981. This month we’re releasing the tracks 6-10: 6) Funeral March of a Marionette (Alfred Hitchcock Theme); 7) Both Sides Now; 8) Lover Man; 9) El Cid Theme; 10) Where is Love?
(the final 6 tracks will come in February). Originally from a tape cassette, we’re offing mp3 files at 320 kbps.]
BLUES & JAZZ:
* Walking Bass Blues without IV in Bar 2, 1987-05-06. [Ted’s easy-level accompaniment for a blues in Bb. New notation with chord names added to Ted’s grids for easy reading.]
CHORD STUDIES:
* Diatonic Major Key Contrary Motion Studies – Inspired by George Van Eps, 1981-01-06. [Ted’s studies of inner pedals at various places. New notation, chord names, and grids added.]
* Triad Conversion – Close to Open, 1990-08-18. [Ted’s assignment sheet for the student to fill in the close and open triad positions/forms. Filled-in page included, but ignore this and do the homework yourself!]
* Tonality Types – Open Triad 1st and 2nd Inversions, 1990. [Continuing from last month’s lesson, Ted now leads us through open triad chord scales for: Major, Mixolydian, Dorian, Aeolian, Phrygian, Spanish Gypsy, Lydian, and Pentatonic. Three original pages, plus three pages of translation with filled-in grids (skip these pages if you want figure it out on your own).]
COMPING:
* Someone to Watch Over Me, 2003-09-29. [Ted’s comping chord moves for this classic jazz song in the key of C. Notation with lead sheet reference added for easy reading. Intermediate level.]
FUNDAMENTALS:
* Major Type Chord Forms, 1979-01-05. [Seven basic forms for major 7, major 9, add 9, 6/9 and 6 chords. These chords give an overview of the fingerboard and creates a foundation for building more chord forms upon.]
HARMONY & THEORY:
* Modulations and Temporary Modulations, 1973-09-17. [Using 7 chord grid examples, Ted demonstrates various modulations in chord progressions. Newly drawn grids provided for easy reference.]
OTHER:
* Ted Greene Song Lists, Group 8. [The eighth installment of song lists from Ted’s Personal Music Studies papers. This group is 18 typed pages.]
PERFORMANCES/VIDEO:
We’ve added links to the YouTube video and Ted’s handout sheets for the
1980 VHS video: “A Session with the Stars: Reflections of Ted Greene.”
Click here for the Video on YouTube. Click here for Ted’s Handout Sheets.
SINGLE-NOTE SOLOING:
* Imitation and Melodic Patterns, 1978-02-09. [New notation and translation provided.]
THE V-SYSTEM:
* V-2 Focusing on Regular Dominants, Middle Strings, 1986-02-20.
* V-2 Focusing on Regular Dominants Top 4 Strings 1st Inversion, 1986-02-18.
* V-2 Regular Dominant Extensions in Little Bluesy Phrases, 1988. [Three pages]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
- back to top -
|
