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Spring 2023 • TedGreene.com Newsletter
Spring Greetings to all!
Let’s start off this newsletter with a transcript of an excerpt of guitar great Joe Diorio speaking about his good friend, Ted Greene:
Joe Diorio Remembers Ted Greene
From the video “What Every Musician Ought to Know, Part 2”
This video was recorded at the Joe Diorio Fund Raiser/Jazz Guitar Workshop, hosted by John Pisano, at California Vintage Guitar & Amp in Sherman Oaks, California, on January 15, 2006 (about 6 months after Ted Greene’s passing). Joe had a stroke in 2005 that impacted the full function of his left hand, and thus, his playing. In less than a year, Joe’s ‘extended family’ came together to help him out. Joe’s words will impact all aspiring jazz guitarists worldwide on how they approach their music, the time spent developing it, and their attitudes towards others. There is no music, just Joe answering questions, sharing his thoughts, his ideas, and his stories of the incredible life he lived as a jazz guitarist. As Joe said, “Being at the right place, at the right time” and meeting people like Wes Montgomery, Tal Farlow, Joe Pass, and my teacher, Ted Greene. He underscores the humility and kindness of the greats!
Thanks to Nick Stasinos for providing this video and the above comments.
This short excerpt starts at 24:28 and runs until the end, 28:49.
John Pisano: Oh, I’d love to mention one thing. Ted Greene --- ah, Ted Greene’s…. Is Barbara still here?
Joe Diorio: Yeah, Barbara’s here, yes.
John Pisano: Anyway. Barbara, Ted’s lady. She was nice enough — this week I got a call from Dan* — and Ted loved everybody, including Joe. And this guitar, right there (points to a guitar in the room**), Barbara is going to put it up for silent auction, and all the proceeds go to Diorio. We didn’t---we said, “Oh, man, no, no, not….” Anyway, I said, “Look, ah, this---this…. Because it was Ted’s---ah, he would have demanded it. Barb, do you have anything to say about that? Please.
Barbara Franklin: Ah, it was just something that he always did. I mean, you see a need, if you can fill it, you fill it.
Joe Diorio: May I say something first? I got a moment and I don’t want to lose this moment. Barbara, I can’t thank you enough. It’s so…. I mean…. I’m usually not at a loss for words, because I can bullshit my way through everything, but this is something that is very touching to me and both my wife as well.

And let me tell you something, just so---. You know, I was---I consider myself a very good friend of Ted Greene’s, by the way. And at one time Ted and I were both writing for Zdenek Publications, so we were privy to go out to Christmas parties and book things, you know. And first of all, there was no one who could play guitar like Ted Greene ever in life, and ever will. I was privileged — I told you a many times tonight: I was at the right place at the right time. We are in Zdenek office, maybe an hour or so before a Christmas party starts, and Ted has his guitar, and he’s going tune after tune of Christmas carols with all these incredible voicings: sometimes the Renaissance voicings, the Bach voicings, the jazz voicings. And I’m looking, I’m saying, “I’m in the same room with this guy? [Joe makes a face of astonishment.] Man, I mean, Jesus! Talk about lessons between Joe Pass, between Wes, between Ted Greene – I mean I got to be the luckiest guy walking the planet earth! But I loved him, and he was very complimentary to me, and I could not be more complimentary in his playing.
And I’ll just give you one quick story. There was a club; The Smokehouse is located – I don’t know, exactly where down the road the studios are. Barham [Blvd., Burbank, CA.]. Yeah, okay. Anyway, he was doing a Sunday afternoon thing, so I went to hear him play. And of course, he’s thrilling everybody. He’s got everybody with their mouth’s down. But for me, the highlight that I ever heard anybody do in my life, was: he was playing a tune called, “With a Song in My Heart.” And after he got done playing the melody and with his great chords, he went into a Bach, you know, Johann Sebastian Bach improvisation that was his. And I said, “What I was hearing — I thought I was hearing Bach on guitar, but improvised!” And I asked him about it later, and he told me it was improvised. And he was very nice to tell me a few pointers on how he got there, which I’ve been working on all my life.
But I heard---. When he did this, Barry Coates and I were sitting at the bar with our drinks like this, you know. And after it was all said and done, we just looked…. [Joe makes a face of jaw-dropping amazement]. We didn’t know whether to drink, drop the glass, drop on the floor — because he had just heard history. We had just witnessed something so special. So Barbara, I love you, honey. We all love you, and we miss Ted. We all do; we all love him.
Let’s take a break.
* Dan Duehren, co-founder and resident bluesman of famed California Vintage Guitar and Amp in Sherman Oaks, California.
** The guitar auctioned off was a sunburst 1958 Guild X350 which Ted had named, “Chubby.”
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For the New Items this quarter, we’ve focused on some of Ted’s Personal Music Studies pages dealing with Baroque, 5-note chord voicings, and some general chord studies. We’re also catching up with including some older articles about Ted that were posted or published several years ago, hoping that you’ll enjoy reading more about Ted and how he impacted the worldwide guitar community.
One of our followers reported a typo in our write-up of Ted’s lesson on “Cadences.” You can find the new version in our Harmony & Theory section,
and it’s listed as “Cadences (1973)”
Also, we’ve updated the set list for Ted and Cathy Segal-Garcia’s album “Live at Rocco’s,” found in our “Performances” section.
It’s listed as “2000 June 13, Rocco’s, Los Angeles, CA.” Cormac Walsh from the UK reported to us that our set list was missing the song, “Up on the Roof and Under the Boardwalk.” This baffled me, so I pulled out my copy of Cathy's "Never Forgotten" DVD to check it out, and discovered that her set list of their Rocco's 2000 performance is indeed missing that tune in the liner notes. This song appears on the DVD between “That's the Glory of Love” and “Hey Jude.” I guess you could call it track 9.5. On the DVD it runs from 51:16 to 59:30. You can also find it on YouTube.
We’d like to extend a special thanks to Jimmy Cruz, Justin Scott Lucas, and Greg O’Rourke for sharing their articles about Ted. We greatly appreciate the consistent help from Mike de Luca for his expert proofreading of all the new Ted lessons write-ups, and to James Hober for proofreading and his V-System insights. Also, thanks to Nick Stasinos for the Joe Diorio video. To Cormac Walsh and Adam Levy for reporting errors/typos in previously posted material. Not to forget Leon White, as our commander-in-chief, and Jeffrey D Brown.
As a final word for this newsletter message, I’d like to invite anyone who might interested in joining our “TG Team” in helping us with the writing up of Ted’s lesson pages, to please contact us either through the Forums or our Contact page. We are volunteer driven. Donations that come in are used for the technical upkeep of the site. So, if you are willing to pitch in, it would be as a volunteer like the rest of us here – a labor of love. The “job” would require a very modest amount of graphics skills in order to notate and add Ted-style chord diagrams, and of course a fair degree of musical understanding and of the guitar. We’d be happy to work with you so you can help us serve Ted’s worldwide family.
~ Your Friends on the TedGreene.com Team
NEW ITEMS
ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS:
* Four Great Chord Melody Jazz Guitarists - Part 2: Ted Greene - by Greg O’Rourke. [This article, published on FretDojo.com on Jan 17, 2017, is a brief overview of Ted as a player with examples from YouTube. Thanks to Greg and the team at FretDojo for allowing us to post this piece.]
* Riffs of Wisdom - Ted Greene Chord Chemistry - by Justin Scott Lucas. [A brief review of Ted’s classic book, Chord Chemistry, published on Riffs of Wisdom, WorldPress.com, on January 26, 2012. Thanks to Justin Scott Lucas.]
* Ted Greene - Guitarist Extraordinaire and Beloved Instructor - by Jimmy Cruz 2016 Guitar One Magazine. [Another very short biography and teaching career of Ted, posted on jimcruzguitarlessons.com on March 8, 2016 and in Guitar One magazine. Thanks to Jimmy for permission to include this article in our collection.]
BAROQUE:
* 20th Century Diatonic Contrary Patterns, 1979-02-18. [Thirteen examples for contrary motion patterns. We created new notation for Ted’s, and added chord diagrams and added suggested chord names where relevant. The diagrams are merely our suggestions; however, you might find alternate ways to play each one. As Ted would say: experiment and find what works for you.]
* 4-to-1 and 3-to-1 Bass Dropping by 2nd, 1979-07-28. [Many examples Ted gave for getting you prepared for Baroque improvisation. Each example is just a starter which is to be elaborated upon by playing it in sequences in descending 2nds, or in ascending 3rds. New notation provided for easy reading. We have not added any grid diagrams here, since the fingerings and fingerboard locations allow for multiple possibilities. You’ll need to work out those details.]
* Application of 1-to-1 Counterpoint Studies, 1983-04-09. [Another counterpoint study from Ted’s PMS files. We added new notation and married it up with Ted-style grid diagrams. However, please note that out chord diagrams are just suggestions. You may find others that you prefer. Interesting to see how a half page of Ted’s notes turns into 6 full pages of new notation with grids! We hope that you find them clear and easy to study.]
* Classical-Romantic Progressions, 1974-08-03, 1980-11-15. [Ted examples given. At the top of the page Ted wrote: “Also good for Gospel, Blues, Pop, some Jazz. Derived from 1) bass lines, 2) “numbers” and 3) melodies.” We created new notation and provided suggested chord forms and chord names for each example. Mixed in with all the examples, Ted wrote out what he described then as “12 (+2) real useable densities” for chord voicings. This may be one of his very early thoughts that later became his “V-System.” James Hober provided us with the V number for each of the chords (listed in blue font below the chords)]
CHORD STUDIES:
* A Minor Stuff, undated. [A mixture of 35 different root-position A minor-type chords, all centered around the root on the 6th string, 5th fret. It’s up to you to define the chord names, but they’re all minor types.]
* Choice 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-Note Major Types Chord Organization, 1976-12-06. [This is a worksheet that Ted wrote for including in a book he was intending to write, titled, “Chord Cyclopedia.” This was “A 1976 attempt” at some organization, which in retrospect may be unnecessary, considering the organization Ted did with his “V-System” and his “5-Note Chord Voicings” organization. This page focuses on C major types (group 1), and E major types (group 2). We’ve included a short “translation” page to help decipher some of Ted’s handwritten parts.]
* Contrary Motion into Beautiful Chords, 1979-02-19, 1980-11-16. [This page comes from just one line of notation Ted jotted down for his own personal studies. It seems that he was having difficulty deciding on the title – later adding “mainly chromatic” and “chord lines” and “or neighbor tone embellishment.” The material at the bottom of Ted’s original page doesn’t really go with the rest of the examples, but we included it nevertheless. New notation and suggested chord forms included for easy study. Enjoy!]
* ii7 - ii7 - V7 Progressions (untitled), 1985-05-14. [This is a collection of various ii7 - ii7, or ii7 - ii7 - V7 progressions. The possible uses are endless. We provided an extra “answers” page with the chord names included.]
* ii7 - V7 (with Various Colors) - I, 2004-04-00. [Here we have 9 examples of ii-V-I progressions in 8 different keys. We provided an extra “answers” page with the chord names included.]
* Major 1st Inversion Possibilities - Root on 4th or 2nd Strings, (undated). [Major chords. All 1st inversions. Root on 4th and 2nd strings. 3rd on 6th and 1st strings. Familiar with some of these forms. Some new. Some challenging. Find something you like. Use it.]
* Major Starting Chords for Jazz Turnarounds - Organized by the Soprano, 1985-11-24. [This is a collection of C major type chords with the 5th (G) on top (soprano). The first group has the top note on the 2nd string; the second group has the top note on the 3rd string; the third group with the top note on the 1st string. Though Ted titled this page “for jazz turnarounds,” there are no turnarounds given here - it’s just an organized listing of C chords. Homework assignment: name the chords: C/9, Csus4, Cmaj7, C6/9, etc.]
* Neighbor Tone Embellishment of Common Impressionistic Era Chords, 1973-07-07, 1978-12-15, 1981-01-29. [This lesson might be thought to be tied in with Ted’s lesson on “Chromatic Tones and Lower Neighbor Tones” (see “Harmony & Theory” section). However, this page focuses on Impressionistic era chords, rather than just the general uses of Neighbor tones. Ted would certainly have stressed the importance of making sure that all the notes ring or sustain through in each example. The sustain ties and fingerings are important. If you ignore this aspect of the lesson, you’re missing out on the beauty that Ted is trying to convey. The chord diagrams and fingerings are suggestions, but we took great care to try to find the “best” possible ways to play each example, hoping that this will save you the time and trouble of deciphering the notations. Enjoy!]
Under the “Chord Streams” header:
* Melodic Use of Small Major Type Chords (6ths), 1977-06-09. [This is a collection of 12 different chord streams with moving top line, given in 3 keys: E, Ab, and C. All of these use 6th chords on the top 4 strings. Chord names are not listed because they may be interpreted in a variety of ways according to usage.]
Under the Header of “5-Note Chord Voicings”
* 5-Note Amaj9 - Systematic Inversion Rows Angle, 1984-06-29. [Ted wrote out the voicings of 158 different chord forms for Amaj9. This page is organized by the size of the outer interval. There are many, many long stretches for your hands, and you often need to use your right hand to catch bass notes that are out-of-reach. Proceed at your own caution. We made new chord grid diagrams to save your eyes from squinting at Ted’s original page. (You’re welcome!)]
* 5-Note C6/9 Voicings Derived from Cmaj9, 1979-12-03, 1980-02-17. [How many C6/9 or C6/9#11 5-note chord forms do you know? Well, Ted shows us 104 different ones to stretch our hands and fingers on. These may also be interpreted as Am7/11, D11, and Fmaj13, or Am6/11, D9, and F#m7b5+ if you want to expand you mind a bit while working thru these monsters. Again, we have made new grid diagrams for easy of reading and study. Good luck!]
* 5-Note Choice Diminished Scale Derived Voicings, 1986. [This file contains all 21 original work pages from Ted, plus 7 “translation” pages that we have provided, for those who have difficulty reading and deciphering Ted’s handwritten notes scattered throughout the series. Ted used a color code, though he doesn’t explain it here. We’ve added a color chart that was taken from one of Ted’s other related worksheets, assuming he used the same coding system in both series.]
HARMONY & THEORY:
* Chromatic Tones and Lower Neighbor Tones, 1978-07-07. [Ted explains these two concepts and illustrates them using the C dominant 7th scale. At the end of this lesson Ted wrote, “Both of these concepts will be illustrated in the musical examples that follow.” However, we don’t have those exact examples that were tied to this lesson, but other related examples on Neighbor Tones exist and will be posted in the next Newsletter for Summer 2023.]
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Winter 2023 • TedGreene.com Newsletter
Warm January greetings to all lovers of harmony, guitar, and Ted. Before we get to the new lesson items from Ted’s Personal Music Studies files, we wanted to share with you William Perry’s interesting Introduction in Barbara Franklin’s book, My Life With the Chord Chemist. If you haven’t read it yet, perhaps this article will whet your appetite a bit. William wrote: “Barbara and I had many ‘discussions’ nightly in the year proceeding the publishing of her book. We disagreed on most of the major things, and she was not happy with my Introduction. I didn’t even know if she left it in. She did, however, write me a touching, heartfelt thank you in the copy that she gave to me.”
Barb obviously saw Ted in a slightly different light that William, but you’ll have to read her book fully to understand this. However, she did subtitle it, A Memoir of Ted Greene: Apotheosis of Solo Guitar. Not a commonly used word, Apotheosis is defined as:
- The perfect form or example of something: Quintessence;
- The highest or best part of something: Peak;
- Elevation to divine status: Deification.
The word apotheōsis, from the verb apotheoun, meaning “to deify.” (The prefix apo- can mean “off,” “from,” or “away,” and theos is the Greek word for “god.”) Merriam-Webster’s extended use of apotheosis as “elevation to divine status” is the equivalent of “placement on a very high pedestal.” So, perhaps Barb was alluding to the third definition, and agreed with William on a certain level. She defined his piece as, “A Sort-of Introduction.”
Ted Greene:
Genius and a Saint
For a couple of decades this idea had been forming in my mind: Could it be that my dearest friend might be, not only a genius but a saint, as well? Oh sure, I believed that he was a “musical genius” from the beginning. If anyone can have that title, then certainly it applied to Ted. “Gosh, just look at his fingers, and hear all those sounds. Wow, I’m confused, overwhelmed, could never do that. He’s got to be a genius.”
So one day in my forties – being socially inept and immature for my age – I bring it up to Ted! Oh my God! Have you ever had the wrath of a genius and a saint come down on you? Not pretty; you wouldn’t forget it, and not very saintly. End of discussion. But somehow the idea does not fade from my mind. In fact, the evidence is mounting (as I become more enlightened), that I am right.
A few years later, “So, Ted, can I tell you why I think you are, and where I’m coming from?” “No.” But, at least our friendship and my life were not in jeopardy. More years pass and I’m convinced that it is true. So, a third time I tell Ted of my convictions (why did I feel the need to tell him? I had plenty of affirmation from others). This time he acts in the true spirit of sainthood. Ted just looks at me, and that look says to me: “Ah so, Grasshopper. It is written that some are destined to embrace delusion: It is good if it gives one pleasure and harms no one.” Yes! Finally, I take that as a win.
Saint: I know that religion is not popular today, and the Catholic Church…forget it. But in the Catholic Church, saints are ordinary men (and a few chicks too) who through their kind, loving, benevolent work are nominated for sainthood, and voted on. What could be more fair? Jesus was voted on as God, and won. Not a bad choice considering some of the other candidates. So, I nominate Ted. Honestly, was there a kinder more loving man?
After 20 years of not playing guitar, I call my friend and declare that I want to be a jazz guitarist. Ted could not be more excited and happier for me. He immediately gets out his book and I am there. Ted, “You can never pay me though.” “But, Ted!” I protest and come up with numerous ways to compensate him. Ted: “We are friends. What would you charge me to see you?” As always, Ted has the last word; free lessons for life without any possibility or way of repaying him is our deal.
The first lesson I am trying to play some of the chords in an arrangement of Ted’s. He yells at me, “The G, the G, stop hitting that!” Now, try not playing for 20 plus years and not hit the G. It is always right under the D and those strings are so close and so hard to hit one at a time. So instead of just D we get D/G. I’m sure Ted thought that I was kidding. How could anyone play so poorly? What was he getting into?
Just messing with Ted – which I was addicted to – I respond, “Why can’t you be nice, kind, and patient with me like you were with the student before?” What a mistake! For the next year and a half Ted always asked how I was feeling, was he treating me with patience, was I okay, was he kind enough? I told him then, and on numerous occasions that I was just kidding, but he suffered. Saints take these things very seriously. He could never live with the thought of injuring another sentient being, or vegetation for that matter.

Genius: I know part of the reason that Ted and other true geniuses get upset when called one. It seems to discount the amount of hard work and sacrifice that one has to go through to get to such unbelievable levels of greatness. And, Ted certainly has written and spoken about the tens of thousands of hours he spent behind his precious “wood.”
Arriving at Ted’s one day I immediately say to him, “How many years have we been friends?” “Decades” he responds. “So, in all these years I see you sitting cross-legged on the floor playing the guitar. You hardly do anything else, right?” “True” he responds. “Well, shouldn’t you be better?” Ted breaks out into his spontaneous great laughter, and after a moment there is a pause. And I see that for a millisecond he is considering if, in fact, this can be true. “Naw!” And then greater, deeper laughter. What a glorious moment. A truth: No one has ever spent more time behind, and bent over a fingerboard. Ted knew that he could not do it any better, and I knew that no one could. A genius and a saint.
I want to add just a touch or an aspect of Ted’s personality and his loves. Ted used to make intersections where giants would meet. So, I believe that Ted’s musical soul was at the intersection of Bach, Gershwin, and Charles Avenue. Ted’s playing was the intersection of Bach, Gershwin, Charles Avenue, and George Van Eps.
Ted was an intellectual and the consummate wordsmith. He was the illegitimate child of George Carlin, and Dennis Miller, with the knowledge of details of a Tom Robbins, plus the humor of Jim Carrey, Robin Williams, and Jonathan Winters.
I loved these characteristics and traits of Ted. One day after a student had left filled with awe and inspiration, I said to Ted, “I’m sick of the love, respect and admiration that your students have for you. I am much more intelligent than you, kinder, and spiritually I’ve passed you.” Ted, “I know you surpassed me years ago. I tell everyone that. I don’t get that they just don’t listen.” And, then 20 minutes of Carrey, Carlin, Miller, Winters…ah, heaven. God, to laugh like that again, to have one more minute with this beautiful soul.
Ted was my brother, but he was also my father. He believed in me and encouraged me all my life. And, I love him as I love my son. I was proud of him and blessed that he shared his life and accomplishments with me.
I’ve never loved a man more. I try every day to model my life after Ted. All the good that I do is inspired by him. I wish for all of you, that you get to be in the presence of such kindness and love; it is life changing.
That’s what I think…ah, oh…this book. Could this book cover all that Ted was? No. It would be too much to ask. Many humans haven’t even figured out that animals have feelings. How could we expect anyone to describe the evolution of genius or saint, or even to understand it? Ted was enormously complex.
There is another book that can be written about Ted. It would be written by you. Just as someone could reconstruct almost every moment of Richard Feynman’s life, or Albert Einstein, or John Lennon – one could account for almost every moment of Ted’s. Is there anyone who ever met Ted that doesn’t remember everything about that meeting? I’ve never known anyone who met Ted that didn’t have a “Ted story.” We never forget.
This book, however, is about what Ted did when you weren’t around. A love story. At first I thought the title should be Ted Attempts to Clean His Apartment. It seemed important to them. To me Wow! A young man’s dream, all those cool books, magazines, papers, VCR’s, guitars, amps, cassettes, vinyl, CD’s. Barbara also tells us of their adventures to Guitar Stores, friends’ homes, family, and seminars. If you didn’t already know, you are let in on Ted’s intimate feelings about film composers, cars, cats, the Lakers, and the Angels. (I wish I could have shown him my signed photo of Robert Horry’s shot that beat the Kings.)
Barbara gives us an exclusive behind-the-scenes view of Ted completely exposed, i.e., without guitar in hand. What was that like!? We get to know some of his values and lifestyle. We gain a better understanding of Ted. Armed with these insights, one can even extrapolate as to how Ted would face “current” issues. We can speak unequivocally and with confidence as to why, for example, Ted would never trade his clunker for cash.
Along, and underscoring, this beautiful and joyous journey, Barbara allows us to see her relationship with Ted unfold. Her deep love for Ted is revealed. As it captures my heart, I feel uncomfortable, like a voyeur. Her love for Ted is so personal, so intimate, so deep. Now, I am fearful for Barbara, as it feels so personal, so revealing. “Are you sure you want to publish this?”
It is her story. A story that she feels passionate about, and needs to tell. So here Ted’s history is revealed in the intimate, subtle, and the sublime. A relationship journey told before the guitar story, before the chronology of his achievements, before his character study, and accomplishments. A journey of the heart.
~ William Perry
September 2009, Oxnard, California
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Special thanks to those who helped with this newsletter:
- François Leduc for two more of his excellent transcriptions.
- Mike de Luca and James Hober for proofreading.
- William Perry for allowing us to republish his words from Barb’s book.
- And as always, Jeffrey D Brown for putting it all together, posting everything, and notifications on social media.
One last note: I found a small typo in the notation of Ted’s arrangement of “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” that was posted years ago. The new corrected version can now be found in our Arrangements section.
Enjoy the new items, and all of us here wish you a warm holiday season.
~ Paul and Your Friends on the TedGreene.com Team
NEW ITEMS
BAROQUE:
* Baroque Harmonizing of Repeated Descending 4ths, 1982-05-18. [Twenty-nine short examples of various harmonizations of a melody that moves up a fourth, and then repeats in a descending manner. (Most of the examples give the first few notes, and then “etc.” added at the end – meaning that you are to continue with this pattern until you run out of fingerboard. Notation only is given, since Ted wanted this to be done with multiple fingerings and locations on the fingerboard, starting from other degrees of the key, and in Melodic and/or Harmonic Minor keys. Written for Am or C, but should be transposed to other keys as well.]
CHORD STUDIES:
* Complete List of 3- and 4-Note Vertical Structures, 1978-09-15, 2001-12-10. [As part of his exhaustive study on chord voicings, here Ted charts out all the triads and 4-note chords based on a C root. He wrote, “From a C root: by the letter names involved – not by voicing types and layouts here.” He also commented, “Amazing that the seeming vastness of chord types containing 3 or 4 notes (or more if doubled notes are included) breaks down to just these. I would have figured on there being 100’s of them.” Retyped for your easy reading.]
* Impressionistic-Romantic Sounds, 1976-09-01. [From just a quarter page of ideas he jotted down, we were able to follow-thru with Ted’s ideas in notation and grid diagrams. Nice sounding Impressionistic passages immerged, reminding one of Debussy and others, especially if a pedal bass note is added.]
* Texture Catalogue, New – For Fills, Intros, Endings, Interludes, 1980-12-27. [Ted notates and catalogues over 50 examples of different musical textures to be used in a wide variety of situations. These range from single-note lines, dyads, triads, and more. Many of his examples get an idea started, then followed with “etc.” In typing out this page up, we used blue notation show some of the examples that we followed-thru with in order to finish the idea. We retyped the notation for easy reading, but because the fingering possibilities are too numerous, we left it to you to work them out on the fingerboard. And of course, Ted would probably recommend that these be done in many (or all) keys.]
* Texture Catalogue as Applied to Dm6, Dm6/9, G9, G13, G13#11, 1980-09-06. [Please refer to Ted’s other page on Texture Catalogue to get a grasp of what he is laying out here. This page isn’t really meant as a lesson page, but simply shows Ted’s in-depth study and thinking processes on this subject – in this case the harmony being Dm6 and G9 types.]
* Voicings for B, C, D, G, 1978-06-25. [What is it? Cmaj9no3, Am11noR,5, Gadd11, or D7/6sus, no5…or all of the above? Well, Ted gives us 28 chord forms for these four notes to expand your thinking about this beautiful sound. (Some of them are very practical for immediate application; while others fall in the realm of, “Nice idea, but my fingers are in revolt!”) As usual, Ted advocates to “Do on all strings; in various cycles.” He also added, “The ear hears these sounds as being in G.”]
Under the Header of “5-Note Chord Voicings”
* 5-Note Diminished Voicings, 1984-07-21. [Ted discovered that there are nine types of diminished voicing which use 5 different notes. On this page he wrote out the chord diagrams for all that belong to his “P-2” and “P-3” voicing groups. P stands for “Pentatonic” or 5-note chord groups, of which Ted determined that there were 44 (P-1 thru P-44). Most of the chord forms on this page require large stretches and/or the use of the right-hand to add another fretted note after playing the other notes. We redrew the diagrams to save your eyes from squinting at Ted’s itsy-bitsy writing on the original, and we used 7-frets-tall grids so there was comfortable spacings. Find one or two forms that you like and can use, and shelve the rest for another rainy day.]
* 5-Note Miscellaneous Choice Voicings (1989, 1986). [A collection of chord diagrams of various 5-note chords, mostly from 1989. Ted included the “P” number for most of these.]
* System for Discovering 5-Note Diminished 7 Scale Voicings, 1986-03-02. [Ted charts out all the possible chord formulas for 5-note chords in an 8-noted diminished scale. The example here is for C diminished. He has already defined that there are 15 different types; now he’s looking at the specific intervals of the scale that are needed in the construction of these 15 chords. The specific voicings and inversions make “more than 150 - 200 voicings” each. This page lays it out in the simplest terms. Retyped for clarity.]
* Voicings of 5-Voice and 5-Letter Name Pitches Chords for Guitar, 1976, 1980-02-17, 1984-06-27. [Ted wrote out in music notation all the 5-voice chords for Amaj9 (or F#m11noR, or B13sus). We retyped his notation and added grid diagrams to show how these would be played on the guitar. Usually, there is only one form which works on guitar, so we took the liberty to define these. However, you might find slight variations or fingerings that will also work. Ted grouped these as 1) root in bass; 2) 3rd in bass; 3) 5th in bass; 4) 7th in bass; and 5) 9th in bass. He was primarily thinking of these as Amaj9 chord, but those with the 9th in the bass tend to sound and function better as B13sus chords.]
SINGLE-NOTE SOLOING:
* Arpeggio Patterns (1976-03-15, 1984-01-25). [Three single-note scale patterns for A13sus harmony, and three patterns (plus variations) for Fm7 harmony.]
* Good Single-Line Sequences (1980-1983). [A collection of miscellaneous thoughts Ted wrote on a single page. Re-notated in standard notation plus TAB]
* Japanese Scale, 1978-11-10. [Notes and chords for the 5-note scale of C, E, F#, G, B (interpreted as either: key of Em: 1, 2, b3, 5, b6, or as key of C: 1, 3, #4, 5, 7).
Notation provided, matched up with Ted’s original grid diagrams.]
THE V2-SYSTEM_V2:
You can find these 11 new pages by following this path:
The V-System > V-System Lesson Sheets > V-2 > Dominant 7 (altered) Types
https://www.tedgreene.com/teaching/v_system_V2.asp
* V-2 Worksheet, Top 4 Strings, Dominant 7 Colors, Root on Top, 1984-11-22. [This series of V-2 Worksheets represent just one step in Ted’s efforts to catalogue the V-2 dominant 7 chords. This batch focuses on organizing the chords according to the top (soprano) note. These are all moveable / transferrable chord forms, so they can be adapted for any root. However, Ted listed many of them with a D root as an example. Most of the time he did not include fret numbers, so you’ll need to figure that out based on the top note/interval.]
* V-2 Worksheet, Top 4 Strings, Dominant 7 Colors, 3rd on Top, 1985-01-19
* V-2 Worksheet, Top 4 Strings, Dominant 7 Colors, b5th (#11th) on Top, 1985-01-19
* V-2 Worksheet, Top 4 Strings, Dominant 7 Colors, 5th on Top, 1985-01-20
* V-2 Worksheet, Top 4 Strings, Dominant 7 Colors, #5th on Top, 1985-01-20
* V-2 Worksheet, Top 4 Strings, Dominant 7 Colors, b7th on Top, 1985-01-20
* V-2 Worksheet, Top 4 Strings, Dominant 7 Colors, b9th on Top, 1985-01-19
* V-2 Worksheet, Top 4 Strings, Dominant 7 Colors, 9th on Top, 1985-01-16
* V-2 Worksheet, Top 4 Strings, Dominant 7 Colors, #9th on Top, 1985-01-19
* V-2 Worksheet, Top 4 Strings, Dominant 7 Colors, 11th on Top, 1985-01-19
* V-2 Worksheet, Top 4 Strings, Dominant 7 Colors, 13th on Top, 1985-01-20
TRANSCRIPTIONS:
* Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. Transcribed by François Leduc. [Another brilliant transcription from the ever-prolific François Leduc. This one comes from Ted’s seminar he gave at California Vintage Guitars on December 14, 2003. Complete with standard notation, Tab, and chord grids. Thank you, François!]
* Once In a While. Transcribed by François Leduc. [Taken from Ted’s 1977 “Special Recording” session in a trio setting (with Shelly Mann on drums, Chuck Domanico on bass). Standard notation, Tab, and chord grids. Thanks again, François!!]
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