![]() ![]() Ted was teaching out of his parents’ living room in LA’s San Fernando Valley. I first met him when I was a precocious and pretentious 17-year-old who didn’t play nearly as well as he thought he did. ![]() But I’ve long since been forced to admit that the “graze and go” method is the only one that works with my particular brain. How are you supposed to digest so much info? Sheer repetition? Disciplined memorization? Or just jump in at random in search of something inspiring? I tried, really tried, to pursue the former methods when I was young. It’s the same problem you encounter with all encyclopedic music books, even brilliant ones such as Nicolas Slonimsky’s Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns. I just cracked open Modern Chord Progressions at random, and this confronted me: Has anyone? These tomes are dauntingly dense and complex. Not that I’ve completely digested Ted’s books. Melody generates harmony, Ted teaches, and harmony generates melody. Ironically, even though Ted’s books are divided into chordal and single-note topics, they go a long way toward erasing such distinctions. Ted’s books helped me understand the fretboard, tackle jazz harmony, and perhaps most of all, grasp the concept of voice-leading - that is, the ability to perceive chords not as static blocks, but as volatile structures resulting from dynamic melodies. Chord Chemistry, Modern Chord Progressions, and Jazz Guitar Single Note Soloing Vols 1 & 2 remain in print, and are available in both paper and digital editions. ![]() Ted Greene’s jazz guitar books have haunted me since the ’70s. This week on Finding Bigfoot, the BFRO team visits Encino, California. ![]()
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