The chemistry of chords and progressions

JohnW63

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After reading a thread about Ted Greene, I hit the Add to Cart button at Amazon and bout THREE of his books. Isn't it nice how Amazon gives you a good price if you buy all three ? I got Chord Chemistry, Jazz Guitar Single note soloing Vol 1, and Modern Chord Progressions. It's probably not going to be light reading. Wish me luck that they don't become books that gather dust !
 

walrus

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OK, "Good luck!" Can't hurt to try some of the stuff in those books! I wish I knew more "theory"...

walrus
 

GAD

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Good luck! I was going to write a book on theory because a) it's damn complicated and b) few explain it well. It took years for it to "click" in my head.
 

Cougar

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....I got Chord Chemistry, Jazz Guitar Single note soloing Vol 1, and Modern Chord Progressions.....

I'd be interested in what Modern Chord Progressions has to say. Book report! :tiger:
 

Quantum Strummer

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YouTube has a bunch of Ted Greene video shot by a student of his. Mainly he just shares little nuggets of advice, plays some example phrases & lines (often on one of his Guilds) and tells stories about (while also commenting on the playing of) other players. Great stuff IMO.

-Dave-
 

JohnW63

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If Tommy Emmanuel thinks they guy knew what he was talking about and his stuff helped him, then what the heck !
 
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JohnW63

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First impression. Ted must have had LOOONG fingers. There are plenty of chords in the first book that seem unplayable. I certainly can't reach them !

I have some homework from my instructor to come up with good "voice leading" versions of chords for a late 60s song called Wave, and while I normally use jguitar.com to find chords, Ted's book has found me some better ones. He lists them in the key of E or A and you slide them to where you need them.

I found this video, which is pretty good. I didn't know there WERE words to the song. I never remember hearing them, way back when. Maybe I'll cheat and copy the chords this guy's is using :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-jhNNQAsnw
 
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adorshki

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First impression. Ted must have had LOOONG fingers. There are plenty of chords in the first book that seem unplayable. I certainly can't reach them !
I know the feeling, I have small hands myself.
I used to practice scales with whole steps between notes for stretching excercises.
I didn't know it then but in youth the fingers actually get longer with practice. My left hand (normally smaller) fingers are now actually longer than my right by just under 1/4" at the middle finger.
BUT while I was thinking of that I also remembered that's one reason shortscale is popular on electrics.
The '98 catalog shows Starfires having a 24-3/4" scale so you might want to start out trying 'em on that, if you're not already.
To thine own muse be true!
 

F312

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I didn't know it then but in youth the fingers actually get longer with practice. My left hand (normally smaller) fingers are now actually longer than my right by just under 1/4" at the middle finger.

I've been cheated, my fingers are the same size on each hand, wah wah.

Ralph
 

adorshki

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I've been cheated, my fingers are the same size on each hand, wah wah.

Ralph

Ya shoulda practiced them stretchy whole tone scales.
By the way, try it with both hands palms together on a tabletop, to make sure the wrists are both at the same starting line. It's a whole hand thing, not just the fingers.
I didn't describe it correctly the first time, so your humor served a valuable correcting function..
Also, between 15 and 21 I got about 4-6 hours a week of playing.
And I'm only assuming they stop growing later in life because everything else does, but I didn't notice it until I was into my late twenties, I think.
 
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walrus

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JohnW, I've been contemplating these books, or at least the "chord Chemistry" one. Two and a half years later, any advice?

walrus
 

shihan

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It was my great good fortune to have been able to study with Ted back in the ‘90’s. He was, apart from being a master teacher and player, he was a kind, gentle, and soulful person. He was also perhaps the smartest person I’ve ever met.
His hands were not big; mine were bigger. Working through Chord Chemistry, and following his instructions, you, too can play those chords. It doesn’t happen overnight, but consistent effort gives consistent results.
A one hour lesson from Ted yielded about 6 months of study and work for a mediocre player like myself.
Apart from the music, the exposure to Ted the person, how he conducted himself and related to others was worth it’s weight in vintage guitars.
Oh; Ted one time told me he had a guitar in his hands 100+ hours a week....
 

JohnW63

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Walrus,

I spent some time with them, but I don't think I was advanced enough in theory and playing to get enough use out of them, when I first purchased them. I'm going to review them now. The issue I have with them is that the many of the chord shapes he lists, and he lists a LOT of them, were very hard for me to even get close to. I just watched some videos , just now, and saw that besides being able to fret three strings with his third finger, which I can not do, ( my fingers don't bend back like some can ) , he was also fretting two strings with is pinky finger. So, it could be that when I counted all the dots for finger positions, and came up a few fingers short, it was because of his ability to back bend his fingers and make nice partial barres with multiple fingers. But, there were still plenty of chords that I can play, and I used to look for different voicings from his diagrams.
 

walrus

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Thanks! I, too, am weak in the theory department, although I can play fairly complex chords. I may give it try...

walrus
 

JohnW63

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I was always confused about how to move the chords and when I reread a section he mentions only the strings with fingers on them are played. The others are skipped or muted.
 
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