Ted Greene

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Theodore ("Ted") Greene (born September 26, 1946 in Los Angeles , † July 23, 2005 in Encino ) was an American fingerstyle jazz guitarist , textbook author and educator .

Life

Greene started playing guitar at the age of eleven. As a teenager he was an accomplished guitarist and played in various R&B bands. He began studying accounting at Cal State Northridge University , but gave it up to devote himself to music.

Greene was considered a jazz guitarist, but was familiar with many styles. Guitarists knew him as a teacher and book author. Occasionally he gave seminars at the Guitar Institute of Technology or wrote columns for Guitar Player . He wrote four guitar textbooks on chord melody, voicings and improvisation . He himself studied all available books on music theory throughout his life, especially classical music from 1600 to 1900. This enabled him to familiarize his students with very complex structures of Western music in the form of simple, playable etudes. He often applied pianistic concepts to the guitar. His repertoire ranged from jazz standards and pop songs to chorales by Johann Sebastian Bach , which he paraphrased. In numerous instruction sheets that can be found on the Internet today, he understood how to analyze musical techniques in an understandable way and how to convey them across genres.

Greene owned a collection of guitars, his main instrument was a Fender Telecaster which, due to its narrow neck, enabled him to grip over five frets. He was an expert on vintage instruments and helped Fender develop their 1952 Telecaster Vintage Reissue by drawing on his experience with countless old Telecasters, Broadcasters and Nocasters .

Ted Greene performed mostly as a solo artist or accompanist for singers. His characteristic playing techniques included harp-like arpeggios (achieved by combining artificial harmonics and regularly fingered notes). He generated his specific vibrato not only with the gripping hand, but also by gently moving the guitar neck. He was a master of counterpoint , polyphonic chord melody playing and improvisation. His musical and technical mastery of the fingerboard and his enormous repertoire of voicings are still unmatched today. Although Ted Greene enjoyed a legendary reputation among insiders during his lifetime ( Steve Vai and Dweezil Zappa are among his admirers), he was never granted a wider public. Aside from his guitar playing, his humility and self-criticism were a well-known mark of Greene. His interest was not in self-portrayal, but in studying music and its communication. He was also committed to helping the homeless in California . In addition to some video recordings, there is only one album by Ted Greene with the title "Solo Guitar", which was recorded in 1977. Ted Greene earned his living mainly by teaching.

Ted Greene died of a heart attack at his Encino , California apartment, aged 58 . His partner Barbara Franklin manages his musical estate and made it accessible to the general public on the Internet. In her book My Life with the Chord Chemist , published in 2009 , she gave a personal insight into Greene's life.

Discography

Publications

literature

  • Ted Greene Guitar Player Tribute - November 2005
  • Barbara Franklin: My Life With The Chord Chemist , ISBN 978-1-4495-7557-1

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Greene, Ted
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Greene, Theodore
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz guitarist and educator
DATE OF BIRTH September 26, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH los Angeles
DATE OF DEATH July 23, 2005
Place of death Encino , California