Ted Greene Teaches Single Line Soloing 01/20/97 - Part 1

Let's take a break from chords! In this video, Ted teaches the concept of single line soloing as it is applies to the song “Besame Mucho”. This is part 1 of this guitar lesson. Part 2 will be posted next month. Video Credits: Cesar Pineda 01/20/97
Uploaded appropriately for March (-ing), Ted defines the three jazz traditions of soloing by blowing lines over “When The Saints Go Marching In”. Tasteful lines by the Chord Chemist, don’t you agree? If you don’t have Ted’s two amazing volumes of “Single Line Soloing”, go get them …today… and forget all about my lack of talent for creating clever puns.
Here’s a brief summary for part one:
1. What’s the goal? Being musical! The key is D minor. (Find Grant Green’s “Besame Mucho”)
2. Wes Montgomery’s meter is 6/8.
3. Ted plays a ‘Wes’ pattern. Very cool!
4. Play the upper chord tones! “Jazz lives above the 7th!”
5. Playing the D Dorian scale in 3rds (skipping every other note).
6. Play jazz 8ths, syncopate as opposed to playing even straight 8ths.
7. Pay attention to fingering in order to play smoothly! Roll that finger over multiple strings!
8. Playing descending arpeggios (think chords derived from the Dorian scale).
9. Playing diatonic 4th intervals.
10. Try playing block triads, 1st inversion!
11. He finally gets to the 2nd chord (G minor) in the song, playing a G Dorian or Aeolian arpeggio.
Ted's assignment: "Take one short progression that you love and refused to give up until you create music on it. If you fail ninety-nine times, but the 100th time you succeed, then it's still work well-done, if you are practicing efficiently." You will be a better soloist if you invest the time with the correct tools! Remember, it's always a work in progress!
There is AUDIO of Ted trading licks with Emily Remler posted for DOWNLOAD on the Ted Greene website. Download it and listen to his choice of notes and phrasing ... and Emily's, too! Ted uses many ideas from his “Single Line Soloing” books. Lesson sheets on soloing and melodic patterns all can be found at tedgreene.com/

[@chriswinter8255]

"It's not that I'm right, it's just how those notes are." I love that!!! Great way to put it.

[@johnwilson5920]

and he says it so matter-of-factly

[@Hamppzah]

Damn I love how this guy talks about playing guitar

[@derekhuntingtonmarti]

He is really patient with the interviewer, says play Dm7 and the dude plays D7.

[@telemangler]

I read your comment and I still giggled when he said it. He’s saying so much in just one sentence.

[@winstonsmith8240]

😂 absolutely.

[@sonnyobrien]

Single line playing one of three traditions of jazz soloing 1) soloing off the melody 2) playing the chord changes 3) play off chord changes that take the same scale “ “If you play fm7 to C11 theres a scale that contain notes that both those chords have. Tonal centre soloing. You take a tone centre and you solo off the chords.” This lesson focuses on the 2nd tradition (its bebop, its charlie parker etc.) The student has an issue making it musical “It takes years of maturity, you know. It does get better if you work at it. If you could put 4 hours a week on your single line itll go forward. Take one short progression you love and refuse to give up until you create music on it. If you fail 99 times and if the 100th time you succeed its still well done: IF YOURE PRACTICING EFFICIENTLY. How would you go about that?” @4:50 they start analysing a standard @6:07 - let me show you some Wes patterns Ted plays a D minor pattern and the student asks if thats all D minor. Ted says yes. Ted says its gorgeous because the upper partials are so gorgeous. Wes is a “upper chord tone man. He’s not a scale man… he’s in love with the higher partial chord tones” @7:15 plays notes from D dorian. Plays the 9th and 11th after the 7th. (not exact fingerings, only the notes.) “Triplets are big for phrasing in jazz. Instead of jazz 8ths at a medium tempo, jazz 8ths are too slow, but triplets are… Triad groupings - this is the name what I have been most recently been practicing. “Wes is really fond of triads too. I think he hears them as the upper notes theyre capable of being.” @9:00 Ted discusses his uncertainty with what his right hand is doing then stops to analyse: “Oh I see what its doing - if its on low strings i use my thumb, everything else i just do the two finger dance.. At this tempo at least” @9:28 Ted demonstrates technique with left hand, using the flat of finger “So for technique, we don’t hop the note, we start the first note way down below the tip and then the second one is on the tip. Do you remember me showing a drawing of it in the book?” @9:50 Ted continues with the concept of triad groupings. “That’s the next triad if you descend in the dorian (from Dminor to C major). You might say but we’re supposed to be soloing over d minor, but this was 11, and 9 and b7 (of the C major). And this is another triad and that’s the b diminished… contains a mid ranged 13. Wes is one of the only jazz guitarists who ever lived who loved the 13 enough to play it in the midrange even. So the next triad would be A minor etc.(not exact fingerings, only the notes.) “It’s not like you can play so many of them in one lick but you want to have them ready. These are just the notes of the D dorian scale.” @14:20 Ted then demonstrates it on staying within the string set “It’s good to know your triads.They sound musical. They dont get much approval rating in jazz. I myself say that jazz lives above the 7th. But when you’re playing dorian triads, you’re getting a lot of cool triads above the 7th automatically. @14:55 “You want to practice 4ths. Here’s 4ths in dorian. These are diatonic 4th intervals. Groupings of two. Ted demonstrates these from the lower note first going to the higher note. “Then you take those from the high note first.” “You might wonder why I’m doing everything descending. Two or three or four reasons for that. First of all, In a band situation you can’t solo here a lot (in the low section). But any notes you touch up high seem to come out more.. Just the way frequency is. So we tend to solo more on the skinny strings. Even if you love the low end, you just wont be able to live here much.” Ted says if everyone quiets down, he tends to play some of the low end Another reason to learn descending is you were taught to do scales from the bottom up, so youve practiced more here and probably havent done as much descending, or intervals, or anything. Once you can do descending, youll find it wont be twice as long to do ascending. But you might never get around to descending as much if youre like the rest of the planet. @18:35 - fourths from the top note down. “With triplets now… not as boring as jazz 8ths at this tempo @19:05 - “block triads… dorian first inversion where the roots on top..” @20:02 - After you can do you fourths…. Diatonic Fourths-low note first, or high note first… then you do two melodic patterns that alternate. They go as follows: it went up one and down the other. (not exact fingerings, only the notes.) And then the opposite. High note first then low note first. (not exact fingerings, only the notes.) Then triplets… with both of those patterns. “It can wig you out a little: It’s CROSS RHYTHMIC group of four notes that we expect to hear in this way (1 and 2 and) but here we are hearing them in this way (plays the cross rhythm. The accent of the triplet groupings collide with the (boo dee da da)… create cross accents. It’s fun. The ear doesn’t know what to make of it for a moment. “

[@MrBoggles]

Just hearing him even helping someone through the simplest of concepts just gives so much. Far out What a teacher to have had.. some lucky people out there

[@michaelralte8195]

This guy deserves a documentary, He gives Me goosebumbs every time i watch his videos

[@robinjohnston66]

I've been in that room many times, what an incredible human being and guitarist. He spoiled me in that I haven't wanted to take lessons from anyone else since. But now I'm looking again.Thanks Ted

[@DrAgan_tortojed]

He could hardly be described as "human". Incredible to humans, oh yes, very much...

[@Xcorgi]

This man was a musical genius and wrote the book Chord Chemistry. There’s an old saying that goes “Geniuses are rarely tidy”. This was very true of Ted.

[@rhmayer1]

@@Xcorgi Most of us old guys first learned of Ted Greene from that stand-out book, Chord Chemistry. As a young garage band rock guitarist just starting to be drawn to jazz it was one of those books at the local music store that was both mind-blowing as to the sheer breadth of the universe of jazz - quite intimidating with page after page after page of literally thousands of chord fingering diagrams - both foreboding but yet strangely provocative and alluring, drawing me deeper into that mysterious universe, inspiring me (and surely countless others) with amazed curiosity about what all those chords sounded like and how could they be used - and what a genius with systematic approach this Ted Greene guy must be. Seeing these videos of him now, many decades later, showing what a warm, patient and friendly guy he was almost contradicts what I had imaged was a brilliant but cold and industrial, perhaps a bit anti-social brainiac. What a pleasant surprise and adjustment to see this generous, warm and human side of this brilliant guy. RIP.

[@garylitfin6781]

Was Ted left handed?

[@sprenzy7936]

Have you heard of Ted Greene website? Please contribute by providing lesson notes and tapes!

[@mannoplanet]

I don't know if Cesar ever ended being a great player ( I hope so) but these are such wonderful tapes he has genorously shared.

[@Elemy69]

He nailed that Wes sound, very impressive.

[@cosmonaut9942]

I took lessons from Ted in 1967 when I was 13. He taught me how to play Light My Fire. Pretty cool that he mentions the song in this video.

[@moivinpippick4882]

Helluva song. Helluva teacher.

[@docbobster]

What a great teacher. I can’t believe how much he conveys in 20 min.

[@jnnyg65]

4:08 Hands-down the best advice you will ever get about learning to play jazz guitar: "refuse to give up." THANKS TED!

[@michaelwenzl8219]

I loved that part :D

[@edwinhurwitz6792]

My teacher when I was 22 told me that at my first lesson. The only people who never make it are those who lack persistence. I learned more from him in 8 weeks than I did in 8 semesters at Berklee (which was kind of a waste of time in the early 80s).

[@Ayo.Ajisafe]

This man was an absolute monster. Educator and player. So rarely found in the same body.

[@stevet.4974]

A window into the mind of a genius.

[@davemcafeeguitar]

Man I wished I could have studied 1:1 with this guy. Players that lived in Southern California during the 70s/80s and early 90s had no idea how privileged they were to be surrounded by such great players and talent. LA was a musical Mecca back then.

[@philsarkol6443]

What a patience and way of communicating. He knows exactly where the student is, what to show and how to stimulate to find progress!!

[@TheStrataminor]

Wow......these real life teaching moments are astonishing.....

[@jalithic]

I just discovered Ted yesterday. Never knew of him. Simply F’ing Wonderful!! Thank You Nick for sharing. Lessons from a Master Guitarist in Heaven. ❤️❤️❤️

[@chuckrrose]

Geniuses can be kind! What a lovely person…

[@deetee6339]

8:44 - 'Shall we try this?' Warm, understanding, patient, caring, and I can go on. Before he even plays a note, there's a lot to love about this person.

[@delacruzneili]

His voice is really soothing

[@robbyr9286]

It's seamless with the tone of his Tele, & his playing.

[@ddjazz]

Man i love ted , wish i knew about him sooner , thx for sharing this.

[@jataka3]

Great approach to soloing. 1. Melody plus ad-libs 2. Linear Chord changes 3. Modal

[@rhmayer1]

Yes, and in that order - which is important. Modal jazz sounds easy and is tempting for the beginner to jump in - for example a rock player jumping in on So What or Impressions. That'll just sound like a rock player playing So What or Impressions. To get the jazz sound you have to really have the concepts of melody, melody enhancement, chord tones and arpeggios over changes and using melody enhancement - the prior step - in using those chord tones and extensions, etc. BEFORE you enter modal jazz, to make your modal jazz sound decent (at least to other jazz players). It's all about knowing (i.e. hearing) your roots in your playing. Ted was SOOO good at boiling things down, like this basic 3-step approach. I've got to incorporate that into my own teaching.

[@Oenloveslife]

Nick, thank you a million times for putting these up on KZbin! A true master!!

[@jakeAndj]

What an amazing teacher I’m blown away

[@drwhiteguru]

Thanks for posting this. I took lessons from Ted for about a year in about 1994, I was in that room many times, I still have all of the homework and music he sent me home with. He had a couple of old telecasters from the 50’s and the finish was just worn off the neck from playing it so much and he told me “a lot of people think these guitars should be in a museum but they shouldn’t they were meant to be played“.

[@dave9497]

I completely understand with Ted is saying... And it is exactly this process... You have to really hear it in your head... intimately

[@AllenPinchloaf]

Amazing player and teacher.a friend told me he would see Andy Summers and once saw Joe Pass come in for a lesson with Ted.

[@gfunkk]

that must have been crazy for Ted to have one of his biggest influences come in for a lesson with him.

[@ericksaulchangperez9388]

Andy Summers, i can understand, but Joe pass, he wasn't so big on theory, but His ears AND instints allowed to play very sofisticated stuff, y don't buy the Joe pass part of the story at all.

[@sideshowlol]

@@ericksaulchangperez9388 Maybe they played together and exchanged ideas? That would have made for an incredibly interesting recording.

[@rexroman5211]

How amazing. Is this guy!

[@arataka57]

I had a lesson with him, he was a very very humble guy and a very solid guitar player any time.

[@mykhelderian]

Wow. What a wonderful teacher. Man, were you lucky to have such a master as a guide to your playing. Thanks for sharing this.

[@barcia475]

Great lesson! By the way, he played THE LICK at 19:16

[@ninpot2765]

Ted is so wonderful

[@rileymerino6340]

Love the little slip up at 20:40 or so. I’ve been studying the last few years with a professor who I fear often lets his ego get in the way. One time I corrected him on something and he went on to bark at me on how disrespectful I was for 15 minutes. I only did so because he was getting snarky with me about something I was playing and he was incorrect about it, which frustrated me. It’s the mark of a humble teacher who can make a little mistake and live with it-evidenced by his, “oh man, I hate that!”. It’s important to show your students that even you, who in this case happens to be one of the finest and most studied jazz guitarists alive at the time, are okay with being human and not above the music that you play.

[@DARKLYLIT]

As Julian Lage says in this vid "You don't have to study or play with anyone who isn't a good person" kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5TTgnSoaMqll6s. (at five-forty five in the vid)

[@guitarmusic524]

As a college guitar instructor, I find that pretty sad. I always remember what David Baker said: "Damn that ego. It will drag you through the Dismal Swamp and drown your butt." Learning is a two-way street.

[@robertdavezac]

I always think about how many people Segovia must have crushed just because he was an insecure little boy. There’s a story of him flying off the handle on Parkening for changing his fingerings, and then making him relearn the piece overnight with the “correct” ones.

[@actionoriented]

Wow this is enlightening, and a pleasure. I’ve never seen Ted essentially give a personal lesson. So cool…what an amazing teacher and mentor.

[@WillKriski]

Great to see another video, miss seeing him...never saw him smoke before. Thanks to Cesar, Steve Herberman and anyone who managed to record video of Ted's teaching/playing.

[@KenTeel]

Too bad he smoked. If he didn't he might have been around to supply even more great guitar lessons.

[@sarge7string232]

It's not that I'm right ...it's just that's what those notes are ......Humble Genius

[@shovelheadseven]

Been to that apartment many times. Every word that Ted speaks has a wealth of information within it.

[@michaelkiese7794]

Wow, Ted is so patient and giving. I have been in Cesar’s shoes many a time with great teachers. No matter your level and ability, it is always challenging learning something new and unfamiliar. Listen to Ted’s soft calm voice and notice how Ted leads Cesar through a methodology, knowing that Cesar has this video to fall back upon so as to maximize Cesar’s value out of the lesson. Ted was certainly one of a kind.

[@avgjoegat8126]

It's not that I'm right it's just how those notes are

[@jnnyg65]

5:49 Mic Drop!

[@steveincollins]

That jumped out at me too

[@studioheathco]

That line goes pretty deep.

[@rjwusher]

It's wonderfully respectful towards his pupil. He was a great human being.

[@Johaneeeek]

@@studioheathco whats deep about it?

[@thenickguitar4928]

absolute gold! thank you so much for sharing this!

[@FriendM2010]

I have a few Ted Green books and I was overwhelmed after page 2. 😂🥴😳. I have had them in a drawer for 35 years, going pull those suckers out and try again.. 🤔🤟

[@Jazzamatazable]

I have both of his single note soloing books and they are great!

[@donkkong5551]

This is killer and for whatever reason he seems so relaxed and easy to understand. This came up in my Algorithm today. Thanks to whoever posted this.

[@samuel_david_85]

Thank you, Nick, for sharing this. Really appreciate it.

[@Grindstaff09]

I really like everything in the background. Super nice and yes you can see he loves teaching.

[@LarrySiden]

Great teacher.

[@winstonsmith8240]

These are brilliant. At home with a master. True story. ❤ " I want you to use your ears as much as your eyes." 🤗

[@alexpaton2818]

I think it was at a Barney Kessel seminar more than 40 years ago I first heard about Ted. What an analyst and he has been a huge inspiration to so many. Thank you so much for this.

[@peterthomas22]

I've got quite a few of Ted's guitar books, there is so much detail in each one i'll never be able to play through them and learn it all.

19:17 “THE LICK” harmonized in Dorian triads.

[@justaguitarplayer2059]

This guy is such a heavyweight. Seems like a really cool dude

[@RonWinter335]

Ted is wonderful. I don't remember the guitarist, but I remember the quote from a Guitar Player interview MANY years ago. The topic of Ted came up and the guitarist said "Ted Greene? I think Ted Greene should be President!" Too good.

[@bigmistake5565]

Waw man. What a guy. Love how his personality seems to match up w his guitar playing: soft of tone and modest but w an incredible amount of depth.

[@kerrybarnes7289]

this guy is a good teacher

[@derekstocker6661]

Thanks for showing us this, great sounds.

[@brad724p]

Great lesson from the best.

[@chuckrrose]

When I studied with Howie Morgen, who wrote a body of instructional and repertoire books, the key outside materials that he incorporated were Ted’s and the Segovia scale fingerings (along with Billy Bauer’s).

[@gabehizer111]

I studied with Howie Morgen when I was in high school, for a couple of years. He wrote a very nice letter to help get me into Berklee. What a great teacher!

[@rkatz0]

I met Ted Greene through his books which I had when I was quite young. Seeing him in person like this is like meeting him yet again! Amazing.

[@PaulLauria-gr7rd]

Great man

[@MicahStott]

Ted Greene was pure gold

[@Shafer.Jesse.Sandbox]

Kenny Potter and some guy named Werner... Love it

[@rodcoombes8711]

Great advice thanks, what a great teacher.

[@brianmcginn6237]

Thanks so much for making this available, much appreciated.

[@musterionsurly]

The jazz guitar Yoda :)

[@JonesTonesGuitar]

Ted Greene is super patient

[@davidallemang1241]

What a great lesson!

[@SjoerdMentens]

Its all in the ability to vary your comping the best u hear the chords the best ur able to make single lines sound nice and intteresting. There are so much ways to explain these good lines but essentially it s a personal trip, each person is unique. A lot of listening helps a lot some lines or concepts for lines (triad, chord tones) all can work but does it do for you. Always look at the final result and ask yourself am i goin to buy it if i hear this is a good way to qualify your choices.

[@hcmac100]

What a patient guy !!!!

[@fiddlefolk]

A great teacher! Legend!

[@arsofe]

Thank you for posting this.

[@e1ay3dme12]

I don't really know Ted Greene, but reading some of the comments he seems to have been a fine teacher. I believe that every teacher has a primary concept that they impart and kinda hang their hats on. I had 3 main teachers while studying (double bass.) It's strange, but each one in the way he taught, could in my mind be reduced to a single concept. First, left hand pitch. Second, using the bow expressively and the third was all about tone. It wasn't like they told me that's what they were doing. It just became evident over time. Looking back at it I'm convinced it's who they were more than what I was missing as everyone is missing elements of everything.

[@tomcoryell]

We should all be perpetual students.

[@DreamPurpleFloyd]

His book Chord Chemistry has been very influencial in the jazz guitar world (and even in the guitar world I'd say). It's still relevant even today, 30+ years afters its original release!

[@e1ay3dme12]

@@DreamPurpleFloyd Yes, I just first heard of the title "Chord Chemistry" sometime recently (Tommy Emanuel vid, perhaps) and it seems to be spoken about in the same way that a treatise on species counterpoint or Bach Cantatas for SATB might be, but for guitar. So, all that remains is the expertise which manifests through application....6 lifetimes later.....

[@littlezephead]

Great lesson!

[@powerbylightfutureisnow1579]

Great lesson for me.

[@JohnPhelps]

such a guitar guy

[@Dang...]

Thanks for posting this!

[@OPTIONALWATCH]

Thanks for sharing! Great upload

[@climbtibet]

Great channel love it; big Ted fan here!

[@tripp8833]

this dude is so cool

[@restlessmusemusic]

This is wonderful. Thank you very much for sharing it

[@HouseofNFT]

great lesson, lot of amazing advice here, wow!

[@FrettieFingers]

genius

[@nickkane4522]

I took 6 months of lessons from Ted in that room with Hwy 101 roaring just outside the window. Never once did he pick up a guitar!

[@gavinw5469]

Why?

[@TedKraut]

Legend

[@cyprn6600]

scalular, great word

[@garythorsen2861]

When will advertisers understand that interrupting a person's study does not nessecarily endear them to your business? Personally I'm keeping a list of these rude SOBs and on this list are companies I will NEVER do business with. As a matter of fact I recently canceled an insurance policy based on these principles. It feels wonderful to excersize that power.

[@farleygranger]

thanks for posting....

[@mainsblanches8793]

What patience!!...ouff!!...

[@devinwebb0]

Just caught my guitar staring at me like what are you waiting for sucka

[@fernandomineiro8235]

GÊNIO!

[@lazur1]

thanks thanks thanks

[@truthmanifestingtruth]

Once Peggy and those unary kids leave, Al can tune into his creative side. No wonder he often showed a distaste for their presence. Awesome guitar player and musical mind!✌🏾

[@MrUrech]

Yeah Al liked to lay into the kids a bit but oh boy, when peggy interrupted his practice he use to take the fire poker across her orbital bone and she had some vision problems. Al knew his chords but he laid into his old lady pretty good with the living room pokers

[@michaelcraig9449]

Got tabs? This stuff is no joke!

[@Velueta95]

Follow your ears bro, his single line soloing book is very useful, take your time digesting it.

[@MonkyTube18]

If you dont hear in your playing what you want to hear, practice playing what you are hearing. Its like baby steps and starting all over...

[@dangerman444]

19:16 the lick

[@darwinsaye]

Great lessons and patient teaching. I find this format (watching him try to instruct a student in person) painful to watch though. It really demonstrates how I could never be a teacher...

[@ronhigdon4475]

I had tickets to see Wes Montgomery in Louisville, ky but it was cancelled for some reason They offered me tickets for his Indianapolis show which was next and I excepted. But God needed a great guitar playeer an he passed. Now I wish I kept those tickets.

[@vidamedelafey5662]

3:11 exactly my problem

[@insidechocolatewithjimothy5313]

I remember Jay Graydon saying "That cat turned me around"

[@mattpike1465]

What I wouldn't do for a teacher with this kind of approach

[@thecreativeguitarist5298]

I never knew Ted smoked!

[@nickstasinos]

I hope it doesn't detract from the wonderful musical tools he is presenting here. Who knows! He'd probably be with us today, if he didn't. He did apologize for "filthy habits" at the beginning, a section I ended up cutting to shorten this video for KZbin. I wonder what ever happened to his Tom Mix horseshoe ash tray?

[@thecreativeguitarist5298]

@@nickstasinos it doesn't detract at all! Just read Barbara's book again, and have been thinking about Ted a lot. I wish I had known him in person. Through Barbara's book, Ted's books and these videos, he seems so familiar and i feel like he is a part of my life.

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

Al Bundy sure plays a mean guitar

[@mstones6642]

Hahaha, He Starts to play after leaving Peggy