Chord Chemistry [Paperback]

Ted Greene (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1981

Ted Greene's Chord Chemistry was originally published in 1971 and has become the classic chord reference book for two generations of guitarists. Whether you are just beginning to search beyond basic barre chords or are already an advanced player looking for new sounds and ideas this is the book that will get you there. Designed to inspire creativity this book is a musical treasure chest filled with exciting new ideas and sounds.

Product Details

• Paperback: 114 pages
• Publisher: Dale Zdenek Publications / Alfred Publishing Company (June 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898986966
• ISBN-13: 978-0898986969
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 8.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,409 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Systematics of Chord Substitution--Very Helpful, January 11, 2004

By 

John Russon (Toronto, ON Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chord Chemistry (Paperback)

I bought this book in the '70s, when I was trying to be a self-taught rock guitarist. It was initially very helpful because of its basic explanation of chord theory--this really advanced my understanding of music in general and the guitar in particular. It also got me interested in jazz, though I didn't really understand much of what he was talking about. Now I play jazz guitar, and this book has been very helpful to me. The book contains pages and pages of different inversions of different chord types, and when you first open the book you might think this is the point, but it's not. The point of the book is found in the sections on chord theory that follow those diagrams. Here Ted Greene gives a very helpful analysis of the principles of chord substitution--these are the basics of jazz guitar comping (accompaniment) and also solo playing. Along with his discussion of the theory, Ted Greene gives many sample ways of playing the things he's discussing, and these are very valuable chord sequences (worth memorizing). My copy of this book is mostly worn out from years of turning the pages, and I can largely chart my musical education in terms of when I digested various parts of this book. It's a book for serious study, but if you're into that, I recommend it highly. His two volumes on single-note soloing are also extremely helpful.

49 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book, but with some omissions, October 16, 2001

By 

Sazahak (Canberra, ACT Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chord Chemistry (Paperback)

I have owned this book since 1986 when I was just starting out on guitar. I still use this book, although it is not one that I pick up on a regular basis.

The book is all about chords and chord theory for guitarists. You don't need a huge amount of theory knowledge to get started with the material presented in this book, nor do you necessarily need to be able to read music (only one part of the book requires reading skills), however the learning curve is very steep through this book and it is definitely not a book that one works through in a 'lesson one, lesson two' fashion. Rather one would attempt to "absorb a few ideas at a time," as Mr Greene suggests.

On the matter of music reading, it is clear that the author has intended the book be useful to the widest audience possible by not requiring music reading on the most part. Although this is a positive thing is many respects, it also severely impedes upon what can successfully be presented. Also, if one were serious about learning this sort of material, not learning to read music would only impede one's progress.

The book contains a vast library of chord diagrams in the middle section of the book, depicting numerous chord types and inversions. This part is easily the weakest part of the book. This section for the most part, could be omitted or truncated, and replaced with information on how to build one's own chords and inversions, as well as providing some sort of framework for categorizing voicings and inversions i.e. drop 2 drop 2, 4 etc and perhaps how voices can be spread.

The most glaring omissions are the lack of any significant discussions on connecting predominantly rootless voicings, voice leading through progression using 2, 3 and 4 note partials (incomplete/implied chords), or a treatment of quartal harmony. These aspects of chord theory would seem to be vital to prepare a guitarist for modern playing, particularly within an ensemble context.

Having said all that, the voice leading discussion provided is quite thorough in other respects, and provides a very good seed for one's own ideas. The book provides quite useful information on Substitution/Reharmonization as well as other miscellaneous topics.

Although this book is not an absolute 'must have', Ted Greene's book provides some unique ideas and approaches to chord theory that I have never seen anywhere else. Also, some of the chord voicings he presents would probably be quite foreign to many intermediate, and some advanced guitarists. In this regard the book does provide points of departure for those who are very serious about exploring the guitar.

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you purchase one book of guitar chords, this is THE ONE!, June 1, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Chord Chemistry (Paperback)

Most chord books are encyclopedias promising 10,000 guitar chords. What you get is about 900 in the 12 positions on the neck! All chords in Chord Chemistry are shown in a single position only. This book has more chords and better explanations of how to learn and use them than any other book I've seen in 35 years of study.