|
OFFERING & RECORDING of "My Favourite Things" In Honour Of Ted Greene by: Bernie Holland |
|
This div will be replaced
|
|
Hi Dale Please accept a small offering from me, in the form of a short recording I decided to do in order to honour Ted for the inspiration and help I got from his books Chord Chemistry and Solo Guitar Playing which I have studied from time to time over the years. The tune is 'My Favourite Things' by Rodgers & Hammerstein which initially gained popularity through the film "The Sound of Music" but it has since become quite a popular tune for jazz players. I can remember hearing a version by John Coltrane on which I have based my interpretation here. I am sure that Ted would have played this tune many times during his life because it has such a wonderful chord sequence which supports a beautiful melody line - and I am sure that he would certainly appreciate these things. I just hope that people won't be offended by the fact that I have used midi instruments instead of other live musicians - the problem is that there are very few people who live round this way who I can play with and so I have arranged this piece and programmed all the midi instruments in an effort to try and make them sound as human as possible. The guitar tracks were all recorded live as audio files in Cubase and it was necessary for these to be recorded on three separate tracks because some of the guitar parts overlap. The passages I have played in octaves have been genuinely played using the wide interval created by using either the 5th and 2nd strings or the 4th and 1st strings simultaneously, and I have not done this using an octave-machine. The only effect that has been used is just a little touch of reverberation on the final output mix. I don't want to give the impression here that I am against using any effects as they are a valid device given the correct musical context. But there really is no substitute for the sound achieved purely by fingers on strings. I paid another visit to the memorial website to read some more of the tributes that so many people have paid to Ted. Deep emotions awaken within me as I read even more of all these wonderful messages of love and respect. Whilst I am sure feelings of deep loss are still felt by all of Ted's family, friends and former students, I believe that a little bit of Ted actually lives on in all these people - winter always turns to spring ! So even though I feel somewhat at a loss myself because I never had the chance to sit with Ted and discuss and play music with him, I have the hope that maybe one day I will have the privilege to play with any one of the many great masters of the guitar to whom he was a mentor and teacher. I am still in the process of building my web site but I will certainly let you know when it is ready to go online. Carry on with your great work ! Kind Wishes From England,
|
|
© Dale Zdenek 2007 |