Van Eps - S Harmonic Mechanisms For Guitar - Concepts and Inf

Technological University Dublin
ARROW@TU Dublin
Research Theses Conservatory of Music and Drama
2021
George Van Eps’s Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar: Concepts

and Influence on Jazz Guitar Education and Performance Practice
Jimmy Brennan
Technological University Dublin, [email protected]
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Brennan, J. (2021). George Van Eps’s Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar: Concepts and Influence on Jazz
Guitar Education and Performance Practice. Technological University Dublin. DOI: 10.21427/CM8X-XA05
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George Van Eps’s Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar:
Concepts and Influence on Jazz Guitar Education and Performance Practice
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Technological University Dublin

Conservatory of Music and Drama
Supervisors: Dr Philip Graydon and Dr Michael Nielsen
February 2021
Jimmy Brennan BA (Hons) MA

Dedication
To my friend and teacher Breffni Murphy, whose incredible knowledge is surpassed only by
his generosity.
Table of Contents
List of Figures………………………………………………………………………………....v
List of Examples…………………………………………………………………………..…vii
Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………..ix
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………….....x
Chapter 1: Literature Review………………………………………………………………….1
Chapter 2: Pre-Harmonic Mechanisms………………………….…………………………...19
Chapter 3: GVE’s Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar……………………..………..……..…34
Chapter 4: The Influence of Harmonic Mechanisms on Jazz Guitar Education and

Performance Practice…………………………………………………………..…………….65
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………..115
Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………...…118
Webography…………………………………………………………………………...……124
Appendix A…………………………………………..………………………………..........129
Appendix B…………………………………………..………………………………..........143
iv
List of Figures
Figure 1: String Sets………………………………………………………………………...29
Figure 2: Fingering Example 1..............................................................................................55
Figure 3: Fingering Example 2…………………………………………………………..…56
Figure 4: Fingering Example 3……………………………………………………………..56
Figure 15: Fingering Example 4……………………………………………………………57
Figure 6: Fingering Example 5…………………………………………………………..…57
Figure 7: Fingering Example 6……………………………………………………………..58
Figure 8: Fingering Example 7…………………………………………………………......58
Figure 9: Fingering Example 8…………………………………………………………......59
Figure 10: Fingering Example 9……………………………………………………………59
Figure 11: Fingering Example 10…………………………………………………………..60
Figure 17: Goodrick’s Graphic Notation………………………………………………...…79
Figure 18: Baroque Tonality Inspired by George Van Eps………………………………....94
Figure 19: George Van Eps 7-String Voicings…………………………………………..….95
Figure 20: George Van Eps ‘ish’ Counterpoint……………………………………………..95
Figure 21: GVE I’ll Remember April……………………………………………………......96
Figure 22: Lesson from George Van Eps in Early 1972………………………………….....96
v
Figure 23: George Van Eps Style Variations……………………………………………….97
Figure 24: The Last Time I Ever Saw my Beloved Teacher and Friend, George Van Eps…98
Figure 25: GVE’s Influence Family Tree………………………………………...………..111
vi
List of Examples
Example 1: Reductions……………………………………………………………………….44
Example 2: 10ths with Inner Line Motion…………………………………………………....45
Example 3: 6ths with Upper Line Motion……………………………………………………45
Example 4: Chromatic Triads……………………………………………………...……...…46
Example 5: Super and Sub Series…………………………………………………………………...46
Example 6: Chromatic Concept – 6ths with Upper Line Motion……………………………47
Example 7: Chromatic Concept – Super and Sub Series……………………………………47
Example 8: Chromatic Concept – 10th Reductions……………………………………….….47
Example 9: The Stagger Concept……………………………………………………………47
Example 10 The Satellite Concept……………….…………………………………………..48
Example 11 The Satellite Concept – Grande Arpeggio………………………………….…..48
Example 12: The Displaced Concept………………………………………………………...48
Example 13: Progressive Motion…………………………………………………………….49
Example 14: The Melodization of Triads…………………………………………………….76
Example 15: Herberman – Autumn Leaves………..…………………………………………82
Example 16: Herberman – I Got Rhythm……...……………………………………………..83
Example 17: Rosenwinkel – A Life Unfolds……………………………………………...…..88
Example 18: Wyble Etude 4……………………………………………………...…………..90
Example 19: Alden 1……..……………………………………………………………..……92
Example 20: Alden 2…………………………………………………………………………92
Example 21: Alden 3…………………………………………………………………………92
vii
Example 22: Alden 4……………..…………………………………………………..………93
Example 23: Alden 5…………………………………………………………………………93
Example 24: Alden 6…………………………………………………………………………93
Example 25: 10ths with Inner Line Motion……………………………………………...….100
Example 26: 6ths with Upper Line Motion…………………………………………………100
Example 27: 10ths with Inner Line Motion -Two…………………………...…………..….100
Example 28: 6ths with Upper Line Motion - Two……………………………………….…100
Example 29: G Major Scale Harmonised in 10ths………………………………...…….…103
Example 30: G Major Scale Harmonised in 10ths with Inner Voice Motion………………103
Example 31: Taylor – Autumn Leaves Etude……………..………………………………...103
Example 32: Howard Morgen’s Arrangement of They Can’t Take That Away From Me….105
Example 33: GVE’s Arrangement of They Can’t Take That Away From Me…………..…..106
Example 34: Triads with Voice Motion……………………………………………………..107
Example 35: Van Eps Style Triads…………………………………………………….…....108
Example 36: Van Eps Based Lick……….…………………………………………..…...…108
Example 37: Van Eps Honeysuckle…………………………..……………………………..109
viii
Acknowledgements
As with any large project, this thesis was supported by a number of people and represents the
culmination of a collective effort. I would like to acknowledge the help and support of the
following:
My wife, Laura, for her infinite patience, caring and support. My parents, who instilled in me
the importance of education and self-discipline and supported me through my studies. Dr
Kerry Houston, for welcoming my initial interest in research at DIT and for his continued
support of the project. Dr David Mooney for proofreading and offering advice on the
document. Breffni Murphy, who not only acted as a sounding board throughout the research
but planted the seed for its fruition both by guiding my first steps on the path of jazz guitar
and by giving me such solid maps as The George Van Eps Method for Guitar and Harmonic
Mechanisms for Guitar, upon which this dissertation is based. Damien Kelly, for generously
filling gaps in my recording knowledge and proofreading the scores. Howard Alden, who,
along with contributing lessons on George Van Eps’s guitar style, completed my collection of
George Van Eps’s publications by passing on his copy of George Van Eps Original Guitar
Solos. Dr Erik Swanson, who so generously shared his doctoral thesis Harmonically
Speaking: George Van Eps and the Great American Songbook, which is the only prior
dissertation on George Van Eps and was an invaluable help.
The many jazz guitarists who responded to my inquiries and acknowledged the influence of
George Van Eps on their guitar style, including Steve Herberman, Dr Martin Taylor MBE,
Sheryl Bailey, Frank Vignola, Tom Lippincott and Jimmy Bruno amongst others. I would
also like to thank all the professors of guitar at Berklee Guitar Department who
acknowledged the role of George Van Eps’s publications in shaping guitar education at
Berklee. And finally, thanks to all of those who responded to emails, offered comments and
answered questions. To all of the above, your help is deeply appreciated.
ix
Abstract
The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the content and influence of George Van Eps’s
Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar, with particular emphasis on the fields of education and
performance practice. Key principles from the volumes are demonstrated through notation,
analysis and audio reproduction.
Chapter one is a literature review of the available secondary sources that cover aspects of
GVE’s teaching and related methodology.
Chapter two examines GVE’s early influences to understand the contextual basis for his
Harmonic Mechanisms series.
Chapter three presents the ten core concepts contained within GVE’s Harmonic Mechanisms
series and addresses certain editorial shortcomings which have impacted the accessibility of
the volumes.
Chapter four assesses GVE’s influence on both jazz guitar pedagogy and performance
practice.
I have recorded all transcribed examples and etudes contained within the dissertation as a
practice-based inquiry of the methodologies contained within Harmonic Mechanisms for
Guitar and related works. The defining of such concepts along with their recording and use
as vehicles for the composition of solo guitar etudes is unprecedented.
This project finds that GVE’s Harmonic Mechanisms series has, and continues to have, a
substantial impact on contemporary jazz guitar education and performance, much of which
has, until the current research, been unacknowledged.
x
Chapter One
Literature Review
Einführung
This chapter assesses the scholarly writings and related media regarding GVE’s guitar style
and his Harmonic Mechanisms series. From the outset, the lack of authoritative information
on the latter is uncovered, and the need for a serious study is duly stressed. Although he
worked extensively as a session musician and innovated the use of the seven-string guitar in
American jazz, GVE’s significance is defined largely by his Harmonic Mechanisms series, a
set of three volumes that are amongst the most thorough accounts of jazz guitar harmony and
voice-leading—the importance of which have been, in the main, largely underestimated until
now. GVE was also one of jazz guitar’s earliest pedagogues and a pioneer of the classical
fingerstyle approach to jazz guitar as a solo instrument.1
This dissertation fills a gap within the existing works in the field on jazz guitar in several
important respects; namely for:
 Its assessment of the influence of GVE’s publications on later pedagogical works and
contemporary performance practice
 Its clear and concise description of the essential concepts contained within the
Harmonic Mechanisms volumes
 The crystallisation of the essential concepts into newly composed etudes
Research Questions
This research aims to answer to following questions:
1
While George Van Eps is best known for his contributions to the field of jazz guitar, he spent eight years
studying classical guitar before writing his first method book.
1
 What are the underlying concepts and techniques taught in GVE’s Harmonic
Mechanisms series?
 How GVE’s publications influenced jazz guitar education?
 How GVE’s publications influenced performance practice?
 How can the principles contained within GVE’s publications be applied to the field of
solo guitar composition?
Related Literature
Interviews
One of the greatest sources of information on GVE comes from an interview with the late
Ted Greene, lasting more than three hours and resulting in Greene’s 1981 article on GVE for
Guitar Player Magazine (August 1981). Many aspects of GVE’s style are addressed along
with opinions on several music and guitar related topics. The article coincided with the
release of GVE’s Harmonic Mechanisms series and served to promote his publications.
While a valuable source of information, it does not address important topics which are
beyond the scope of a brief article, such as the application of the voice-leading principles in
the Harmonic Mechanisms series and how they may be applied within the context of jazz
guitar arranging/composing/improvisation and performance. The recent availability of the
full audio recording of the interview offers a considerably more in-depth insight than the final
article for Guitar Player Magazine and is currently among the most comprehensive sources
of information on GVE’s thoughts and opinions outside of his publications.2
Two shorter interviews have recently become available on www.youtube.com, including a
thirty-minute interview and a one-minute interview, both intended for radio.
2
This interview is now in the public domain in both audio and written formats.
2
In an interview with Bill Milkowski dated 24/10/2009, the contemporary jazz guitarist, Kurt
Rosenwinkel, cites GVE as a strong influence on his harmony, admiring his ability to create
fluid contrapuntal lines via his impressive left-hand technique.3
Another interview with GVE’s collaborator, Howard Alden, records several of his thoughts
on GVE’s influence, including insights into his performance practice. An additional video,
which captures a workshop given by Alden demonstrates how his approach to teaching and
practice, is very akin to the voice-leading exercises of the Harmonic Mechanisms series,
whereby harmonised scales are stripped down to a series of moving intervals—used here by
Alden to harmonise a jazz standard one interval at a time. Alden also reveals how he was
inspired to switch to seven-string guitar upon working with GVE, during which time he
realised the potential of the instrument.4
Magazine Articles
Apart from the previously mentioned article by Ted Greene, Guitar Player featured several
short articles on GVE including features from September 1970 and February 1971 which
contained interview excerpts and later January 1994 and July 1995 editions, both of which
included short examples of GVE’s voice-leading exercises and some comments quoted from
his 1981 interview with Greene. In addition to the above articles, Guitar Player’s January
1990 issue announced GVE as the recipient of its Editors Award for Lifetime Achievement.
The article described GVE as follows: ‘combining awesome technique, a great sense of swing
and a brilliant musical imagination, he remains the undisputed master of fretboard harmony.
In fact, many of his ideas are so advanced that they have yet to be utilized by chord-melody
3
Despite GVE’s classical influence, his left-hand technique was considerably different to that of the classical
guitarist. These differences are addressed in Chapter Two.
4
Full interviews available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yHX2gQOjio, and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j4YMcl7P4s
3
players in general’.5 Just Jazz Guitar magazine published a posthumous tribute in its May
1999 edition which included contributions in the form of brief respectful words from several
of GVE’s admirers including Ted Greene.
Newspaper Articles
The Los Angeles Times has published several articles on GVE, including an article by Jim
Washburn and two articles by Bill Kohlhaase, the latter of which was a posthumous tribute.6
The online newspaper www.independent.co.uk also published an obituary written by Steve
Voce.7
Published Books
The most recent addition to the literature on GVE is a biography titled Guitar Man: The Story
of George Van Eps by Harrison Stephens who, according to the book’s description, set out to
write GVE’s biography and subsequently interviewed GVE weekly for several years:
Harrison Stephens was a journalist who was also a jazz guitarist. He was influenced by the
legendary George Van Eps, who had played with big-name bands and on dozens of records and
soundtracks. George Van Eps was perhaps best-known as the “father of the 7-string guitar”.
Stephens set out to write a biography of Mr Van Eps, and in the late 1980s and early ‘90s, the two
met every Thursday for a couple of years and had conversations about Van Eps’s remarkable
career. This manuscript was the first draft of the book that was shaped from those stories. Not
published until now, the original document was found on Mr Stephens’s desk following his death
in 2015.8
Guitar Man: The Story of George Van Eps was published by Amazon Publishing on a print to
order basis along with a Kindle edition, and although the book itself contains no publication
date, www.amazon.com dates the paperback edition of the latter as being 29 March 2018. As
the only published biography on GVE, it is of considerable significance to the current study.
5
Cited in Stephenson, H. Guitar Man: The Story of George Van Eps, 2018, 136.
6
Washburn, W. (1998) ‘George Van Eps: A Life in Harmony’, Los Angeles Times, doi: 02.1219. Viewed
12/04/2018. Kohlhaase, B. (1993) ‘Jazz Review: George Van Eps Is a One-Man Band at Vinnie’s’, Los Angeles
Times, doi: 12.071993. Viewed 03/05/2018. Kohlhaase, B. (1999) ‘George Van Eps, a Harmonic Memorium’,
Los Anheles Times, doi:01.021999. Viewed 03/05/2018.
7
Voce, S. (1998) ‘Obituary: George Van Eps’ Independent.co.uk, doi: 08.121998. Viewed 03/05/2018.
8
Stephens, H. 2018. Jacket Material.
4
Although it is one of the most complete and important sources of information regarding the
life and career of GVE, the crucial failing of Guitar Man: The Story of George Van Eps is
made explicit by the very circumstances of its ‘publication’; it is, ultimately, an unfinished
project, released following the death of its author in the (draft) form in which it was found
and, as such, lacks several important aspects, such as references and sources for validation of
the claims made therein.9 Furthermore, the narrow focus on biographical and anecdotal
content has greatly overshadowed any effort to understand GVE’s thought-processes and
technical considerations concerning the areas that, more than any other, he devoted his life
to—those of the acts of solo jazz guitar-arranging and performance (as addressed in Erik
Swanson’s doctoral thesis Harmonically Speaking: George Van Eps and the Great American
Songbook) and the drafting and completion of his instructional volumes, their essential
concepts and their influence on wider jazz guitar education and performance considerations
(the focus of this study). While Guitar Man: The Story of George Van Eps is the only book
that focuses solely on the life and career of GVE, Strings of Memories: Jazz & Studio Guitar
Pioneers & Recording Studio Legend Hollywood Session Players by Jim LaDiana, contains a
chapter on GVE which includes interview excerpts with GVE’s daughter Kay Van Eps
Adikes who also edited GVE’s Harmonic Mechanisms series. Described as ‘a retrospective
of a jazz guitar pioneer with daughter Kay Van Eps’, told ‘through chronicled events and a
daughters memory’, the chapter offers considerable biographical information in Kay’s words
in the form of fondly recalled anecdotes.10 Kay’s admiration for her father is evident
throughout the chapter.
9
The question of authenticity led this author to contact the guitarist, Steve Herberman (who is referred to later in
this dissertation), upon which he acknowledged both his own involvement in the book’s ‘publication’, along
with the presence of audio recordings in GVE’s own words that validate the contents. Email correspondence
with the author, 05/07/2018.
10
LaDiana, J. Strings of Memories, 2011, 75.
5
Several books dealing with more general topics of jazz guitar history and related areas such
as those listed below have included information on GVE, although this is generally limited to
a short biography and in some cases, a transcription of a guitar solo.11
Websites
Although at the time of writing, there is no website dedicated to GVE and subsequently
relatively little information pertaining to his work available online, a tribute website
dedicated to Ted Greene— www.tedgreene.com— offers various insights on the influence
GVE exerted on him, including handwritten notes by Greene himself and recorded
conversations with his students. GVE and his publications appear in various discussion
threads in forums both on the above website along with www.jazzguitar.be/forums, which is
a popular discussion platform for many jazz guitar related subjects. Discussions on GVE and
his publications are also present on https://groups.google.com and https://groups.yahoo.com.
The website www.prezi.com, which is dedicated to slideshows, contains a short presentation
on GVE dated June 2014 made by a user named Miles Hubs titled George Van Eps and his
Effect on Music Today. This presentation focuses on GVE’s invention of the seven-string
guitar in Western culture and its use amongst modern guitarists.
A short biographical article written in admiration of GVE appears on
http://www.larrygrinnell.com, dated 09/03/2012, and another short biographical article dated
1999 appears on www.thejazzhouse.org.
11
Masters of the Plectrum Guitar, William Bay, Mel Bay Publications Inc, Missouri, 1995; Interviews with the
Jazz Greats, Charles Chapman, Mel Bay Publications, Missouri 2010; Historical Dictionary of Jazz, John S.
Davies, Scarecrow Press, Maryland, 2002; Strings of Memories, Jim LaDiana, Islandborn Press, Maine, 2011;
The Great Jazz Guitarists, Ivor Mairants, Sanctuary, London, 2002; The History of the Guitar in Jazz, Norman
Mongan, Oak Publications, New York, 1983; The Guitar in Jazz an Anthology, James Sallis, University of
Nebraska Press, Nebraska, 1996; The Jazz Guitar, its Evolution and it’s Players, Maurice J. Summerfield,
Ashley Mark, Blaydon on Tyne, UK, 1979.
6
GVE receives several honorary mentions in various online blogs, one of which is entirely
dedicated to him www.georgevaneps.blogspot.com, however, despite its promising title, it
contains less than 1000 words in total and offers little more than several public domain
photographs and videos along with basic biographical information.
Instructional Material
While GVE is often excluded from historically-focused jazz guitar instructional material, a
recent exception is Jon Wheatley’s Jazz Swing Guitar (2016, Berklee Press) which places
GVE alongside his contemporaries in the form of style-based examples.12 This inclusion is
the exception, however, as the predominantly single-note styles of Django Reinhardt and
Charlie Christian are largely viewed as being synonymous with swing era jazz guitar. While
Wheatley’s publication places GVE’s guitar style in a historical perspective, other works
have focused purely on the reproduction of GVE’s compositions, such as the Spanish
guitarist Jordie Farres’ book/CD ‘The George Van Eps Transcriptions’ and Charles
Chapman’s, George Van Eps Guitar Solos which is a re-publication of early works by GVE.
GVE’s ideas have inspired jazz guitarist Steve Herberman, who has recorded over fifty
instructional videos for guitar at the time of writing—several of which make direct reference
to GVE in their description and many more presumably owe much of their content to GVE’s
ideas.13
Theses and Dissertations
Completed in late 2017 at The Graduate College of The University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign, Erick Swanson’s doctoral thesis, Harmonically Speaking: George Van Eps and
12
As explained in the chapter summary, GVE’s style was so unique that it was often ignored, as it did not fit
easily into a style or genre and contrasted with the largely single-note style of the swing era.
13
This topic is addressed further in Chapter Four.
7
the Great American Songbook overlapped with this work and has, therefore, become a late
(but welcome) supplement to the current research rather than an initial touchstone.
Swanson’s thesis is based largely on the transcription and analysis14 of eight of GVE’s solo
guitar arrangements as follows:
1) The Blue Room
2) I Didn't Know What Time It Was
3) Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall In Love)
4) Lover
5) Lover Man
6) The Very Thought Of You
7) What Is This Thing Called Love
8) Why Was I Born?
Swanson’s first chapter offers perhaps the most complete overview of the life of GVE,
rivalled only by the aforementioned Guitar Man, which was not commercially available
during Swanson’s research, while his Chapter Two (‘Arranging and Performance Style’)
offers a clear and detailed examination of the defining characteristics of GVE’s approach to
solo guitar. As Swanson’s thesis contains only two chapters with a total of nineteen sub-
headings, it is examined here according to the latter. In his ‘Biographical Sketch’, Swanson
compiles much of the then-available literature on GVE into a coherent depiction of the
guitarist’s formative years. ‘The Lap Piano’ addresses GVE’s innovation of the seven-string
guitar and its logistical implications for harmony. ‘Technique’ draws attention to GVE’s
strong classical influence, especially concerning his right-hand, fingerstyle technique.
14
Swanson also performed all eight pieces in a public recital as part of his research.
8
‘Repertoire and Recordings’ draws attention to GVE’s primary recorded and performance
output being in the standard jazz repertoire of show tunes commonly referred to as ‘The
Great American Songbook’. In ‘Methodology’, Swanson documents his process of
transcribing his chosen pieces from GVE’s repertoire. In Chapter Two’s ‘Arranging and
Performance Style’, Swanson goes into great detail on GVE’s arranging methodologies under
the following headings: ‘Rhythmic Approach’, which examines GVE’s use of various
rhythmic devices such as rubato, swing phrasing, syncopation and hemiola; ‘Harmonic
Structures’, which examines GVE’s use of seventh chords, triads and voice-motion; ‘Drop 3
7th Chords and Drop 2 7th Chords’, which each examine GVE’s use of the above chord
voicings in his arrangements; and ‘Shell Voicings’, whereby the author points to GVE’s
frequent omission of the fifth degree from voicings.
‘Triads’ points to GVE’s use of both spread and closed-voiced triads to create specific effects
such as the thickening of a melody. ‘Other Vertical Structures’ points to less-frequently
employed chord voicings not addressed in the above examples.
‘Melody’ addresses GVE’s treatment of a tunes melody in terms of its connection to harmony
and left-hand guitar technique, noting that GVE would often sustain harmony while
simultaneously allowing free melodic voice-motion through his advanced left-hand
technique, with a result similar to the effect accomplished by a pianist through the
coordination of both left and right hands. ‘Reharmonization’ points to GVE’s contrapuntal
approach to harmony.
‘Harmonic Embellishment’ draws attention to GVE’s use of chord substitution and chromatic
passing chords. ‘Harmonic Elaboration’ is similar to the previous section, but points to
longer passages of chord substitutions, often accomplished by implementing a stepwise bass-
line over a passage of static harmony. ‘Full Reharmonization’ refers to GVE’s practice of
9
rewriting the harmony of established tunes. This mostly occurred in the form of adding jazz
style harmony to simple popular tunes which were based on basic harmonic progressions.
‘Form’ examines GVE’s use of introductions and codas as additions to the form of a tune.
Although Swanson’s thesis offers much biographical information on GVE, its primary
purpose is to assess GVE’s arranging style as applied to solo guitar; as Swanson notes:
For this project, eight of his finest and most complex unaccompanied recordings, arranged from
[The] Great American Songbook, have been transcribed, spanning a period from 1955–1994. My
objective is to understand how Van Eps approached arranging for the solo guitar in terms of his
varied rhythmic styles, his treatment of melody, the vertical chord structures that he used (as well
15
as how he approached moving harmony), and his approach to reharmonization.
In this regard, Swanson’s thesis differs from this work, which assesses the content and
influence of GVE’s publications. Although Swanson’s thesis has made an unprecedented
contribution to the understanding of GVE’s arranging style, it makes no effort to assess the
contribution of his publications, despite acknowledging such as his defining contribution. In
Swanson’s words:
While Van Eps was held in the highest esteem by his peers for his playing abilities, he is perhaps
better known now more for his prodigious output as a pedagogue than his recorded music.
Towards the end of his career, Van Eps published a series of three voluminous books known as
Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar, which offered the student a thorough set of exercises intended
16
to explore how to play multiple voices on their instrument.
While Swanson’s work can be considered an important contribution to the academic
literature on solo jazz guitar arranging styles, it leaves much scope for the understanding
of GVE’s methodologies as presented in his Harmonic Mechanisms series which can be
considered the culmination of his life’s work and his defining contribution to the field of
jazz guitar.
In his Master's Dissertation, ‘Ted Greene: Sound, Time and Unlimited Possibility’ (Newark,
New Jersey, 2015), Terrence McManus highlights the influence GVE had on Greene. This
15
Swanson, R. Harmonically Speaking: George Van Eps and the Great American Songbook, University of
Illinois, 2017, abstract (Authors note – reharmonization is here, and in subsequent quotations, kept in its
American-English spelling in order to preserve authenticity).
16
Swanson, R. 2017, 1.
10
influence is particularly important in understanding how GVE’s harmonic ideas may have
been disseminated through Greene’s 1971 book Chord Chemistry, which has become a classic
in the field of jazz guitar harmony.17 Another important feature of this dissertation is the
inclusion of an interview with noted contemporary jazz guitarist Ben Monder, in which the
latter states that he has studied The George Van Eps Method for Guitar along with the first
volume in his Harmonic Mechanisms series, thereby highlighting GVE’s influence at the
forefront of contemporary jazz guitar practice.
Esteban Marquez’ master’s thesis Incorporating Barney Kessel’s Methodology in Jazz Guitar
Instruction, (University of Texas at El Paso, 2000), is primarily a study of the guitar style of
Barney Kessel, based on the analysis of four of Kessel’s arrangements/improvisations and
how they can be used for classroom-based instruction to develop jazz guitar technique. The
pieces addressed in the study are:
‘Barney’s Blues’
‘Our Love Is Here to Stay’
‘Cry Me a River’
‘Satin Doll’
As Marquez observes: ‘the objective of this paper is to examine how the music of Barney
Kessel can be used to help further our knowledge and appreciation of jazz in an educational
environment’.18 In his introduction, Marquez acknowledges GVE as possessing a style
distinct from the more popular single-line plectrum based style of jazz guitar and uses it to
create a contrasting comparison to that of Kessel as follows:
17
George Van Eps’s influence on Chord Chemistry is addressed further in Chapter Four.
18
Marquez, E. Incorporating Barney Kessel’s Methodology in Jazz Guitar Instruction 2000, Abstract.
11
The electric guitar came into existence in the mid-1930s. It was a new and distinct instrument.
The instrument was not well received when it was first introduced because it created a new set of
variables when it was employed in a traditional music setting. When this new instrument
appeared, many guitarists approached it as if it was an acoustic instrument; they attempted to play
it using either a classical guitar or a “banjo” style of technique. Gradually, some guitarists were
able to develop a style of playing using a fingerstyle approach. One of these innovative guitarists
was George Van Eps, who described his approach to the instrument as “lap style piano”. Using an
advanced harmonic approach to playing the instrument, Van Eps’ harmonic vocabulary was
profuse in color and contrast. Barney Kessel’s approach to the instrument was different from this.
Kessel played the instrument using a plectrum (pick), and he also played more in the style of
another great guitarist, Charlie Christian, who approached playing jazz on the guitar much as a
19
vocalist or a wind player might, in a more lyrical or melodic style.
From this point on, Marquez places a great emphasis on Charlie Christian’s influence on
Kessel, and while he acknowledges GVE as a guitarist with a style that strongly contrasts
with that of Christian, Marquez fails to acknowledge GVE’s influence on Kessel, despite
such influence being acknowledged several times by Kessel himself.20
While Charlie Christian was perhaps the most important influence on Kessel’s guitar style,
Kessel drew from several sources, not least among which were GVE’s early Guitar Method
and approach to harmony in general. Indeed, the characteristic which most distinguishes
Kessel’s guitar style from that of Christian’s is his use of chord melody and harmonic
sophistication which was absent in Christian’s single-line style. In this regard, Marquez
thesis is another example of GVE’s publications being overlooked as a formative influence
on popular jazz guitar styles.
Matthew Robert Dunne’s doctoral thesis, Nine Jazz Etudes for Classical Guitar (University
of Texas Austin 2002), is devoted to the writing and analysis of a series of etudes for classical
guitar which represent certain stylistic elements of jazz guitar loosely pertaining to classical
eras within jazz (such as swing modal, etc). During his introduction of jazz guitar styles,
Dunne traverses from early blues and gospel-based influences via slave settlement in New
Orleans to a brief mention of Brazilian influences on to Django Reinhardt and Charlie
19
Marquez, E. Incorporating Barney Kessel’s Methodology in Jazz Guitar Instruction 2000, Abstract, 1/2.
20
GVE’s influence on Barney Kessel is addressed in Chapter Four.
12
Christian’s single-line style through to electric and modal influences without mentioning
GVE, who personified perfectly a balanced mix of classical (fingerstyle) technique as applied
to the language of jazz, which is central to Dunne’s study. The lack of acknowledgement for
GVE is again felt in his Etude 6 which features contrary motion between the bass voice
below an upper triad - a technique highly reminiscent of GVE. That such material is
presented without acknowledging GVE is a testament to how he has been largely forgotten,
not only to the public but also to the educated researcher within the field of classical and jazz
guitar.
Similarly, Guilherme Caldeira Loss Vincens’ doctoral thesis The Arrangements of Roland
Dyens and Sérgio Assad: Innovations in Adapting Jazz Standards and Jazz-Influenced
Popular Works to the Solo Classical Guitar (University of Arizona, 2009) highlights the
abovementioned classical guitarists' contributions to the repertoire of jazz standards for
classical guitar, pointing to the greater degree of polyphony found in the arrangements when
compared with classic solo jazz guitar approaches due to the implementation of the classical
fingerstyle technique. Again, the author does not acknowledge GVE’s contributions in the
field of fingerstyle solo jazz guitar which is also characterised by its polyphonic approach.
Quentin Angus’s doctoral thesis Phrasing and Polyrhythm in Contemporary Jazz Guitar: A
Portfolio of Recorded Performances and Exegesis (University of Adelaide, 2014) offers an
in-depth examination of polyrhythm in the context of jazz guitar. This subject is addressed in
chapter four of GVE’s Harmonic Mechanisms Volume Three titled ‘odd against even’, yet
Angus makes no mention of GVE’s work and is seemingly unaware of such.
In his Master’s thesis, An Integral Approach for Jazz Guitar Improvisation (Rutgers
University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 2005), Rocco Matone proposes a system of left-
hand fingering that can be learned systematically by the jazz guitar student. Matone makes
13
several mentions of GVE’s fingering suggestions and string-set groupings as found in his
Harmonic Mechanisms series, but points out that the volumes are presented in a disorganised
manner and therefore largely inaccessible to the reader. Matone’s work is helpful both in its
mention (although brief) of GVE’s fingerings along with that of several other jazz guitarists
and in his observation of the inaccessibility of his work, but again, such topics are subject to
brief mentions as opposed to critical study.
Other doctoral theses (such as Strategies in Jazz Guitar Improvisation by Stein Helge
Solstad, (Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo, 2015) have focused on jazz guitar
improvisation, but have neglected to address chordal based improvisation, favouring the more
well-known, single-line approach.
In the doctoral thesis, ‘An Analysis of Freddie Green’s Guitar Style and his Importance in the
History of Jazz Guitar’ by Lewis Hay Dickert Jr, (University of Memphis, 1994) Dickert
states: ‘It is concluded that Green was unique among jazz guitarists in that he focused solely
on rhythm guitar playing and voice-leading, in both of which he had no equal. Consequently,
his impact on jazz guitar will continue to be felt for many generations’.21 While it is true that
Green was unique amongst jazz guitarists for his exclusive focus on rhythmic accompaniment
and may rightfully be considered the foremost exponent of such, the use of voice-leading in
his technique is overstated here. Although Green did successfully achieve impressive voice-
leading in the context of a block chordal technique, GVE’s voice-leading went far beyond
such a method, implementing sophisticated counterpoint in a solo guitar setting, whereby
melody, harmony and countermelody are applied simultaneously. Also noteworthy is
Green’s early study with Alan Reuss, himself a student of GVE. As pointed out in Dickert’s
research:
21
Dickert, L. An Analysis of Freddie Green’s Guitar Style and his Importance in the History of Jazz Guitar,
1994, 16.
14
According to the late Steve Jordan, rhythm guitarist for the Bradley-Mckinley Band,
Green studied for a short time with Allan Reuss, Benny Goodman’s rhythm
guitarist: “Freddie Green told me that Allan Reuss straightened out his rhythm work
when he was first working with Count Basie, shortly before I went to Allan for help
when I was twenty-years old and playing with the Bradley-McKinley Band’’.
Jordan was twenty-years old in 1939, therefore it can be concluded that Green
studied with Reuss that same year. Reuss taught rhythm guitar by watching and
listening to his students and then using a pencil and yellow pad to draw open-voiced
chord diagrams and explain the concepts he felt the student needed at that particular
time. Reuss learned rhythm guitar directly from George Van Eps. Therefore,
Green’s school of thought paralleled that of Van Eps.22
The above statement highlights how GVE has so often indirectly impacted the development
of jazz guitar.23
The Need for Research
From the above discussion, it can be seen that while several sources augment the
understanding of GVE as a performer, arranger and inventor, there are very limited materials
available that directly assess his Harmonic Mechanisms series and their role in the
development of jazz guitar performance and teaching methodologies. Although GVE must
be considered an important figure in jazz guitar both in terms of his highly personal approach
and emphasis on harmony, the scope for research remains great, as none of the above
publications has directly addressed his Harmonic Mechanisms series, despite the latter being
the culmination of forty years of study and therefore his life’s work. While the majority of
academic writing on jazz guitar have thus far sought primarily to identify the idiosyncrasies
(and thus the style) of important figures within the genre, this research contrasts by
examining important pedagogical output and assessing both its impact on contemporary
practice along with its largely untapped potentiality and how it may be used in the context of
performance and arrangement.
22
Jordan, S. and Scanlan, T. Cited in Rhythm Man: Fifty Years in Jazz (Ann Arbor, University of Michigan
press, 1991, 136).
23
George Van Eps’s influence on Green and the legacy of jazz rhythm guitar is discussed further in Chapter
Four.
15
This thesis further draws attention to the very origins of the harmonically-sophisticated
approach which is prevalent in modern jazz guitar as expressed through triadic voice-leading
practices. The research presented here also points to the origin of a formalised approach to
the study of improvisation for jazz guitar and demonstrates how this approach became a
touchstone for modern jazz guitar education as realised by Berklee Guitar Department and
Musicians Institute amongst others. This research also presents the essential concepts
contained within the Harmonic Mechanisms in a clear, applicable and musical form through
newly composed etudes based on these concepts.
Methodology and Procedure
In order to gain insight into GVE’s methodologies, an analysis of the content of each book in
his three-volume Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar is undertaken to lay the foundation for
understanding key concepts and devices presented throughout the volumes. This
understanding is then distilled into a presentation of the key concepts and techniques which
form the basis of GVE’s approach to guitar. These concepts are then used as the basis for the
composition of a series of etudes for solo guitar which demonstrates the concept in a musical
application. Along with analysing GVE’s publications themselves, this thesis also examines
their influence on later publications and contemporary current practice. Having identified the
key elements of GVE’s style, an examination into the field of jazz guitar instructional
literature and media exposes stylistic elements which have derived from GVE’s
methodologies. An examination of the arrangements of several contemporary performers
who can be traced through the lineage of GVE’s instruction highlights his influence on
contemporary performance practice. Fresh insights are gathered from contemporary
performers and educators within the field via interview to assess GVE’s influence on his
contemporaries and current practice.
16
To fully appreciate GVE’s methodologies, I, the author, will record all of the transcriptions
included in this dissertation consisting of exercises and pieces from GVE’s publications along
with those of his successors and each of the etudes demonstrating the essential concepts
contained in the volumes. The audio recordings will be submitted as a separate volume
which comprises a salient part of the research.
Fazit
A growing number of theses address the music of high profile jazz musicians to further the
understanding of jazz music and its place in society. This has greatly increased the amount of
credible information on jazz in a musicological sense and is, in turn, helping to clarify a genre
that has been largely undocumented until relatively recently. While the field of jazz studies is
steadily increasing, serious critical appreciation of the early jazz guitar is still relatively
limited (and less so, the educational material written by such guitarists). This thesis adds to
the understanding of GVE and his contributions to the fields of jazz guitar education and
performance practice, paying particular attention to his publications which have remained in
the shadows of guitar history.
GVE had the unfortunate fate of falling between two genres to the extent of being largely
ignored by both; his classical influence flourished at a time when jazz guitar was growing
ever closer towards its cousin (rock music) and his strong association with jazz guitar
performance left his works unexamined by the serious classical guitarist. Despite these
impediments, GVE’s influence is evident in the music of several important modern players
and his ideas are experiencing a revival in modern times, albeit in a form that does not always
acknowledge its origins. Moreover, this research demonstrates how GVE’s methodologies
have had a profound though often indirect influence on jazz guitar education and have
influenced the curriculum of some of the most respected jazz guitar institutes and educators
17
in the world. It is the purpose of this work to draw attention to the origins of the harmonic
approach to jazz guitar and place GVE in the historical context in which he belongs.
18
Chapter Two:
Pre-Harmonic Mechanisms: GVE’s Early Influences
Einführung
This chapter examines GVE’s early life, musical influences and educational output prior to
the publication of the Harmonic Mechanisms series. This includes an observation of the
influences shaped by his early family life, including his fascination with harmony and his
desire to reproduce pianistic harmony on the guitar. Also noted is the almost unparalleled
exposure GVE had to the most prominent jazz and popular musicians of his time through his
exhaustive career as a studio, big band and session guitarist.
This is followed by a survey of each of his early publications in order of publication: The
George Van Eps Method for Guitar, Three Compositions, and George Van Eps Original
Guitar Solos.24
Influences
GVE’s obsession with music and mechanical precision are not surprising given that the Van
Eps family can be traced back through six generations of musicians and watchmakers. As the
youngest in his family, GVE had the benefit of both his mother and older siblings as
influences, as GVE noted: ‘the house was like a conservatory’.25 Being a musical family,
several figures frequented the Van Eps household and were held in great esteem by GVE.
One such figure was Ralph Wiley, a professor of music at Harvard University and teacher to
two of GVE’s older brothers. Wiley’s aesthetic greatly impressed GVE and he refers to him
24
Here, GVE’s early publications are given a brief review in order to more fully understand their influence on
his later Harmonic Mechanisms series. As these early publications have been reproduced elsewhere in video,
audio and written formats, a thorough analysis here is unnecessary. See, Chapman, C. (2000) George Van Eps
Guitar Solos. Mel Bay Publishing, Missouri, and https://www.youtube.com/user/RobMacKillop/videos.
25
Stephenson, H. 2018, 29.
19
with great admiration, both in his Harmonic Mechanisms and during his interview with Ted
Greene. GVE devotes a short section in Harmonic Mechanisms Volume Three to Wiley,
titled ‘A Late Acknowledgement to An Early Friend’ in which he refers to Wiley as a master
musicologist and philosopher who never failed to be interesting and wise. GVE also notes
that although he did not study directly with Wiley “there was a lot of ‘rub off”.26 Wiley
seems to have embodied the kind of prestige which GVE aimed to achieve, both for himself
and jazz guitar as a respectable art form.
Another notable influence on GVE was George Gershwin who, at one point, served as
accompanist to GVE’s father, himself a famous banjoist and banjo maker. As GVE recalls:
‘Gershwin was my dad’s accompanist for a while...he hadn’t written Rhapsody in Blue yet,
but he was toying with the idea, and he’d play things like that on the piano…I was 5 years old
at the time…he’d bounce me on his knee…he always kept time to everything…I’d sit here
and he’d bounce me up and down. It was great’.27
Although such an encounter seems incidental, GVE referred to Gershwin as ‘a remarkable
man’ and spoke proudly of their early encounters. Whether responsible or not, two distinct
parallels can be drawn between GVE and Gershwin’s musical direction, that of extended
harmony and traditional classical technique applied to the then-contemporary setting of jazz
and studio music. Also notable is the influence of GVE’s elder brother Robert Van Eps. In
GVE’s words:
‘I listened to everybody. Mostly piano players…of course my brother was the biggest
influence’.28 GVE has cited his elder brother as his reason for creating the seven-string
guitar, the purpose of which is to extend the range of the instrument through the inclusion of
26
Van Eps, G. 1982, Harmonic Mechanisms Volume Three, 2.
27
Van Eps, G. Interview with Ted Greene, 1981.
28
Ibid.
20
low A-string and octave below the fifth-string. ‘I wanted to get down where my brother was
playing…a piano only goes an octave lower’.29 GVE stated many times that he wished to
play pianistically and often referred to his guitar as a lap piano. During his performing
career, GVE worked with Fats Waller nightly for six months in the format of guitar and piano
duo.30 Recalling this period, GVE stated: ‘We got along harmonically and personally’, and
further elaborated: ‘he would play very pointedly and suddenly go into a very velvety sea,
like the doldrums. He’s still striding but he’s using the sustaining pedal. I try to imitate that;
I can do it at times when everything’s going right. Art Tatum did that too and he got it from
Fats’.31 GVE’s reference here to Art Tatum is significant, as Kay also notes GVE both
expressed a desire to play like Art Tatum on guitar and referred to the pianist as a genius. 32
Along with the above jazz pianists, GVE cites several classical influences, including the
harmony of Bach and the piano works of Rachmaninoff, whom he held in particular regard:
I enjoy Rachmaninoff very much because he was not only a perfectionist, but he was a
marvellous creator, he wrote marvellously, he was a master orchestrator and just a natural,
highly inspired musician. I learned a lot listening to Rachmaninoff.33 Also notable is the
influence of Duke Ellington, whom GVE’s daughter Kay Van Eps referred to as ‘one of his
heroes’.34
Pianist Bill Evans was also held in high regard by GVE and was referred to by the latter in
his interview with Ted Greene as ‘adroit’ ‘marvellous’ and ‘inventive’.35
29
Van Eps, G. Cited in Greene, T. 1981.
30
Stephenson, H. 2018, 87
31
Ibid 88.
32
LaDiana, J. 2011, 87
33
Ibid, 21.
34
LaDiana, J. 2011, 87.
35
Van Eps G. Cited in Greene, T. 1981.
21
While the piano’s harmonic capacity captured GVE’s imagination, it was ultimately Eddie
Lang, (whom GVE referred to as his hero) and his use of tenths that made GVE decide to
devote himself to guitar.36
I didn’t really copy tenths from Eddie Lang, although he used them, because I was hearing those
on the piano right from 3 years old on up. But Eddie was the first one I’d heard play tenths in a
pianistic way on guitar. I immediately told myself: I want that. That’s how the purchase of the
first Martin came about because that’s the first thing that struck me – the richness, the fullness of
those tenths on guitar, the way they would sustain. You couldn’t do that on the banjo, so that ruled
37
out the banjo.
GVE would later befriend his childhood hero and eventually, the two worked side by side in
The Smith Ballew Band. While GVE does not reference any publications in particular as
having been influential, there are several sources that are likely to have had at least some
influence on his works. Perhaps foremost among them was a work by his elder brother
Robert, which was never published but had the intended title of The Mechanics of the Piano
Keyboard and was to deal with similar content to GVE’s Harmonic Mechanisms series but
aimed at the pianist. In an interview with Ted Greene, GVE expressed his admiration for his
brother’s work by stating: ‘Rob’s book, The Mechanics of the Piano Keyboard…when that
comes out that’s going to open piano players eyes because it’s so damn full of logic’.38
Although it is not known which of the Van Eps’ began working on their respective
educational materials first, they almost certainly influenced each other, as the title The
Mechanics of the Piano Keyboard bears a strong resemblance to Harmonic Mechanisms and
GVE has commented on times he and his elder brother would sit and discuss the contents of
their works, both of which were in developmental stages at the same time. It is also worth
noting that GVE’s father Fred Van Eps published a book of banjo solos in 1923 on which the
cover page describes the solos as ‘carefully arranged and fingered’.39 Although GVE
36
Stephenson, H. 2018, 4
37
Van Eps, G. Cited in Stephenson, H. 2018, 3.
38
Van Eps G. Cited in Greene, T. 1981.
39
Van Eps Banjo Solos, Van Eps. F. 1923, WMJ Music Co. Inc. New York.
22
discounted his father’s influence (having been primarily raised by his mother) it is likely to
have borne some influence on GVE’s later work; if only as a touchstone of publication
standards.
Other likely influences were Eddie Lang’s Modern Advanced Guitar Method (1935) and
Eddie Lang’s Fingerboard Harmony for Guitar (1936), as Lang was an early influence on
GVE and both titles were published shortly before GVE started work on his first guitar
method. Interestingly, Lang seems to have had little to do with either of the publications
since they were written by author Dave Berend after Lang’s death in 1933, although they are
credited as written by Lang in collaboration with Dave Berend and focus on Lang’s guitar
style. Both Eddie Lang’s Modern Advanced Guitar Method and Eddie Lang’s Fingerboard
Harmony for Guitar focus primarily on rudimentary material related to guitar playing
including basic chord forms, scales, arpeggios and basic music theory. Included are several
more advanced sections which are designed to appeal to Lang’s fan base including Typical
Eddie Lang Chord Study and Exercises on an Eddie Lang Cadenza along with excerpts from
recordings by Lang. While the content itself would seem uninspiring, especially to GVE, the
very notion of two publications dubiously attributed to Lang containing little more than guitar
fundamentals may have inspired GVE to release his material. Indeed, GVE states in the
introduction to The George Van Eps Method for Guitar that one of the main reasons for
publishing the book was a general lack of high-quality information for guitarists of the time.
During his interview with Ted Greene, GVE recalls: ‘the two great influences were Eddie
Lang and…the greatest influences were Eddie Lang, initially, and then I heard the potential
of the instrument when I heard Segovia play’.40
As Erik Swanson notes in Harmonically Speaking: George Van Eps and the Great American
Songbook:
40
Van Eps, G. Cited in Greene, T. 1981. Here, GVE is referring to the year 1928, when he was 15 years old.
23
‘Van Eps’ technical approach to solo guitar playing…is highly informed by classical guitar
technique’, and:
Visual evidence shows that the orientation of his right hand was very similar to Andrés Segovia’s
right hand, in which the wrist is slightly extended outward and angled down (as opposed to most
modern classical guitarists who keep the wrist straight). Other aspects of classical guitar
performance practice, such as the usage of sul ponticello (where the performer changes the timbre
of a note by attacking the strings closer to the bridge), can also be heard in many of Van Eps’
41
recordings.
While Swanson’s observations may be correct, GVE’s right-hand position was also
influenced by a breakage that occurred in 1976, after which he changed the angle of his right-
hand to compensate for the lack of mobility.42 Another noteworthy example of the classical
influence on GVE is that in his private practice, he only used a classical nylon-stringed
instrument.43
During their 1981 interview, Ted Greene asked GVE why he did not choose to pursue a
career as a classical guitarist to which GVE responded: ‘because this man [Andrés Segovia]
was so great—I’m not a defeatist—but I figured he has got that field so cornered that I’m
going to stay away from it. Now, I spent eight years with a classical repertoire, you
know…1932 to 1940’.44 The years 1932-1940 overlap with the publication of The George
Van Eps Method for Guitar which suggests a strong classical influence on the publication. In
Strings of Memories, GVE’s daughter recalls: ‘daddy played me to sleep every night. He
played things on the cornet and then he’d play his gut string. He would play my favourite,
Tarrega’s tremolo study. I love that. And he would play things for me and I would go to
sleep to that’.45 This classical influence goes well beyond The George Van Eps Method for
Guitar and is prevalent in every aspect of GVE’s approach to guitar including his emphasis
on solo performance, his adoption of the classical fingerstyle technique and his emphasis on
41
Swanson, E. 2017, 11/12.
42
43
Ibid, 11.
44
45
LaDiana, J. 2011, 80.
24
precise mechanical devices as a means of performance and improvisation – all of which can
be considered as opposing the norms of jazz guitar as it developed through the swing, bebop
and modal eras of GVE’s lifetime.
Professional Engagements
Along with having the privilege of a highly musical upbringing, GVE also collaborated with
many of the leading musicians of his time. Such experience has undoubtedly effected his
musical development and shaped his individuality. In the years before the release of his first
publication, GVE was extremely prolific as a studio guitarist, working simultaneously at
Columbia Studios, Brunswick, Voctor and Decca. GVE himself estimated that in the year
1934 alone, he featured on well over 2000 recordings.46 As a complete list is impossible,
given that GVE’s career spanned almost seven decades and included work with many large
ensembles such as big bands and orchestras, the following lists some of the more prominent
musicians with whom Van Eps worked. 47
Dance Bands: (listed by bandleaders)
 Smith Ballew
 Gene Fosdick and Milt Shaw
 Freddy Martin
 Henry Tobias
 The Dorsey Brothers
 Benny Goodman
 Ray Noble
46
Stephens, H. 2018. 13.
47
Van Eps was said to be able to recall working in fifteen dance bands, fifty-one recording radio and television
orchestras, five radio staff bands and a countless number of what he referred to as ‘pickup groups’ for casual
dates. Stephens, H. 2018. 69.
25
 Jimmy Lytell
 Ray Conniff
 Skitch Henderson
 Pete Rugolo
 Archie Bleyer
 Adrian Rollini
 Reus Morgen
 Van Eps Brothers
Singers:
 Frank Sinatra
 Peggy Lee
 Tony Bennett
 Doris Day
 Bing Crosby
 Fred Astaire
 Sarah Vaughan
 Helen Ward
 Mel Tormé
 Yma Sumac
Prominent Musicians and arrangers:
 Louis Armstrong
 Fats Waller
 Hoagie Carmichael
26
 Liberace
 Jack Teagarden
 Bix Beiderbecke
 Roy Eldridge
 Ben Webster
 Coleman Hawkins
 Frankie Signorelli
 Teddy Wilson
 Nelson Riddle
 Paul Weston
The George Van Eps Method for Guitar
‘The average guitar player, way back when, wasn’t very good, and my father felt that they
were too limited. They had this whole fingerboard to use and they weren’t using it. That’s
why he wrote the method. He used to call it playing “wall to wall”’.48
GVE’s first book The George Van Eps Method for Guitar was put together in about seven
weeks over the winter of 1937-1938 when GVE found out that a student of his intended to
publish his own book based on GVE’s lesson material. This was done with the help of his
wife, who was a journalist and several writers loaned to GVE from the Epiphone Company
who published the book. Compared to the voluminous Harmonic Mechanisms series, The
George Van Eps Method for Guitar offers a succinct account of GVE’s teaching style and
approach to solo guitar in general, with its large emphasis on harmonic formulas and
intervallic exercises.
48
Stephens, H. 2018. 84.
27
In the forward, GVE states that “Through this method I hope to open the door to a new type
of harmonic technique and knowledge for the guitar”.49 GVE points out that each of the
exercises is presented in one key to save space but should be practised in all keys by the
student, who should not favour one key over another. The method begins with general
instructions, including holding the guitar, the pick and wrist action and hand position. While
GVE’s instructions are generally similar to the classical approach and highlight the
importance of developing what he calls mechanical perfection, certain aspects, such as his
method of holding the guitar and the use of a plectrum are fundamentally different to the
traditional classical technique. For example, while sitting with the guitar, GVE suggests
crossing the left leg over the right so that the left knee rests above the right while keeping the
right foot on the floor. GVE points out that although the left leg may go to sleep in this
position, it will not bother the student after it becomes familiar.
Following the general instructions, page six introduces the string sets, which organises the
strings into twenty-two groups of combinations as follows:
49
Van Eps, G. The George Van Eps Method for Guitar, 1938, 2.
28
1. 1st set of 3 (1/3)
2. 2nd set of 3 (2/3)
3. 3rd set of 3 (3/3
4. 4th set of 3 (4/3)
5. 1st set of 4 (1/4)
6. 2ns set of 4 (2/4)
7. 3rd set of 4 (3/4)
8. 1st set of broken 3 (1/B3)
9. 2nd set of broken 3 (2/B3)
10. 3rd set of broken 3 (3/B3)
11. Broken 1st set of 3 (B1/3)
12. Broken 2nd set of 3 (B2/3)
13. Broken 3rd set of 3 (B3/3)
15. 2ns set of broken 4 (2/B4)
17. 2nd set of broken 2 (2/B2)
18. 3rd set of broken 2 (3/B2)
19. 4th set of broken 2 (4/B2)
20. (A/1)
21. (A/2)
22. (A/3)50
These groupings are depicted in a graphic that shows the strings of each grouping marked on
the fingerboard (see figure 1).
50
The groupings A/1, A/2 and A/3 are not explained as well as the previous sets, but refer here to strings 1 – 4,
2 – 5 and 3 – 6, respectively. This is depicted in Figure 1.
29
Figure 1: string sets.
The first twenty-five exercises are all variations of the harmonised major scale, which is
presented in various sequences and rhythms with a variety of picking techniques. The
following exercises make the same use of rhythmic and picking variations but focus on
different tonalities, with exercises twenty-six to thirty-two being minor, thirty-three to forty-
seven dominant and the remainder of the exercises (forty-eight to eighty-two) focusing on
diminished tonalities with added complexities including combined open and closed string
voicings and inner voice motion.
GVE’s first publication set many of the trends which are prevalent throughout his succeeding
volumes; it primarily focuses on triads with single-voice motion as applied to major and
minor tonalities, including chromaticism and contrary motion and presents exhaustive left-
hand fingering variations, some of which are not considered practical but are, rather, designed
as exercises for the left hand. Also notable are several presentational oddities which carry
through the volumes such as the lack of time signatures in examples and the occasional lack
30
of bar lines.51 However, its use of a single key to demonstrate each concept sets it apart from
later publications and while all of the exercises in the guitar method are recommended to be
placed in all twelve keys, (with a few exceptions) they are not exhaustively presented that
way as in the Harmonic Mechanisms series. Although GVE’s next publications were three
short solo compositions, in The George Van Eps Method for Guitar he states that ‘succeeding
volumes are in preparation for publication in the near future’.52
Three Compositions for Solo Guitar53 and Original Guitar Solos
A year after the publication of The George Van Eps Method for Guitar, The Epiphone
Company published three short compositions for solo guitar by GVE titled ‘Queerology’
‘Squattin at the Grotto’ and ‘Study in 8ths’. It is unclear as to why such a small offering was
published, considering the amount of material GVE had in the form of manuscript notes,
especially considering the above statement of ‘volumes’ being ready for publication in the
near future. Each of the three compositions for solo guitar is harmonically dense, and do not
easily fall into conventional categorisation.
GVE’s third publication George Van Eps Original Guitar Solos, published twenty-six years
after The George Van Eps Guitar Method, contains six compositions for solo guitar which
emphasise his techniques of voice-motion, delayed chordal entry and sustained harmony.
Although a mere sixteen pages in total, this volume offers a unique insight into GVE’s
harmonic ideas in actual application and has been referenced as an important influence on
several contemporary guitarists including Howard Alden, who recommends dividing every
51
The majority of exercises throughout GVE’s publications contain no time signature yet are presented with
time signatures in this study for the sake of clarity.
52
Van Eps, G. 1938, 2.
53
The three compositions, along with George Van Eps Original Guitar Solos are minor publications in
comparison to The George Van Eps Method for Guitar and the Harmonic Mechanisms series, but are included
here for the purpose of presenting GVE’s publications in their entirety. These works have been re-published by
Mel Bay with a full harmonic analysis. For more on this, see Chapman, C. (2000) George Van Eps Guitar Solos,
Mel Bay Publishing, Missouri.
31
two measures into a short study and transposing it to all keys and Frank Vignola, who states
that George Van Eps Original Guitar Solos has influenced him tremendously.54 Formatting
peculiarities are evident from the outset, where the table of contents lists the song order in a
way that does not correspond to progressive page layout as follows:
Cross Roads……………. 2
Love Theme No. One….. 5
Love Theme No. Two…. 10
Midnight……………….. 12
Tango…………………... 14
Water Fall………………. 8
Here, Water Fall is listed at the end of the contents, despite its position as the third piece in
the volume. It is also unclear as to whether the pieces Cross Roads and Water Fall are
deliberately titled as such, as opposed to Crossroads and Waterfall. It seems likely, however,
that Love Theme No. One and Love Theme No. Two were originally intended as being
grouped together, or perhaps mistakenly presented in such a way by an editor. The main
techniques emphasised in George Van Eps Original Guitar Solos are hinted at by GVE in the
preface when he states: ‘I hope these solos will provide interest through the use of ties and
suspensions to sustain tones while other tones are in motion’.55 Although left-hand fingerings
are included, George Van Eps Original Guitar Solos marks the beginning of a trend that
follows through GVE’s later publications; a huge discrepancy towards the level of attention
given to left and right hands. Again, in the preface: ‘These solos may be played with a pick
54
Vignola stated this in email correspondence with the author, 04/02/18, while Alden has expressed the above
idea several times, including during public interviews and in conversation with the author.
55
Van Eps, G. George Van Eps Original Guitar Solos, 1964, 1.
32
by agile cross or skip picking where necessary, but were intended for fingerstyle. Right-hand
fingerings have been omitted because there are many choices. Use standard alternate
fingering or whatever fingering is most comfortable for you’.56
Fazit
By examining GVE’s early life and career along with his early publications, the above
chapter pieces together the many influences which helped to shape his life’s work as
manifested through his Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar. Several important themes are
evident, notable among them the influence of the piano from his elder brother and Gershwin
coupled with his admiration for the guitar via his childhood heroes Eddie Lang and Andrés
Segovia. Also notable is his desire to encode his method, which, perhaps to his
dissatisfaction was first released under time constraints as The George Van Eps Method for
Guitar. Despite its hasty production, The George Van Eps Method for Guitar demonstrates
many of the trends which run throughout Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar including its
emphasis on harmony in general and triads in particular, along with the importance placed on
the delivery of concepts in major, harmonic minor and melodic minor tonalities. Having
surveyed the landscape from which Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar emerged, the following
chapter examines the content of the volumes themselves.
56
Van Eps, G. George Van Eps Original Guitar Solos, 1964, 1.
33
Chapter Three:
GVE’s Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar
Einführung
The purpose of this chapter is to present the core principles contained within the Harmonic
Mechanisms for Guitar series. Since their publication, even the most serious students of the
volumes have expressed their frustration with the lack of organisation of exercises, the
absence of practical applications and the relentless manner in which a single idea is presented
exhaustively through twelve keys in three tonalities (major, melodic and harmonic minors)
with exhaustive left-hand fingering variations on a wide variety of string-groupings. As this
chapter demonstrates through GVE’s own words, his intention was for the reader to pick a
single area of interest for study with the countless variations of such serving as an
encyclopaedic reference. This approach, however, is not made clear in the volumes
themselves and thus a logical system of study has eluded readers since their publication.
Along with drawing attention to the crucial factors that contribute to their inaccessibility, this
chapter addresses the frustrations students have expressed due to the lack of clarity and
concise presentation contained therein. The chapter concludes by detailing each of the core
concepts in just such a concise manner, thereby clearly presenting their key harmonic ideas in
a highly distilled and readily accessible format.
Harmonic Mechanisms
‘They contain some of the most in-depth revolutionary resources of the harmonic framework
of music as applied to the guitar fingerboard ever presented’ – Jim LaDiana.57
57
LaDiana, J. 2011, 85.
34
‘His main goal was to teach guitar players – or anybody on any instrument – to have facility
in all 12 keys and in major and two minors. He wanted them to be able to improvise in any
key that anybody wanted to play in’ – Kay Van Eps.58
Comprised of a combined 897 pages, GVE’s Harmonic Mechanisms series expands greatly
on the ideas put forth in The George Van Eps Method for Guitar and represent the distillation
of a lifetime of serious harmonic study. While the material itself was written by GVE over a
forty-year period on an estimated 16,000 manuscript sheets, it was GVE’s daughter Kay Van
Eps-Adikes who compiled the material into book form and worked closely with GVE as
editor and proof-reader.59 As Adikes stated: ‘I had to go through every sheet…it took me six
and a half years to put the book together. I finished it April 12, 1982’.60
Throughout GVE’s publications, the notion that one lifetime is not long enough for a detailed
study of all the harmonic possibilities contained therein is repeatedly emphasised.
GVE states in the series introduction that achieving creativity will be the natural result of
countless hours of mechanical reproduction of the mechanisms presented, which the student
is expected to elaborate on and use as springboards towards further exploration.
‘There are really years and years in that first volume…to do it in all the keys…could be five,
ten years worth of work for a serious guy’ – Ted Greene.61
‘A work of this magnitude, from such a virtuoso, should be sought by guitarists of countless
generations. These timeless concepts will remain fresh and viable in the twenty-first
century’- Charlie Menees.62
58
LaDiana, J. 2011, 130.
59
Ibid.
60
Ibid. Here, Kay is referring to the completion of Volume Three, as Volume One was published in 1980. This
is congruent with comments made by GVE in which he would refer to the combined three volumes as ‘the book’
as opposed to individuating the separate volumes.
61
Greene, T. 1981.
35
Throughout the Harmonic Mechanisms series, virtually all exercises except for a few short
examples, are presented exhaustively in twelve keys in major, harmonic and melodic minor
tonalities in three inversions through the full range of the instrument across a variety of
string-groupings. This approach has been the focus of much criticism since their publication,
as many readers feel that the principles could be described and demonstrated in a single key
with the task of transposition being left to the reader as in The George Van Eps Method for
Guitar. GVE has defended his approach by stating that each key has its own specific
fingering challenges which are addressed throughout the exercises.
Inaccessibility
‘I’m also known to be quite redundant at times—most of the time as a matter of fact, but, I’ve
found over the years “things” must be pictured and explained many different ways in the
hope that one of them will find an open door into the mind’ - GVE.63
Van Eps intentionally builds redundancy into his lessons, coming at a concept from different
angles to make sure it takes – Harrison Stephens.64
While GVE’s publications are renowned for their thorough nature, they are perhaps even
better known for their inaccessibility. As Rocco Matone notes in his Master’s thesis, An
Integral Approach for Jazz Guitar Improvisation:
Van Eps’s pedagogical work, the three-volume Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar, is a detailed
study of the relationship between the fingers, the fingerboard, and the ear. His studies are
inventive and his rigorous codification (deemed incomplete by the author himself) is of enormous
value. Unfortunately, an abstruse lexicon and an intimidating methodology have made his studies
inaccessible to most students.65
62
Menees, C. Cited in Harmonic Mechanisms Volume One, 1980, 2.
63
Van Eps, G. 1982, 3.
64
Stephens, H. 2018, 126.
65
Matone, R. An Integral Approach for Jazz Guitar Improvisation, 2005, 12.
36
There are several aspects of GVE’s publication that render them largely inaccessible and
have led to them being overlooked by guitar students. One of the most obvious is the
overwhelming nature of the content, which often leads to readers withdrawing from their
study of them, rather than absorbing the basis of the principles as intended by GVE.
As jazz guitarist, Ben Monder stated:
I started going through the Van Eps thing years ago and…only
got through maybe the first few pages…playing triads all over the place different scales
and different inversions. And that for so long I didn’t even bother going further but…just in the
last couple months…I was looking at it again and noticed,
there [are] like eighty or a hundred in volume one where all he’s doing is, what he calls, like
upper, middle and lower voice sub, where he’s just playing triads up the scale, anticipating one
of the notes by a step…he just has all those pages devoted to it, he goes through every scale,
which is a little bit overkill…all in close and all in open every inversion so it takes all these
pages where really all you need is the principal. 66
This aspect of GVE’s publications is unfortunate, considering his intention was for the reader
to absorb the principle rather than play through all of the variations presented. This is made
clear in GVE’s interview with Ted Greene when he stated:
‘One lifetime’s not long enough, but we have to sweet-tooth it…that’s why in one section I
said, “just pick a section that fascinates you, or if you’re into it a little bit. And if it doesn’t
fascinate you, dump it and go to something else. Because it’s all related, you know’.67
GVE himself deflected from the overwhelming nature of his publications by stating that
‘many of the exercises may seem redundant yet are necessary’.68 A Google Group thread
titled ‘Harmonic Mechanisms Van Eps’ started by user Mark Cleary on 14/09/2015 opens
with the comment/question:
I just throw this out wondering if anyone else has the same thoughts I have on George Van Ep's
3 books. I have all 3 books and frankly I have never been able to get anything much out of
them. I realize George played great and I really like his stuff but his books leave me with not
much on application. I did try a few times to work through them and I never can make a
connection. Maybe it is over my head and I just do not "get it" but all the 3 books are
66
Monder, B, Cited in Ted Greene: Sound Time and Unlimited Possibility, McManus, T. 2015.
67
Van Eps, G. 1981.
68
Van Eps, G. Volume Two, Page 8.
37
gathering dust in my shelves. So help me out, did or does anyone use these and did they
69
help?
Several responses echo Cleary’s frustration, including: ‘The[y] could all have been condensed
into a single volume and most of the "mechanisms" distilled to 3 or 4 pages. Following this
he could have provided applications for them. I think they have value but they are packed in a
box that's almost impossible for most guitarists to pry open’, and: ‘I went through the first few
pages, which involved diatonic triads. At the time, I didn't see the point and I eventually
bogged down and gave up’.70
Many guitarists have expressed the same frustration as Monder and the above forum users
and have begun to study GVE’s publication only to become overwhelmed by the process. As
Norwegian guitarist, Knut Mikalsen commented ‘Louis and I agreed you would need a life
sentence of some sort to seriously get through them’.71 This reaction of withdrawing from
such an overwhelming study is referred to as ‘choice overload’ by researchers Sheena S.
Iyengar of Columbia School of Business and Emir Kamenica of the University of Chicago in
their collaborative research project, Choice Overload and Simplicity Seeking.
As stated in the abstract:
In this paper, we analyze how an abundance of options influences which alternative is selected.
We present both laboratory experiments and field data that confirm our theoretical prediction:
larger choice sets induce a stronger preference for simple, easy-to-understand options. The first
experiment demonstrates that, in seeming violation of the weak axiom of revealed preference,
subjects are more likely to select a given sure bet over non-degenerate gambles when choosing
from a set of 11 options than when choosing from a subset of 3. The second experiment clarifies
that excessive choice sets induce a preference for simpler, rather than less risky, options.72
69
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz/harmonic$20mechanisms%7Csort:da
te/rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz/rgyXbPh7UWE/Ui5aHLv7CAAJ, accessed 01/05/2018.
70
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz/harmonic$20mechanisms%7Csort:d
ate/rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz/rgyXbPh7UWE/Ui5aHLv7CAAJ, accessed 01/05/2018, comments from
usernames ‘Gerry’ and ‘rpjazzguitar’.
71
Mikalsen, Knut, Email correspondence with the author, 16/01/2018. ‘Louis’ here refers to Irish jazz guitarist
Louis Stewart.
72
Iengar, S. and Kamenica, E. 2007, Choice Overload and Simplicity Seeking, cited in
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org, accessed 31/03/2018.
38
According to the above research, it would seem that even if one did study the endless
possibilities presented in GVE’s publications, it may well lead to more conservative choices
being made in performance situations. However, further research relating directly to ‘choice
overload’ in the context of improvisation would be needed to verify this opinion.
Interestingly, Ted Greene, who perhaps more than anyone else, held GVE in exalted
reverence, noted that Wes Montgomery only knew approximately twenty chords, yet was able
to use them to incredible effect.73 The capacity of the harmonic material contained in GVE’s
publications to induce choice overload is compounded by the many fingering options
presented for the left-hand, which, interestingly, is an aspect that many of GVE’s successors
have disregarded as unnecessary. Another aspect of GVE’s publications that adds to their
inaccessibility is the often arcane manner in which information is presented. An excellent
example is found in Chapter Six: ‘The Displaced Concept’ of Harmonic Mechanisms, Volume
Three, in which GVE gives the following lengthy explanation of key relationships:
All the keys can be thought of as common to each other – here is an example:
If we start with the key of “C”, the dominant key is “G”, which has the minor seventh
essence of “E” minor, “E” minor has the has the subdominant major sound of the key of
“D” (remember that these are just a few examples) “E” minor is the subdominant minor of
“B” – “E” minor is also part of the “A” ninth family – “E” minor also contains the essence
of the augmented seventh, with the flatted ninth. Of the key of “A flat. “G” also has the
suspended seventh/eleventh essence of the key of “D” etc. (The examples mentioned here
are based on the triads as voiced in the basic triad scale). “F” is the subdominant key of
“C”, which enjoys all of the relationships of “G”, but a whole tone down which takes us
into “F” sharp/”G” flat major. “D” minor contains both the dominant and subdominant
sound, because “D” minor can be “F” major sixth and “G” ninth, because it contains all the
basic notes except the third. “D” minor is also the subdominant of the key of “A”. “A”
minor being the relative minor of “C” contains the “C” major sixth sound, and is also the
subdominant minor of “E” – it’s also an “A” flat augmented seventh with the lowered
ninth, and so on – All of the minor contain the essence of the thirteenth – example; sound a
first inversion “E” minor triad against a “G” seventh and you have a thirteenth. All majors
enjoy a lowered fifth position with the next lower key. “B” flat major contains the “C”
eleventh sound – “B” flat contains the essence of the “G” minor seventh – the “E” flat
scale, second step, to second step, contains an “F” minor essence – “F” minor has a
dominant/subdominant essence that relates it directly to “E” flat major – “E” flat major
contains the sound of a “C” minor seventh – “E” flat sixth can be “C” minor – “C” minor
contains the essence of “A” flat major seventh – “A” flat major contains the major seventh
plus ninth sound of “D” flat – “D” flat is the subdominant key of “A” flat – “A” flat is also
in a lowered ninth, lowered fifth relationship to the key of “G” – “A” flat is the dominant
key of “D” flat, and “D” flat is the lowered fifth position to the key of “C” sharp – there are
73
http://www.tedgreene.com/audio/audio.asp, accessed 12/06/2016.
39
many more relationships, as will be discovered. All of the keys enjoy these floating
changing relatives’.74
Yet again, while such presentation may have the intended effect of sparking the curiosity of
the reader, it seems more likely to induce ‘choice overload’ and lead to withdrawal from their
study.
A final characteristic of GVE’s publications that, undoubtedly, contributes to their
inaccessibility is the lack of organisation and systematic presentation of information. There
are many examples of the disorganised formatting of the information, such as commenting
about practical consideration near the end of Harmonic Mechanisms Volume Three rather
than at the beginning of the first volume, along with the sporadic way in which material is
presented; the second section of Harmonic Mechanisms Volume One is titled ‘Reductions’, as
is the first section of Harmonic Mechanisms Volume Two. Another aspect of GVE’s
formatting style which may seem odd to the reader is the peculiarities often found in the
notation, such as the omission of bar-lines and the use of enharmonic notes (such as C-flat) in
music without a key signature.
74
Van Eps, G. 1982, 124-125. Ironically, the full stop in the middle of the sentence, along with the single
inverted comma accentuate the poor delivery of complex information.
40
Intended Approach to Study
You could spend a million years putting all three volumes through everything, all the potential
that’s there. That isn’t the point. The point of the three books and the concepts are: learn the
concept. You can’t play all the variations; you can’t play all the mutations and all the
permutations. Nobody lives that long; nobody. So, the whole purpose of the concepts is: learn the
concept. They’re not that difficult to understand. And once the concept is understood then you can
pick up the ball and run with it in any direction you want - GVE.75
While GVE was clear in his explanation of how to approach the study of his publications to
Ted Greene during their 1981 interview, such clear direction is lacking within the
publications themselves. As Greene comments during a recorded lesson: ‘when I asked him
in the interview he said ‘oh just open it anywhere, find something you like and work on
that’…it would have been cool if he explained that at the beginning’.76
One of the ways GVE would help students in his private practice develop the concepts found
in his Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar was through writing short etudes similar to the
exercise given at the end of The George Van Eps Method for Guitar. As GVE’s private
student Mark Peters recalls:
After working on some of the mechanisms, George usually would ask me to try to use them
creatively. So I’d be writing etudes…We’re trying to get many melodies going at the same time,
and each melody has to have freedom to go whichever way it wants to. To achieve that, you have
to develop an aweful (Sic) lot of technique on the instrument. I think that’s what so much of
“Harmonic Mechanisms” is about: trying to develop independence of the fingers and independent
thought to the point where you can get a bunch of things going at the same time. There are dozens
of different ways to play any passage. You can develop an economy of movement. We worked
77
on that.
Commenting on his teaching style, GVE states that he guides the student in becoming his or
her own teacher through their own effort by passing on information and fuelling desire for
further exploration. He also states that creativity cannot be taught, but through mechanical
repetition of harmonic exercises a sufficient level of technique is achieved, enabling ideas to
75
76
https://tedgreene.com/audio/MarkLevy/37_TedGreeneGuitarLesson_MarkLevy_1993-06-21.mp3, accessed
21/12/2017.
77
Peters, M. Cited in Stephenson, H. 2018, 129.
41
flow like water.78 This notion of using the exercises to ignite ones creativity is further
explained by Kay Van Eps-Adikes as she recalls:
‘One guy came up to him and said ‘you know I bought Volume One. I went through the first
chapter and in the middle of the second chapter I just started taking off. All these ideas came
to me, I really didn’t stick to the exercises because I got all of these ideas and I started
playing’! And dad just got this grin on his face and said ‘that’s the whole idea’.79
Essential Concepts
Ask him the time and he tells you how to make a watch – Kay Van Eps.80
‘“Harmonic Mechanisms” contains hundreds of exercises, but essentially it is a book of
concepts’ – Harrison Stephens. 81
An important part of deciphering the many exercises found within GVE’s volumes is the
identification of exercises that contain the essential concepts, rather than the many possible
variations thereof. In this way, the reader can focus on the essential elements of the various
publications to gain a full picture of the harmonic possibilities contained therein without
devoting a disproportionate amount of time to the development of a single concept through its
many possible variations. A similar identification scheme is used in the field of linguistics to
identify words from which variations are derived. This concept is expressed in Becoming
Fluent: How Cognitive Science Can Help Adults Learn a Foreign Language. As authors, Rogers
and Kreuz, note:
78
This concept is expressed in Harmonic Mechanisms Volume One, page 5, but is reiterated throughout the
series.
79
LaDiana, J. 2011, 85.
80
Van Eps, K. Cited in Stephenson, H. 2018, 14.
81
Harrison, S. 2018, 129.
42
If you know the meaning of help, do you automatically get credit for helps helped, helping, helper,
helpful, helpless, helplessly, unhelpful and unhelpfully? Should this count as one word or as ten or
more? Linguists deal with this issue by designating one word as the ‘lemma’, or citation form, in
this case ‘help’. The other terms are considered to be variations of a single underlying ‘lexeme’.
82
It is assumed that if you know the lemma, you also know, or can figure out these variations.
This approach to the classification of exercises is essential to the understanding of the overall
intentions of GVE, as expressed in the publications. Of the thousands of exercises found
throughout the volumes, the majority can be considered to belong to one of ten specific,
although related, categories.83
The idea of distilling a large number of exercises into a lesser number of concepts is hinted at
by GVE in Volume Three where, at the outset, he introduces four concepts which he refers to
as the concepts contained in the Volume, despite the Volume containing nine separate
chapters. In total, the Volumes can be thought of as containing ten essential harmonic
concepts as follows:
1) Reductions
2) 10ths with Inner Line Motion
3) 6ths with Upper Line Motion
4) Chromatic Triads
5) The Super and Sub Series
6) The Chromatic Concept
7) The Stagger Concept
8) The Satellite Concept
9) The Displaced Concept
10) The Progressive Motion Concept
82
Rogers, R., and Kreuz, R., Becoming Fluent: How Cognitive Science Can Help Adults Learn a Foreign
Language, 2015, 103.
83
The process of counting exercises in the Volumes presents several problems due to their lack of clear
distinction. Many exercises are comprised of twelve-bars of major and twelve of minor yet, could be considered
a single exercise rather than twenty-four. Often, what could be considered a single exercise ranges from twenty
to sixty-eight bars while many more of the exercises are written without bar-lines. However, even in their
greatest underestimation (such as counting sixty-eight bar examples as a single exercise) the exercises in the
Harmonic Mechanisms series still number in the thousands.
43
In application, several of the concepts can overlap; for example, an open triad with the
middle voice moved to super or sub position results in a tenth with inner line motion and a
close voiced triad with the upper voice moved into super or sub position results in a sixth
with upper line motion. When the notes of a tri-chord with any voice in super or sub position
are played simultaneously the result can parallel voicings from the stagger concept. In this
regard, the ten concepts can be considered different ways of achieving the same goal of
complete chromatic control over several voices at once.
Reductions84
The concept of reductions refers to two-voice counterpoint in one of six combinations:
 A stable upper voice with a lower voice ascending

 A stable upper voice with a lower voice descending
 A stable lower voice with an upper voice ascending
 A stable lower voice with an upper voice descending
 Two voices in contrary motion moving closer together
 Two voices in contrary motion moving further apart
Variety is achieved by containing the voice motion within various intervals such as the tenth,
sixth or octave.
Ex 1: Reductions 3rd rising to 6th degree.
10ths with Inner Line Motion
10ths with inner line motion refers to the interval of a tenth with a moving inner voice, often
between the sixth and seventh degrees. The enclosure of the tenth, along with the moving
inner voice can itself be taken through various scales resulting in three voices in motion
relating closely to the open triad.
84
In this chapter, the concepts are explained and demonstrated in the most concise manner feasible to basic
understanding. Appendix 1 presents ten compositions which demonstrate the musicality of each concept.
44
Ex 2: 10ths with Inner Line Motion.
6ths with Upper Line Motion
The concept of sixths with upper line motion relates closely to that of tenths with inner line
motion; only here, the two lower voices remain stable resulting in the interval of a sixth while
the upper voice moves freely. This concept also results in three voices in motion (when
moved scale-wise) and relates closely to the open triad.
Ex 3: 6ths with Upper Line Motion.
Chromatic Triads85
‘Chromatic triads’ refers to moving triads chromatically above a stable bass pedal. Many
variations of this basic idea are explored, including using an alternating bass pattern or a bass
line that moves through the cycle of fourths below the chromatic triads, chromatic triads in
two alternating inversions, triads moving in arpeggio pattern above a chromatic bass line and
contrary motion between the bass line and the upper triads. The final examples demonstrate
an independent bass line below chromatic triads. Thus, GVE’s chromatic triads may be the
earliest guitaristic example of what is now commonly referred to as ‘upper structure triads’.
Other exercises include playing fixed intervals chromatically which could more accurately be
described as chromatic dyads.
85
GVE’s flexible use of the term triad more accurately refers to tri-chords.
45
Ex. 4: Chromatic Triads with Pedal G, first inversion.
The Super and Sub Series
The super and sub series refers to each voice of a triad moving one-step diatonically through
its relevant scale independently of the others. When a voice is raised a scale degree it is
referred to as being in super position, when it is lowered a scale degree it is referred to as
being in sub position. In the example below, three voices begin in unison on a G major triad
with the following scale degree of A minor being anticipated by the upper voice (super
position) before being followed by the lower two voices.
Ex 5: Super and Sub Series – upper voice super.
The Chromatic Concept
The chromatic concept is described by GVE in the following way ‘when ascending, each note
is approached from a semitone below. When descending, each note is approached from a
semitone above’.
The chromatic concept refers to adding chromaticism to any and all other concepts which are
predominantly demonstrated diatonically in their pure form.
When ascending, each note of the scale (any scale) except the first, is approached by a
semitone below. When descending, each note except the first is approached by a semitone
above. This results in playing the notes of three diatonic keys at the same time. For example,
46
when playing in the key of C, all the lower approach notes belong to B natural and all the
upper approach notes belong to D flat. The complexity of this principle depends on the
number of voices in motion at a given time.
Ex 6: Chromatic Concept 6ths with Upper Line Motion.
Ex 7: Chromatic Concept Super and Sub Series, first inversion triads, upper voice super.
Ex 8: Chromatic Concept, 10th Reductions.
The Stagger Concept
In the stagger concept, one or more notes of a triad are raised or lowered diatonically
(staggered) such as in the super and sup series, only here, the staggered voicing is frozen and
taken through the diatonic scale resulting in interesting and uncommon voicings.
Ex 9: The Stagger Concept (three voices).
The Satellite Concept
The satellite concept states every note of the chromatic scale has two satellite notes; one a
semitone above and the other a semitone below. These notes move in any direction one
semitone at a time. This relates closely to the chromatic concept but may also be applied to
47
what GVE refers to as the grande arpeggio which is the diatonic scale minus the fourth
degree. This results in close voice leading and often interesting resolution between keys.
Ex: 10 The Satellite Concept (in 3rds, upper voice satellite, lower voice stable).
Ex 11: The Satellite Concept, tri-chords from Db and C grande arpeggios with close voice-leading resulting in
modulation.
The Displaced Concept
The displaced concept refers to displacing various steps of a scale for the purpose of learning
to think in multiple keys. For example, in the key of C the second scale step may be raised,
thus belonging to the key of C sharp/D flat while all other scale steps remain unaltered. This
can be repeated with various scale steps or multiple scale steps each resulting in various
altered scales. More elaborate examples are possible by mixing seemingly unrelated keys
resulting in a large palette of harmonies belonging to two or more keys which results in
unexpected harmonic relationships. Thus, the displaced concept is synonymous with
polytonality.
Ex 12: The Displaced Concept – Db chord placed between the first and second degrees of a first inversion C
major scale.
48
The Progressive Motion Concept
In the progressive motion concept, all the notes of any chord move one at a time through
what GVE refers to as ‘the grande arpeggio’ which is the diatonic scale minus the fourth
degree.
Ex 13: Progressive Motion, middle voice moving independently.
Three Methods of Realisation
The above concepts are each realised exhaustively through three primary methods
1) Triad Chord Scales in Three Tonalities

2) Forty-Two String Groupings
3) Left-Hand Fingering Variations
Triad Chord Scales
While the majority of the exercises presented in the Volumes consist of triad chord scales,
many contain alterations and therefore could be more accurately said to be based on tri-
chords rather than triads. Others contain less or more than three-notes but are treated as
triads with a note omitted or triads with a base note. GVE makes the following observations
to stress the importance of triads:
The major triads make minor sevenths, minor triads make major sevenths. Three-note diminished
triads make dominant sevenths; three-note dominant seventh triads make diminished chords.
Diminished chords make seventh flat nine chords. The major sixth interval is present in the
outside notes of any first inversion minor triad, while the minor sixth interval is present in the
86
outside notes of any first inversion major triad.
86
Van Eps, G. 1980, 22.
49
Three Tonalities
The triad chord scales are presented in three tonalities – major, harmonic minor and melodic
minor. This is true for the majority of exercises although some exceptions include those
relating to chromatic triads or chromatically moving intervals which could be considered
atonal. GVE also uses several variations including what he refers to as mixed minors in
which exercises contain notes from both harmonic and melodic minors (such as ascending in
one tonality and descending in the opposite) and reversing or altering the usual order of
ascension and dissension of the melodic minor scale. This type of treatment of the melodic
minor scale yields four possibilities:
1) Original form
2) Ascending form up and down
3) Descending form up and down
4) Original form reversed (ascending notation descending, descending notation
ascending).
String-Sets
GVE presents forty-two string groupings or sets throughout the series (which expand on the
twenty-two sets presented in The George Van Eps Method for Guitar). The sets are as
follows:
1/2 – the first and second strings

2/2 – second and third
3/2 – third and fourth
4/2 – fourth and fifth
50
5/2 – fifth and sixth
1/3 – first, second and third
2/3 – second, third and fourth
3/3 – third, fourth and fifth
4/3 – fourth, fifth and sixth
1/4 – strings one to four
2/4 – strings two to five
3/4 – strings three to six
1/5 – strings one to five
2/5 – strings two to six
1/B2 – first and third
2/B2 – second and fourth
3/B2 – third and fifth
4/B2 – fourth and sixth
1/B3 – first, second and fourth
2/B3 – second, third and fifth
3/B3 – third, fourth and sixth
B1/3 – first, third and fourth
B2/3 – second third and fifth
B3/3 – third, fifth and sixth
1/B4 – first, second, third and fifth
2/B4 – second, third, fourth and sixth
B1/4 – first, third, fourth and fifth
B2/4 – second fourth, fifth and sixth
1D/3 – first, second and fifth
2D/3 – second, third and sixth
1/D3 – first, third and fifth
2/D3 – second, fourth and sixth
D1/3 – first, fourth and fifth
51
D2/3 – second, fifth and sixth
D1/4 – first, second, fourth and fifth
D2/4 – second, third, fifth and sixth
A1 – fist and fourth
A2 – second and fifth
A3 – third and sixth
B1 – first and fifth
B2 – second and sixth
01 – first and sixth
The memorisation and or referencing of such a large body of information presents a
considerable inconvenience to the student of the volumes. The string-sets are presented
seven times in Volume One, with the introduction of the string-sets being indicative of a new
chapter.87 Volume Two takes the logical approach of presenting the string-sets at the outset
on pages six and seven only, while Volume Three presents the sets three times; once at the
outset on page seven and eight and twice more at seemingly random locations (pages eighty-
four and eighty-five and ninety-eight and ninety-nine).
Left-Hand Fingering Exercises
‘Adding fingerings to manuscripts took nearly 6 years’ – Kay Van Eps.88
‘He applies mechanical principals to his musicianship - his fingering is engineered for
efficiency’ – Harrison Stephens.89
87
In one instance, the string-sets are only re-explained without the chart. In all other cases the string sets are
presented with a page of explanation and a page of the chart itself. Although this results in continuous
restatement, this is the only marker of new chapters or sections in Volume One.
88
Van Eps, K. Cited in LaDiana, J. 2011, 85.
89
Stephens, H. 2018, 46.
52
I think one of the things he has done is to work out a kind of systematic way, based on
mathematics and common sense, for the judicious, intelligent use of the fingers – Barney
Kessel.90
During their interview, Ted Greene asserts that the fingerings are the very essence of the
Volumes, a point on which GVE agrees. In the following excerpt, Greene is speaking to
GVE about The George Van Eps Method for Guitar:
I went through the book recently, paying careful attention to your instructions instead of skimming
as I had done earlier. I was astonished—I mean that—I was astonished by the well-arranged
planning and totality of the fingering system. It seems that virtually every physical hazard in the
left hand, that one might face has been challenged head-on […. I] ended up feeling that the
fingering principles themselves, just that, were in one sense the essence of the whole book. That
it’s being illustrated through harmonic principles, but the fingerings are what---. I don’t know; I
was just struck by that. Is that? GVE: Yeah. Those are the physical mechanisms. TG:...Does it
seem like that to you? GVE: Yes, yes. Because they open the door to---release the mind to become
more inventive. TG: That’s fascinating. GVE: Because of the dark areas—what used to be the dark
areas—are no longer dark anymore. They let a little light in there. And it’s like we were saying
91
earlier, as the technique goes up and the ability to produce, so do the ideas.
This emphasis on left-hand fingering variations continues throughout the Harmonic
Mechanisms series, with GVE stating that: ‘the intent is to present as many fingering
combinations as space will permit’.92 Interestingly, while many of GVE’s successors have
based a great deal of their technique on a single element of his harmonic approach, such as
the enclosure of a tenth or contrary motion (as will be demonstrated in Chapter Four) the
most commonly ignored recommendation is the adoption of complex left-hand fingerings.
The problem with such fingerings is addressed by Rocco Matone in his Master’s thesis, An
Integral Approach for Jazz Guitar Improvisation:
Of the several skills that the student guitarist must develop, the most important is the ability to
play ideas and riffs within the confines of a harmonic context using any left-hand finger, string,
and fret combinations in all keys. Acquiring this necessary skill requires a clear and concise
approach; otherwise, a student may become overwhelmed by the potential fingering choices
90
Stephens, H. 2018, 136.
91
Greene, T. 1981.
92
Van Eps, G. 1981, 5.
53
encountered in improvisation, which would handicap running changes, an essential step for solo
improvisation.93
GVE defends his position by stating: ‘the fingering, string-sets, and crossovers are not always
comfortable or logical—some are intentionally awkward and difficult for practice sake.
Others are smooth and flowing—the instrumentalist must work with both types’.94
And again, in another explanation of his fingering logic:
Some of the fingerings are intentionally awkward in these and other studies throughout these
books. They are good practice for agility and finger discipline/manipulation. There are
smoother more ligical (sic) fingerings also shown that quite naturally should be used for more
flowing continuity. Each key has been given a slightly different fingering pattern/mixture of
fingerings. Certain sections of each key scale may contain flowing fingering while other parts
of the same key scale may show awkward gymnastic fingering. In other words, each of the
three inversions in each key have been marked with a mixture of varied fingerings thereby
offering a wide variety of fingerings from which to choose.95
Indeed, the complexity of harmonic situations addressed within GVE’s publications would
naturally require an equally sophisticated left-hand technique for their realisation, as GVE
also states: ‘chords with motion require different fingering’.96
While a great deal of attention is paid to left-hand fingering throughout the volumes, the
right-hand is addressed only briefly, with GVE giving general remarks at the outset of each
volume as follows:
There are many ways of sounding the strings—the most common are:
The plectrum (pick) —alternating is best for velocity (up and down strokes)
The fingers (classic) —again, alternating is best for velocity— (up and down strokes)
The fingers and pick combined—usually a mixture with both alternating—
The classic fingerstyle offers the greatest advantage because of being able to utilize all five
fingers.
The material presented in this series of books is most suited to the classic right hand and the
combination of fingers and plectrum97.
93
Matone, R. An Integral Approach for Jazz Guitar Improvisation 2005, Abstract (ii).
94
Van Eps, G. 1980, 64.
95
Ibid, 26.
96
Van Eps, G. 1980, 47.
97
Van Eps, G. Harmonic Mechanisms Volume One, page 9, Volume Two, page 5, Volume Three, page 6.
54
This general guidance is presented at the beginning of each Volume, appearing in Volume
One on page nine, Volume Two on page five and Volume Three on page six. After these
comments, very little is mentioned of right-hand technique, apart from occasional references
to alternating in unison with the left hand.
One of the underlying principles of GVE’s left-hand fingering approach is the
implementation of an alternating motion, of which he states: ‘a solid, positive sound can be
achieved by alternating between any two fingers when three voices are in motion’.98
This alternating motion is applied to groups of consecutive intervals such as sixths, as
demonstrated in Figures 2 and 3, which depict finger teams moving from a major sixth (with
the first and second fingers) to a minor sixth (with the third and fourth fingers) and Figures 4
and 5 which demonstrates finger teams alternating between the interval of a sixth (middle and
third fingers) and a tenth (first and fourth fingers).
Figure 2: Fingerings example 1.
98
Van Eps, G. 1980, 26.
55
56
Other common tendencies in GVE’s left-hand fingerings include the use of each finger
forming a half barré for the purpose both of strengthening the finger in use, thereby falling
into the category of finger exercise, and the freeing of other fingers for voice motion as
depicted in figures 6 to 9.
57
58
A similar freeing of the fingers can be observed in triad fingerings in which three notes are
held with each combination of left-hand fingers resulting in the freeing of each single unused
finger as demonstrated in figures 10 to 13 with a D minor triad on the first three strings.
59
60
One of the most obvious and perhaps most characteristic left hand fingering devices used by
GVE is the use of the fifth finger principal. As described previously, this involves the use of
a single finger to sound two notes on different frets as demonstrated in figures 14 and 15
whereby the tip and joint of the first finger is used to sound the third and first strings
respectively on adjacent frets.
61
This same technique can be combined with the previous triad voicing thereby freeing two
fingers as demonstrated in figure 15.
Another technique employed by GVE and one that is not generally found in the standard
classical left-hand fingerings system is the crossing of a finger as demonstrated in figure 16.
62
The above technique also resonates with GVE’s unorthodox use of the fourth finger of the
right hand which, again, is unused in the classical system.99
Guitarist David Oakes (who is addressed further in the following chapter) recalls frustrations
with such fingerings during his lessons with Ted Greene in the following way:
Ted really wanted me to get out of my “classical head space” and wanted me to see the guitar in
terms of being more “shape oriented”. Much of our lesson time was centered (sic) on
conversations dealing with fingering a chord, inversions of that chord with the alternatives to that
fingering. My classical technique and training tended to not want to make some of the chord
shapes that Ted wanted me to play. He kept telling me that I “will” get it. Just be patient and keep
working on it. He was right. It did come but certainly not as fluid as Ted’s masterful playing.
Ted used his little finger on his right hand to pluck five note chords quite often. I would always
try and find an alternative way to use four fingers and leave out a voice or change up the right
hand to get the voice in there. He would never let that go without some comment and/or a
100
knowing smile.
Several times throughout the Volumes, GVE compares the repetition of a single finger to
hopping on one leg for its lack of speed and stability. This idea of alternation appears to have
become somewhat of an obsession; with GVE suggesting several times that a hand containing
extra fingers would be able to achieve perfect alternation. This is expressed in Harmonic
Mechanisms, Volume One, as the notion of the left hand containing two extra fingers:
‘complete alternation would be possible if we had two more fingers—we could then sound
one triad with fingers 1-2-3 and the next with 4-5-6’101, and, again, in Harmonic Mechanisms,
Volume Three as the notion of an extra finger on both hands: ‘If our hands had one more
finger, the alternation could be continuous thereby making repetition unnecessary’.102
Fazit
The Harmonic Mechanisms series has suffered from a lack of clear identification of
principles and organised presentation of concepts which has resulted in many of its students
withdrawing from their studies. This chapter shows that despite their disorganised
99
Here, the use of the fourth finger in the right hand is referenced only for information purposes and to more
fully understand GVE’s creative use of the fingers as it does not feature in the Volumes themselves.
100
Oakes, D, 2010. http://www.davidoakesguitar.com/pdf/girl_talk.pdf, accessed 11/11/2018.
101
Van Eps, G. 1980, 26.
102
Van Eps, G. 1982, 13.
63
presentation, the exercises in the Volumes may be categorised into ten main areas of study
and that the student need only understand these ten concepts to derive much of the benefit of
the many exercises contained therein. It also demonstrates through GVE’s own words that
this concise approach was his intention for students of the Volumes.
This chapter demonstrates that the many exercises in the Harmonic Mechanisms series
belong to ten main principles which can be considered to be the essence of the Volumes.
Having grasped the essence of the Volumes, the student may treat the many variations of
each concept as an encyclopaedic reference. Each of the concepts discussed in the chapter
point to a larger goal, that of chromatic freedom in a harmonic context resulting in
independent motion of several voices simultaneously to the extent of being applicable to
spontaneous improvisation. Given GVE’s lofty vision of improvisation in several voices
simultaneously, it is, perhaps unsurprising, that it consumed a lifetime of study and was
codified so extensively. This extensive codification, however, has resulted in an obfuscation
of the broader purpose of the publications and has, subsequently, resulted in a series that is
often viewed as being largely inaccessible.
Perhaps the essence of GVE’s volumes is best understood by reinterpreting the title of
Harmonic Mechanisms as triad-motion (harmonic) fingerings (mechanisms). It is hoped that
the findings presented in this chapter will make the essential concepts contained in the
Volumes more accessible to current and future generations of researchers and musicians.
Having defined the important concepts contained within the volumes, the following chapters
examine their influence by demonstrating the existence of these concepts within the
publications and performance styles of GVE’s successors.
64
Chapter Four
GVE’s Influence on Jazz Guitar Education and Performance
Einführung
George has influenced everybody who ever played guitar. If you’ve played a chord on a
guitar, you’ve got to relate to George Van Eps - Bucky Pizzarelli.103
‘He’s the father of us all’ - Peter Nieuwerf, professor and guitar teacher, The Conservatory of
Music, The Hague, Netherlands.104
While it is impossible to estimate the full extent of GVE’s influence on jazz guitar education
and performance, this chapter highlights some of the most important examples of such
influence, pointing to prominent figures within the field who themselves exert strong
influences in the spheres of education, literature, performance and innovation.
Some of this influence has come directly from his Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar while
some has come from his direct tuition and earlier publications and more still, through second
and third-generation inheritance of his methodologies; all of which reflect the type of ideas
found in Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar.
This chapter draws attention to the vast sphere of influence exerted by GVE’s publications in
the fields of performance, literature, academia and current educational platforms. In so doing
it traces an influence that spans the field of jazz guitar performance through its formative
years in the swing era through several developmental phases to the present day and jazz
guitar education from the early establishment or Berklee’s Guitar Department to current
online platforms.
103
Cited in Stephenson, H. 2018, 134.
104
65
GVE’s Influence on Solo Guitar Arranging Styles
‘You can easily hear George in the unaccompanied styles of Joe Pass, Jimmy Wyble, Johnny Smith
and Howard Roberts among others’ - Ted Greene.105
While the use of sophisticated chord voicing has permeated jazz guitar practice since GVE’s
earliest publications, perhaps GVE’s greatest contribution is in the elevation of the jazz guitar
to the status of a legitimate solo instrument capable of matching that of its cousin, the
classical guitar. Again, in the words of Swanson: ‘an even bigger aspect of his influence was
the development of the guitar as a viable solo instrument; prior to Van Eps’ landmark
recordings, solo guitar was a rarity; from 1970 onward, countless solo jazz guitar recordings
were issued, from the likes of Joe Pass, Ted Greene, Martin Taylor, Barney Kessell (sic), and
many others’.106 Although GVE’s influence is obvious in many cases, both Greene and
Swanson’s statements assert that even those solo jazz guitarists who are not immediately
recognisable as being influenced by GVE musically are nonetheless indebted to him through
the process of lineage. Those belonging to the group most obviously influenced by GVE are
the guitarists who adopted the seven-string instrument and emphasise or emphasised solo
repertoire, including Bucky Pizzarelli, Howard Alden, Howard Morgen, and Ron Escheté.
GVE’s Influence on the Jazz Guitar Lead Soloist
‘Have I been influenced by him? I think all guitar players have been—serious guitar players’ - Tony
Rizzi.107
‘If you mentioned George Van Eps to any of the jazz greats like Jimmy Raney or Tal Farlow they’d
bow to the waist’ - Remo Palmier.108
105
Greene, T. Greene, 1981.
106
Swanson, E. 2018, 91/92.
107
Cited in Van Eps, G. Guitar Man, 135.
108
Palmier, R. Cited in Greene, 1981.
66
At first glance, it would seem that GVE’s harmonic approach to jazz guitar bears little in
common with the classic bebop-era of jazz guitar, and much less so with contemporary
practice, which emphasises single-string soloing, fusion with various styles and the use of
electronic and digital sound synthesis. While the influence of the single-note lead soloist
style of Charlie Christian is obvious in contemporary electric guitar via Chuck Berry and Wes
Montgomery et al, the chordal and voice-motion techniques of GVE represent a subtle, but
pervasive, influence on performance practice from the swing era to contemporary practices.
Though Charlie Christian championed the rise of the electric guitar, GVE completely
disregarded rock, which became an important point of reference for fusion guitarists
following the popularity of Jimi Hendrix in the late 1960s. During his interviews with
Harrison Stephens in the late 1980s and early 1990s, GVE expressed his frustration by
stating: ‘nobody thought rock would last this long. It’s so damn redundant; it’s the most
monotonous sound ever invented’.109 GVE also shunned several other important
developments which, in his lifetime, were considered pivotal influences in jazz and
contemporary music, such as the avant-garde works of John Cage, micro-tonality and George
Russell’s ‘Lydian Chromatic Concept’, which was an important influence on Miles Davis
and, subsequently, the rise of modal jazz through the influence of Davis’s Kind of Blue
(1959)—the best-selling jazz record of all time.110
Despite all of the abovementioned obstacles, GVE’s volumes have remained important
sources of inspiration for jazz guitarists since their publication. As Swanson notes in George
Van Eps and The Great American Songbook: ‘Jim Hall, perhaps the first modernist jazz
guitarist, credits the first George Van Eps Guitar Method as a valuable resource in the
109
Stephenson, H, 2018, 21.
110
Boothroyd, M, 2010. Modal Jazz and Miles Davis: George Russell’s Influence and the Melodic Inspiration
Behind Modal Jazz. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=notabene, accessed
27/07/2018.
67
development of his own harmonically sophisticated style; other modern jazz guitarists such as
Kurt Rosenwinkel and Mike Stern also credit Van Eps’ instructional material as an important
source of knowledge for studying harmony on the guitar’.111
Indeed, many of the guitarists influenced by GVE are themselves highly influential, thereby
solidifying the impact of GVE’s influence. As Swanson also notes:
As the instrument’s role evolved from a simple chordal instrument for dance band accompaniment
to an instrument that could handle the growing harmonic demands of the jazz idiom, Van Eps
ushered in a style not based on simple idiomatic chordal “grips,” but an instrument capable of
handling complex harmonic structures, sophisticated voice leading, and independent moving parts.
He achieved this by reducing the number of notes in chords with drop 3, shell voicings, and spread
triads, which allowed for greater control of voice-leading and would become common practice in
112
the years to follow.
Barney Kessel
I was self-taught, but I studied out of the first George Van Eps book to play the guitar, and
when I was 13 or 14 I was practising out of that book - Barney Kessel.113
Barney Kessel is widely acknowledged as a successor of the Charlie Christian swing jazz-
guitar style, which Kessel further developed into his bebop language. One of the most
prominent jazz guitarists of the 1950s–1960s, Kessel worked in a variety of settings,
including various jazz ensembles along with television and studio settings, collaborating with
such artists as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Lester Young, Elvis Presley and The Beach
Boys, among many others. While Charlie Christian’s influence was obvious when Kessel
improvised as a lead soloist, a GVE-indebted, sense of harmonic inspiration can be readily
observed in his more intimate settings, such as that instanced in his accompaniments to songs
performed by the vocalist, Julie London, and in solo guitar performances and unaccompanied
introductions.
111
Swanson, E. 2018, 92.
112
Ibid.
113
Stephenson, H, 2018, 135.
68
GVE’s influence on Kessel went beyond the mere study of his publications to an admiration
for his approach to arranging and harmonic concept. In Kessel’s words:
As I recall my entry into music and playing the guitar, he was one of the few people I became
aware of on any instrument who had just a vast harmonic knowledge. The idea of reworking the
harmonies in a way that made it unusual – made them very appealing and didn’t in any way take
away from the quality of a song. He did it long before most others did it, and he did it in great
114
measure and always with great taste and great curiosity.
Kessel continues by comparing GVE’s harmonic innovations to that of Art Tatum: ‘when I
think back into the ’30s, the two names that come to me as possessing a curious, adventurous
longing for interesting harmonies would be George on guitar and Art Tatum on Piano’.115
Jim Hall
‘There’s all sort of triadic stuff, where anything you hear in the way of a melodic line, you
can harmonize a number of different ways. I took a lot of that stuff from the first George Van
Eps method book, and I would use my own chord voicings. Stravinsky did that kind of thing
a lot, too’ - Jim Hall.116
Often considered a ‘modernist’ jazz guitarist, Hall is the recipient of such accolades as
Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, granted by the French Minister of Culture and
Communication; America’s Jazz Master Fellowship, bestowed by The National Endowment
for the Arts; and the Danish Jazzpar Prize, among many others. In 1992, Hall was the only
jazz guitarist to be named among ‘twenty-five guitarists who shook the world’ (according to
Guitar Magazine), along with popular rock guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van
Halen. Along with such awards, Hall’s career has included collaborations with artists such as
114
Stephenson, H, 2018, 2
115
Ibid
116
Hall, J. 07/01/1999. Cited in https://jazztimes.com/features/jim-hall-the-emperor-of-cool/, accessed
25/07/2018.
69
Paul Desmond, Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans Jimmy Giuffre and Ella Fitzgerald, among many
others.
Although Hall acknowledges the influence of GVE’s publications, he also places GVE in the
category of musicians which he felt were beyond his capacity to emulate. In Hall’s words:
I was around Tal Farlow a lot when I moved to California. I had heard him with the Red Norvo
Trio, which was an amazing group. And then Jimmy Raney was a good friend of mine. And Wes
Montgomery… I already knew Wes’s brothers before I heard him. And I’d heard George Van Eps
since I was a kid, as well. So my point is, that it’s almost like I said to myself, ‘Okay, if I practice
every minute for the rest of my life, I’ll never be able to do that. So what am I doing?’ It was like I
117
said to myself, ‘Hey dummy, do something different’.
As the above statement shows, Hall was highly driven to develop a personal style and
succeeded to do so while drawing inspiration from several musicians including GVE.
The Guitar in the Big Band Rhythm Section
GVE was highly influential on the development of a conventional approach to big band
rhythm guitar, both through his own contributions and those of his student, Allan Reuss.
Reuss is considered one of the most important rhythm guitarists in early big band jazz and is
second in popularity only to Freddie Green. Having studied guitar with GVE, Reuss joined
The Benny Goodman Big Band in 1935 on GVE’s recommendation. This lead to an almost
ten-year partnership between Goodman and Reuss, and it was the start of a successful career
for Reuss, which included working with Jimmy Dorsey, Jack Teagarden, Paul Whitman,
Coleman Hawkins and Lionel Hampton, as well as fulfilling numerous studio and session
dates. As discussed in Chapter One, Reuss was partly responsible for shaping the guitar style
of Freddie Green, who is known as the greatest jazz rhythm guitarist of all time, having spent
almost fifty years with the Count Basie Orchestra beginning in 1937 until Basie died in 1984.
While several scholars have noted that big band rhythm guitar reached a peak in The Count
117
Hall, J. 07/01/1999. Cited in https://jazztimes.com/features/jim-hall-the-emperor-of-cool/, accessed
25/07/2018.
70
Basie Orchestra in the hands of Freddie Green, it is a less documented fact that GVE’s
student, Allan Reuss, was a mentor to Green and other aspiring big-band guitarists.118
After the decline of big band jazz, one of the main guitarists to preserve Green’s tradition was
Steve Jordan (who studied with Reuss). Jordan acknowledged GVE’s influence by stating:
‘as a youth, I studied with Allen Reuss. We play a similar style which evolved from the early
George Van Eps who was Allen's teacher’.119 Although their careers overlapped for a time,
with Jordan being part of The Will Bradley Orchestra from 1939 to 1941, The Artie Shaw
Orchestra from 1941-1942 and The Benny Goodman Orchestra between 1953 -1957, much of
Jordan’s career was spent as a studio musician at NBC. Jordan continued to work as a
freelance musician until he died in 1993.
Tony Mottola and Studio Music
George is the master of them all. He influenced me so much with his chordal harmonic
concepts – of course, he influenced everybody - Tony Mottola.120
Along with extensively recording as a soloist and in supporting roles, Mottola’s career is
largely distinguished by his studio work, which included being a member of The Tonight
Show Orchestra at NBC studios from 1958–1972. In 1951, Mottola became the musical
director for the CBS-TV television series, Danger, and appeared regularly on both The Perry
Como Show and Caesar’s Hour, hosted by the comedian, Sid Caeser. Mottola was the
recipient of an Emmy Award for his score on the 1960s television documentary, Two
Childhoods, based on the lives of Hubert Humphrey and James Baldwin. Along with his
studio and television work, Mottola toured with Frank Sinatra from 1980–1988 and
118
Jordan, S, 1975. http://stevejordan.info/bio.html, accessed 03/08/2018.
119
Jordan, S, 1972, Sleeve Notes to Here Comes Mr. Jordan, http://stevejordan.info/bio.html, accessed
04,08,2018.
120
Mottola, T. Cited in Greene, 1981.
71
performed with the latter at The White House. Another, lesser-known studio guitarist at
NBC, Tony Rizzi was a student of GVE’s and would perform in small group settings with
GVE during the 1980s. A different NBC studio guitarist, Barry Galbraith, who also worked
at CBS and performed with such luminaries as Miles Davis, Oscar Peterson and George
Russell stated: ‘[he] wished that the younger players knew more about Van Eps. There’s
nobody like him. Harmonically speaking, he’s the greatest ever for guitar’.121 Another
student of GVE’s, Bobby Gibbons, worked as a guitarist for The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show,
which aired from 1956 to 1961. Despite working in jazz groups with Benny Goodman and
Red Norvo, Allan Hanlon, who was another of GVE’s students, made much of his living in
session work with groups such as The Coasters and The Blenders, and with artists LaVern
Baker, Johnnie Ray and Leslie Uggams, among other.122
Of GVE’s successors to work in studio settings, perhaps the most widely recognised is
Howard Roberts. Although Roberts’ career as a studio musician required a great amount of
versatility, his studies of GVE’s concepts remained apparent, especially when playing in the
chordal jazz style. As the author and guitarist, Wolf Marshall, notes: ‘Roberts possessed one
of the most facile and swinging block-chord styles in jazz … it is an outgrowth of the early
(pre-polyphonic) George Van Eps plectrum-based approach’.123 From the late 1950s to early
1970s, Howard Roberts was one of the world’s most prolific studio guitarists. During this
time, Roberts’ work permeated popular media and includes playing lead guitar on such
popular television themes as The Twilight Zone, The Brady Bunch, Batman, Lost in Space
and Mission Impossible, among almost countless others. Along with his session work for
television, Roberts was a member of The Wrecking Crew and a contributing player to Phil
Spector’s Wall of Sound, resulting in Roberts contributing guitar parts to some of the most
121
Galbraith, G. Cited in Greene, 1981.
122
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/allen-hanlon-mn0001762860/biography, accessed 06/08/2018.
123
Marshall, W. The Best of Jazz Guitar, 2000, 79/80.
72
popular songs in history.124 Among the virtually countless number of musicians Roberts
recorded with are The Monkees, Little Richard, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley,
Ray Charles, Sammy Davis Jr., The Beach Boys, Merle Travis, Nat King Cole, Little
Richard, Sonny and Cher, The Jackson Five, Rick Nelson, and The Supremes.
William Leavitt and The Berklee Guitar Department
As a founding member of Berklee’s Guitar Department and Department Chair for twenty-five
years, William Leavitt has had an immeasurable impact on the world of jazz and
contemporary guitar education. Leavitt’s admiration and reverence for GVE were expressed
by Berklee professor, Charles Chapman, in his book, The George Van Eps Guitar Solos,
where he recalled:
In 1969 I entered Berklee College of Music as a fledgling (sic) jazz guitarist full of the vigour and
audacity a 19 year old has. During my first week I made a point of seeking out Bill Leavitt (then
Chairman of the Guitar Department) informing him I was there to hone my jazz skills. He looked
straight into my eyes, reached up and tapped a picture on his wall of a man with a 7-string guitar
and stated: “if you want to learn jazz, and truly understand the workings of the guitar, get into
125
George Van Eps”.
Along with A Modern Method for Guitar Vol I–III, which is still the basic study manual of
the Berklee curriculum, The George Van Eps Method for Guitar formed the veritable
backbone of the Berklee Guitar Department. Apropos of GVE, Berklee professor, Andrew
Maness, states:
I have his first book, and still work out of it, although it is very challenging. I can tell you that in
my experience as a student of William G. Leavitt's…which represented my entire eight semesters
as a Berklee student (1977-80), the only book that Mr Leavitt ever used that he hadn't written
126
himself was the first Van Eps book.
Another current Berklee professor, Joe Baboian, recalls:
124
Although a lengthy account is beyond the scope of this research, The Wrecking Crew are known for their
prolific contributions to popular music, including work with Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys and The Monkees,
While Phil Spector is hailed as a visionary record producer through his work with John Lennon, George
Harrison and The Righteous Brothers amongst others. For more see The Wrecking Crew: The inside Story of
Rock and Roll’s best-kept secret, Hartman, K. 2013, and Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of
Phil Spector, Brown, M. 2008.
125
Chapman, C. George Van Eps Guitar Solos, Mel Bay Publications, Missouri, 2000, 2.
126
Maness, A, Email correspondence with the author, 07/02/2018
73
I was not influenced directly by the Van Epps (sic) books. But I was influenced indirectly by
them. My teacher at Berklee (40 years ago) was William G. Leavitt, one of the founders of the
Berklee Guitar Dept., chair for 25 years, author of many guitar books…he was influenced by those
books, and therefore indirectly got to me. He also played me recordings of GVE great solo guitar
127
playing, which affected my own solo guitar performance.
William Leavitt’s profile on www.berkleepress.com states that: ‘he had a profound influence
on Berklee’s guitar curriculum, as well as jazz guitar education worldwide’.128 This being the
case, the above quotations acknowledge that GVE’s publications, in turn, had a profound
influence on William Leavitt and subsequently Berklee’s guitar curriculum and, by extension,
jazz and contemporary guitar throughout the world.
While the very concept of jazz guitar as a serious study may have originated with GVE and
come to full fruition in Berklee’s Guitar Department, the actual technical influence of GVE’s
publications on Leavitt are most easily recognised in A Modern Method for Guitar Volume
Three.
A Modern Method for Guitar Vols. I –III are amongst the most popular guitar method books
in the world and have remained a cornerstone of the Berklee College of Music guitar program
for over forty years. Several endorsements are displayed on www.berkleepress.com using
such terms as ‘bible’ and ‘all-time best’, the most noteworthy of which comes from Mike
Stern, himself a renowned jazz guitarist, who refers to it as ‘the best method ever written for
guitar’.129
Although volume three contains many examples of triad studies, the most derivative of
GVE’s publications are what Leavitt refers to as ‘melodization’ (sic) of triads, which refers to
moving a single voice within a triad—as found throughout GVE’s publications—but most
closely related to exercises found throughout The George Van Eps Guitar Method and the
‘super and sub series’ exercises found in Harmonic Mechanisms Volume One. In a more
127
Baboian, J, Email correspondence with the author, 07/02/2018
128
http://berkleepress.com/berklee-authors/william-leavitt/ accessed 15/02/2018
129
www.berkleepress.com, accessed 14/03/2018.
74
general sense, it demonstrates the idea of triadic voice–leading that represents the very heart
of GVE’s publications. According to Leavitt’s description: ‘Melodization of triads is
accomplished by replacing the top note of a triad (the root, 3rd, or 5th, depending on the
inversion) with a higher degree of the scale from which the chord is formed. These notes
(other than 1, 3, or 5) are referred to as tension notes, tensions, or higher degrees’.130 While
GVE’s publications demonstrate many triadic voice-motion studies including motion in
upper, middle and lower voices, Leavitt focuses primarily on the upper voice, with only brief
examples of middle and lower voice-motion or melodization. As Leavitt notes: ‘tensions are
also used as inside voices of chords, but because these are more difficult to “see”, we shall
not emphasize (sic) them until later’.131
Although the term melodization does not appear in GVE’s publications, it has been used
within Berklee to describe not only Leavitt’s triad motion exercises but, also, those published
by GVE. This can be observed in the course description of Berklee’s ‘Building Guitar
Technique Through Triads’ (course code ILGT-367), which is based on The George Van Eps
Method for Guitar. According to the course description:
This lab uses the original George Van Eps method for guitar. The student is rigorously involved
in developing a triad-oriented approach to the finger board. Topics covered include harmonized
scales and scale patterns, melodized triads, and free improvisations. Strong emphasis on correct
132
technique for both right and left hands.
Ex 14: Melodization of Tonic Major Triads, page 41.
Charles Chapman
130
Leavitt, W. 1987, 32.
131
Ibid.
132
https://www.berklee.edu/courses/ilgt-367, accessed 23/03/2018.
75
Based on George Van Eps Original Guitar Solos, Chapman’s George Van Eps Guitar Solos
contains all six compositions from the original publication and the additional three solo guitar
compositions by GVE which were published separately. Chapman’s updated version
includes guitar tablature for each of the pieces and an accompanying CD on which Chapman
performs the solos. As the above compositions are each harmonically analysed in Chapman’s
book, a re-examination here is unnecessary. While Chapman has included tablature for each
of the compositions, it is sometimes incorrect, with notes from the original notation being
omitted from the tablature. As mentioned previously, Chapman’s interest in GVE was
directly influenced by William Leavitt during his undergraduate studies at Berklee.
Mick Goodrick
Goodrick, who began studying at Berklee in 1963 and took up a teaching post in 1967, is,
perhaps best known as a teacher, despite a successful performance career working with Gary
Burton and Pat Metheny (amongst others). Goodrick’s students include such luminaries as
Lionel Loueke, Lage Lund, Nir Felder and Julian Lage and his publications have received
wide critical acclaim. As a contributing writer to the online magazine, Jazz Times, noted:
‘Goodrick’s many books, such as the Almanac of Guitar Voice Leading series and Creative
Chordal Harmony for the Guitar (with Tim Miller), are exhaustive studies in voicings, the
work of a scientist, a completist, (sic) in which every last solution to a given problem is
considered and annotated’.133 The influence of GVE on Goodrick is obvious, not only
because of the latter’s studies with William Leavitt but, also, via his focus on guitar harmony
with particular emphasis on the areas of triads, chord scales and voice-leading. Both
influences are confirmed by the ex Goodrick student, Ron Murray, who stated: ‘Mick
133
Harrison, J. 2017, https://jazztimes.com/features/guitarist-mick-goodrick, accessed 18/02/2018.
76
Goodrick, certainly one of the most harmonically advanced jazzers, really respected and
loved Leavitt, and is of the opinion that the Method is a supreme foundational work’, and
‘Mick and I worked on some of Van Eps' material together many years ago’.134
Goodrick is the author of a series of three large volumes titled Almanac of Guitar Voice-
Leading, which bear similarities to GVE’s Harmonic Mechanisms Series in several ways (not
least by their purely physical appearance as three large spiral-bound volumes on voice-
leading for guitar), including their primary focus on guitar harmony and voice-leading, their
exhaustive presentation of voicing principals and the use of major, harmonic minor and
melodic minor chord scales as the basis of their content. Despite the many similarities, there
are several important differences, including the omission of fingerings/alternate fingerings for
the chord scales, the omission of string-sets and, perhaps most strikingly, the omission of
standard notation as all harmonic formulas are presented in graphic letter form (Figure 17).
While each of the volumes bear resemblance to GVE’s Harmonic Mechanisms, the
similarities in the content are most notable in Volume One, which focuses on triads, seventh
chords and triads over bass-notes (Volume Two addresses quartal voicings and Volume Three
addresses chromaticism). Many of the opening comments of Almanac of Guitar Voice-
Leading bring to mind similar comments in Harmonic Mechanisms, such as the supposition
that studying all the material in the volumes is both impossible and unnecessary. After
introductory sections, the book's exercises are divided into twelve sections:
Triads: Close & Spread 6 Cycles C Major
Triads: Close & Spread 6 Cycles C Melodic Minor
Triads: Close & Spread 6 Cycles C Harmonic Minor
7th Chords: 6 Voicing Types 6 Cycles

134
Murray, R. 2010, https://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/, accessed 18/02/2018.
77
TBN I: 6 Voicing Types 6 Cycles C Major135
TBN I: 6 Voicing Types 6 Cycles C Melodic Minor
TBN I: 6 Voicing Types 6 Cycles C Harmonic Minor
TBN II: 6 Voicing Types 6 Cycles C Major
TBN II: 6 Voicing Types 6 Cycles C Melodic Minor
TBN II: 6 Voicing Types 6 Cycles C Harmonic Minor
135
Goodrick uses the abbreviation TBN for triad over-bass note.
78
Figure 17: Goodrick’s graphic notation.
Chris Buono
As a student and colleague of Mick Goodrick, Chris Buono shows a strong although indirect
influence of GVE’s methodologies in his educational material. Buono’s Triad Chord Scales,
released in 2014 on www.truefire.com, consists of three separate courses addressing triad
chord scales in major, harmonic minor and melodic minor tonalities, which reflect the format
of triad scales presented in GVE’s Harmonic Mechanisms. Having recognised striking
similarities between Buono’s Triad Chord Scales courses and the triad chord scales presented
in Harmonic Mechanisms Volume One, this author contacted Buono to enquire if indeed
GVE’s Harmonic Mechanisms were the inspiration behind his courses. The following is
Buono’s response:
While I have all three volumes as well as George's first book, they had nothing to do with
my Triad Chord Scales courses. The primary influence was Mick Goodrick's Almanac
series as well as Mick himself. I spent some time with him when I first started teaching at
Berklee. I ended up going down that rabbit hole quite a bit with articles in Just Jazz
136
Guitar and Guitar One. The latter was a co-byline with him.
The above response is a strong example of how GVE’s influence has permeated three
generations of guitar instruction, here from Leavitt to Goodrick to Buono and countless
others through their exceptionally popular, instructional materials.
While the triad chord scales make great effort to contain all inversions across various string-
sets in three tonalities, Buono saves a considerable amount of time by presenting each scale
in a single key, in contrast to the twelve-key format of Harmonic Mechanisms.
Steve Herberman
136
Buono, C. Email correspondence with the author, 19/12/2017.
79
‘Steve Herberman is the present and the future of jazz guitar’ – Vic Juris.137
Although generally confined to Washington DC and New York, Herberman’s solo duo and
trio outings are amongst the most exact example of GVE’s influence in contemporary
performance (notwithstanding Howard Alden’s inclusion of GVE’s compositions in his
concerts). Herberman also reaches a worldwide audience by posting a number of his
performances on his Youtube channel. Herberman has released six albums with his seven-
string guitar at the time of writing (the most recent in 2019) which have earned him praise
from some of the most respected guitarists in jazz, including Jim Hall, Jimmy Bruno and
John Pisano, among others. Along with his albums and transcriptions, Herberman makes his
transcription of GVE’s 1949 recording of ‘Once In A While’ commercially available on his
website, www.steveherberman.com. Herberman’s composition, ‘For George’, is dedicated
to both GVE and George Gershwin and celebrates the relationship between the two, which
Herberman demonstrates through his use of GVE’s techniques in his contrafact composition
based on the chord progression to Gershwin’s popular standard, ‘Embraceable You’.
Herberman also teaches many of the concepts contained in Harmonic Mechanisms on his
video courses for the website www.mikesmasterclasses.com. At the time of writing,
Herberman has over fifty courses and over 5000 students enrolled thereon.
Explaining how he became interested in GVE’s publications, Herberman states: ‘mainly my
teacher Bill Leavitt at Berklee; it was his Modern Method Vol. 3 that got me into the multi-
line style’.138 Although a complete analysis of Herberman’s instructional material is beyond
the scope of this research, a brief description of several titles which relate most closely to
GVE’s publications should be sufficient to demonstrate their influence on Herberman’s
lessons.
137
Juris, V. Cited in https://www.steveherberman.com/press-kit, accessed 06/08/2018.
138
Herberman, S. Email correspondence with the author, 12/02/2018.
80
Chord Melody Arranging and Soloing Inspired by GeorgeVan Eps, which is described as
‘utilizing ideas for voice motion and chord substitution inspired by George van Eps (sic)’
uses the popular standard Autumn Leaves as a framework for teaching concepts derived from
the study of GVE’s publications.139 Herberman describes GVE’s style as often being based
on three-lines in motion comprised of a melody, bass and inner voice. He elaborates on this
idea by stating that maintaining a half note bass line with a melody while allowing room for
an inner voice is ‘really the foundation of the Van Eps style’.140
Ex 15: Herberman, Autumn Leaves first A section.
Another of Herberman’s classes Applications of Triad Motion Studies Inspired by George
Van Eps also draws directly from Harmonic Mechanisms, as Herberman states in the lesson
description:
I often get requests to demonstrate how Van Eps’ triad studies in Harmonic Mechanism’s (sic) can
be applied to comping and soloing as well as chord/melody. In this masterclass we’ll see how his
multi-line triadic approach can add depth and interest to triads and upper structure triads. If you’ve
never worked through Van Eps’ books than (sic) this class could be a real eye-opener. If you’ve
139
https://mikesmasterclasses.com/, accessed 07/01/2018
140
Herberman, S. Chord Melody Arranging and Soloing Inspired by George Van Eps (ND).
81
checked out Harmonic Mechanisms and need a fresh look at how to put the concepts into practical
141
use over tunes than (sic) don’t miss this masterclass’.
For this class, Herberman uses the chord progression to Gershwin’s I Got Rhythm as a vehicle
to demonstrate concepts from GVE’s publications, focusing primarily on triads and triadic
voice-leading. As Herberman states: ‘I’ve tried to use as many triads as possible and
sometimes the top line, the upper line is moving, sometimes it’s the middle line and
sometimes it’s the bass line’.142 During this process, Herberman describes GVE’s super and
sub series technique of voice-leading within the framework of harmonised triad chord scales
as found in Harmonic Mechanisms Volume One.
Ex.16: Herberman, I Got Rhythm, bars 1 – 8.
The following is a brief description of several additional master classes by Herberman which
relate to GVE’s publications.
In Chordal Solo Choruses Herberman states: ‘what I’m attempting to do in this class is
demonstrate the concepts and techniques for playing two, three and four-part chord solos’.143
And in the product description states that: ‘the inspiration for this fun and challenging class
comes from the exciting chordal solo choruses George Van Eps recorded for the Jump record
141
https://mikesmasterclasses.com/course/applications-of-triad-motion-studies-inspired-by-george-van-eps/,
accessed 21/05/2018
142
Herberman, S. Applications of Triad Motion Studies Inspired by George Van Eps (ND).
143
https://mikesmasterclasses.com/course/chordal-solo-choruses/, accessed 19/05/2018.
82
label with his small group. Those solos were all about motion in any voice at any time’, and
‘the written solos used in the class are an expansion on the rhythm changes etude used in
Steve’s class Applications Of Triad Motion Studies inspired by George Van Eps.144
Another of Herberman’s instructional videos The Inner Line is described as ‘using principles
that were inspired by the materials George Van Eps outlines in his Harmonic Mechanisms
books’.145 Describing another of his video series: Pedal Points Vol. I – IV, Herberman states:
‘George Van Eps and Jimmy Wyble were my inspiration for putting this class together’.146
Another set of videos Motion and Chord Voicings Vol. I- II is described in the following way:
You and he will begin with triads and create lines in parallel and contrary motion while
maintaining some common chord tones. After examining many kinds of voice motion within one
chord, you’ll apply these concepts to a progression. This is in essence what the George Van Eps
volumes were all about: looking at chords as several voices forging ahead over time to arrive at
147
familiar destinations along the way
And continues:
George Van Eps used to say that “Guitarists put too damn many notes in their chords”. In this class
we’ll heed the maestro’s advice and examine 10th intervals with a moving inner line. Also, we’ll
look at other intervals such as 6th’s and 12th’s with inner line motion and apply these to a
148
progression.
Another of Herberman’s classes Contrapuntal Triad Pairs Vol I–II makes direct reference to
GVE’s technique of triads taken through the super and sub series as found in Harmonic
Mechanisms. As Herberman describes:
In my previous harmonised melodic minor scale class, strings of triads and seventh chords were
put together and used for comping and chord soloing. Now we’ll take those chords and give them
a thorough workout with all types of line motion utilizing the Van Eps super and sup in all
149
possible voices.
144
Ibid.
145
https://mikesmasterclasses.com/course/the-inner-line/ accessed 19/05/2018.
146
https://mikesmasterclasses.com/course/pedal-points-part-1-lower-pedals/ accessed 19/05/2018.
147
https://mikesmasterclasses.com/course/motion-and-chord-voicings-part-i/ accessed 19/05/2018.
148
Ibid.
149
https://mikesmasterclasses.com/course/contrapuntal-triad-pairs-part-1-close-voiced-triads/ accessed
19/05/2018.
83
During the class, Herberman points to Harmonic Mechanisms as sources of further
information on the super and sub series and refers to them as ‘terrific books that you’ve heard
me talk about before if you’ve had some of my other classes’.150
Herberman’s recent class Fun with Tenths explores the many possibilities of the tenth
interval, as he points out in the course description: ‘this five chapter class explores the very
useful and important 10th interval for a wide variety of applications. George Van Eps
referred to it as the “Mighty 10th” and when the interval is explored in-depth, harmonically
and melodically, you’ll see why’.151
Mike Stern
While Herberman’s playing bears an obvious influence of GVE’s publications in terms of
contemporary performance, many guitarists who, at first glance, seem far-removed from
GVE’s harmonic approach are also advocates of such. One such example is contemporary
guitarist, Mike Stern. Although not immediately obvious in his jazz-rock fusion style, multi-
Grammy Award nominee Mike Stern has been cited as recommending The George Van Eps
Method for Guitar to students. As guitarist Mike Neer recalls: ‘at my first lesson with
Mike, he made a point of telling me to buy the book, which was still available in some stores
at the time (circa ‘87) … It took a while for me to discover how Mike used it, but now that I
think about it, a lot of the use of triads in Mike’s soloing (arpeggios and chromatic triad
sequences) was probably developed from that’.152 Having risen to prominence as guitarist for
Miles Davis’s 1980s comeback group along with his group ‘Blood Sweat and Tears’, Stern
continues to record highly-acclaimed albums (which have received him six Grammy
150
https://mikesmasterclasses.com/course/contrapuntal-triad-pairs-part-1-close-voiced-triads/ accessed
19/05/2018.
151
https://mikesmasterclasses.com/ accessed 08/01/2018
152
Neer, M. 29/07/2018. Email correspondence with the author.
84
nomination including ‘Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 2007) and tour internationally with
all-star line-ups.
Kurt Rosenwinkel
On the guitar, my main influences are George Van Eps for his unparalleled mastery of the
instrument and his unique way of playing the guitar like a piano - Kurt Rosenwinkel.153
A former student at The Berklee College of Music, Kurt Rosenwinkel (1970–) is perhaps the
definitive jazz guitarist of the modern era. Having come to prominence in the 1990s,
Rosenwinkel has collaborated with artists such as Brad Mehldau, Joe Henderson, Gary
Burton and Q-Tip, and has featured on over eighty albums, of which twelve as a leader. The
recipient of numerous awards including The Composers Award from The National
Endowment for the Arts (USA), Rosenwinkel taught at Universität der Künste, Berlin for
twelve years after relocating to Germany. Along with continuing to record and tour
internationally, Rosenwinkel has launched his own record label, Heartcore Records.
While Rosenwinkel cites several guitarists as sources of influence, he has frequently noted
GVE’s publications as a source of continuing harmonic study. This acknowledgement by a
leader in contemporary jazz guitar innovation is a testament to the wealth of harmonic
potential contained within the volumes. The English-based jazz guitarist and journalist, John
Harris has noted Van Eps’ influence on Rosenwinkel, referring to aspects of his playing as
‘pure George Van Eps’.154
During an interview for the German magazine, Gittare & Bass, Rosenwinkel discussed
several aspects of GVE’s Harmonic Mechanisms that held particular interest:
153
Gerantab, F. 2011, http://www.jazzreview.com/jazz-artist-interviews/kurt-rosenwinkel.html, accessed
20/07/2018.
154
Gerantab, F. 2011, http://www.jazzreview.com/jazz-artist-interviews/kurt-rosenwinkel.html, accessed
20/07/2018.
85
Kurt has been working with the late George Van Eps’ Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar (this New
York Telephone Directory style bible mostly addresses triads and all their permutations on various
string-sets). In connection with this method Kurt mentions the study of triads from harmonic
minor as well as various possibilities for the movement of inner voices as particularly interesting
155
to him.
During a clinic at Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago (a video of which is posted on
the schools' Youtube channel) Rosenwinkel makes the following comments about his study
of Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar:
These three books are…They’re referred to as the telephone books because you know they’re big.
If you know George Van Eps’s playing it’s this stunning…you know, sounds impossible what he’s
playing…what he has worked on so exhaustively are finger mechanics or harmonic mechanics.
How to make things sound like they are, you know, sort of sleight of hand stuff you know. Things
that sound like you got two guitars going on…So you know I would open the books and just read
156
some stuff. I didn’t go through the whole things…I got so much out of that.
In his master’s thesis The Rosenwinkel Introductions: Stylistic Tendencies in 10
Introductions Recorded by Jazz Guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, author Jens Hoppe both
acknowledges the influence of Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar on Rosenwinkel’s guitar
style and attempts to mitigate the influence of such on his introductions by stating:
In an interview published in Guitar Player, Rosenwinkel mentioned that he had gained much from
the study of George Van Eps’ Harmonic Mechanisms For Guitar (Milkowski, 2010; Van Eps,
1980). The study of these books, and their meticulous dissection of triad and interval permutations
and melodic movement within these, may well have contributed to Rosenwinkel’s ability to
negotiate and blur the boundary between single-note and chordal playing, but they do not address
157
the topic of introductions.
The above statement fails to acknowledge that Van Eps’s Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar
do not dictate how any of the material contained therein be applied to song form. A
prominent example of GVE’s influence manifesting in Rosenwinkel’s introductions is found
in ‘A Life Unfolds’ from his live album The Remedy (2006) which is based on open-voiced
155
www.christianrover.com, accessed 18/02/2018, original quote from Gittare & Bass, 2000, Ebner Verlag
GMBH & CO. KG, trans. C. Rover.
156
Rosenwinkel, C. 2014. Quoted in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-ox3Mfby2I, accessed 22/02/2019.
157
Hoppe, J. 2017, 3. The Rosenwinkel Introductions: Stylistic Tendencies in 10 Introductions Recorded by
Jazz Guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, University of Sydney.
86
triads, often with a single moving voice, moving primarily through a cycle of fifths as found
throughout Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar and closely related to the ‘progressive motion’
concept (example 17).
Ex. 17: Rosenwinkel, A Life Unfolds, introduction.
Jimmy Wyble and The Musicians Institute
The Musicians Institute, which offers degrees at both undergraduate and master’s level, is
widely recognised as one of the leading institutes of contemporary music studies in the
United States (along with a sister institute in Tokyo, Japan), offering studies with strong links
to the industry in the fields of business, performance and engineering. The Musicians
Institute was founded in 1977 as The Guitar Institute of Technology by businessman, Pat
Hicks, and the jazz guitarist, Howard Roberts, who, along with being a prolific session
musician and educator, was a student of GVE’s publications. Another of GVE’s direct
students, Ron Escheté, was one of the original teachers at GIT. While GVE’s methodologies
are likely to have had a profound effect on the curriculum of GIT, perhaps the strongest direct
87
influence is seen in a series of lectures given at MIT over the course of two years by another
of GVE’s students, Jimmy Wyble.
Jimmy Wyble’s student and collaborator, David Oaks (who recorded and edited Wyble’s
book The Art of Two-Line Improvisation), has made much of Wyble's lesson materials
available on his website, www.davidoakes.com. Amongst this material is a series of ideas on
guitar harmony titled Harmonic Awareness and Efficiency: A Method by Jimmy Wyble, which
Oakes refers to as ‘his complete thought process and should be viewed as Jimmy Wyble's
own version of "Harmonic Mechinisms” (sic).158 Oakes describes how these ideas came
about as the result of Wyble studying with GVE and finishing the chord scales from
Harmonic Mechanisms, at which point GVE challenged Wyble to come up with his own
variations on the chord scales. These ideas were then presented at Musicians Institute as a
series of lectures from October 2007–March 2009. In Oakes’s words:
Jimmy Wyble had two guitar teachers that really inspired him to play the guitar at a very high
level - Laurindo Almeida and George Van Eps. Jimmy often spoke of his work with Van Eps and
went through all of his chord scales. Anyone who has ever gone through the Van Eps "Harmonic
Mechinisms" (sic) books knows all about the chord scales that Jimmy was referring to. George
then challenged Jimmy to come up with his own chord scales and the information presented in this
packet reflects Jimmy's hard work and commitment that was spawned from that Van Eps
159
comment. I think that George Van Eps would be very pleased with Jimmy's work!
The above comment clearly expresses that Wyble’s methodologies not only carry an imprint
of GVE’s publications but are, in fact, a direct reinterpretation of the latter. As Ted Greene
noted during his interview with GVE, Wyble’s works seemed to be ‘all a direct offshoot’ of
his studies with GVE.160 In his opening comments, Wyble states:
‘as we have seen from the Van Eps method, the study of chord scales is an ongoing process
and is not something that can be learned in a week or a month. It is truly a lifelong journey as
well as a commitment and understanding that the study of harmony is essential to the growth
and development of any musician’.161
158
http://www.davidoakesguitar.com/gsWyble.php, accessed 18/02/2018.
159
Ibid
160
Greene, T. 1981.
161
Ibid.
88
Along with the above example, GVE’s influence can be found in two additional publications
by Wyble: Classical Country Guitar Method and The Art of Two-line Improvisation.
Jimmy Wyble’s Classical Country Guitar Method and The Art of Two-Line Improvisation
both draw on a series of twenty-five etudes written in the 1970s, with etudes one to six
appearing in Classical Country Guitar Method and etudes seven to twenty-five appearing in
The Art of Two-Line Improvisation.
Etude One from Classical Country Guitar Method is particularly characteristic of the tenths
with inner line motion exercises found in Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar. As David
Oakes notes:
I asked Jimmy what he thought about this etude and his answer was very simple. He said that he
wanted this etude to be a study of 10th intervals. Every chord has a 10th interval in it between the
root and the 3rd of the chord with an octave in-between. These notes are usually located on the 6th
162
and 3rd strings. From there he wanted to come up with a line inside of that interval.
The most striking similarity to GVE’s publications in The Art of Two-Line Improvisation is
Wyble’s extensive use of two-part counterpoint, closely related to GVE’s ‘reductions’, with
particular emphasis on contrary motion. Wyble’s student Sid Jacobs, himself a highly
accomplished and innovative guitarist, currently teaches at Musician’s Institute.
Ex. 18: Wyble, Etude 4.
162
Oakes, D. ND, http://www.davidoakesguitar.com/pdf/Etude_1_synopsis.pdf, accessed 20/05/2018.
89
Howard Alden and the George Van Eps Revival
‘Widely heralded as one of the finest jazz guitarists of his generation, Howard Alden regards
the late George Van Eps, with whom he recorded four CDs in the 1990s, as one of his most
important professional influences’.163
As a direct student and Jimmy Wyble and a recording and performance collaborator of
GVE’s, Howard Alden (who, as noted in Chapter One, was a firm advocate of GVE’s earlier
publication, George Van Eps Original Guitar Solos) is one of the strongest examples of
GVE’s influence in contemporary guitar performance. A lifelong admirer of GVE, Alden has
stated: ‘I’ve been studying his music and his playing since I first became aware of him; I was
about twelve years old.164 Along with advocating GVE’s use of the seven-string guitar,
Alden includes GVE’s solo compositions in his concerts, stating ‘I always like to do at least
one or two little pieces by George because it kind of exhibits the character of the seven-string
guitar’.165 In 1991, Alden began a series of four commercial recordings in duo (along with
drums and bass accompaniment) with GVE that took GVE out of a twenty-year period of
retirement and resulted in a series of tours across the US and the UK.
163
Sleeve notes to Howard Alden Live at the Smithsonian Jazz Café, (DVD) 2006.
164
Alden, H. 2011.
http://www.jazzhistorydatabase.com/content/collections/in_their_own_voice_jazz_interviews/zupan_joe/howar
d_alden.html#, accessed 04/08/2018.
165
Alden, H. Live at Jazzland Wien, 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf_3k2i2SSM, accessed
04,08,2018.
90
Alden’s popularity in modern jazz helped to expose GVE to a new generation of fans. As
journalist Steve Voce noted in an article for The Independent: ‘The two men recorded
together five times from 1991 onwards and in that short period Van Eps achieved more
exposure on record with Alden than he had during the whole of a recording career that had
begun more than 60 years before’.166
Alden has also recently (2018 - present) released several instructional videos on
mikesmasterclasses.com, the most obviously indebted to GVE of which being Turning Your
Guitar into a String-Trio, which addresses many of the familiar interval voice motion
exercises found throughout Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar (Examples 19 – 24). The
exercises are based largely on 10ths with inner line motion, as demonstrated in the following
examples:
Ex. 19: Alden string trio, 10ths with inner voice motion, example 1.
Ex.20: Alden string trio, 10ths with inner voice motion example 2.
166
Voce, S. 1998. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-george-van-eps-1189986.html,
accessed 03/08/2018.
91
Ex.21: Alden string trio, 10ths with inner voice motion example 3.
Ex.22: Alden string trio, 10ths with inner voice motion, example 4.
Ex.23: Alden string trio, 10ths with inner voice motion, example 5, diminished tonality.
Ex.24: Alden string trio, 10ths with inner voice motion, example 6.
Ted Greene
‘You have built yourself up and worked hard; you built yourself up into a very sizeable piece
of the music world. You’re a big chunk of the music world. You’re very talented. You’re
very intelligent. Now, that is more payment than I deserve’ – GVE comment to Ted
Greene.167
Ted Greene’s Chord Chemistry is widely considered one of the most important chord
reference books for jazz guitarists. Greene has acknowledged many diverse influences
(including Wes Montgomery and Bach), but referred only to GVE as his ‘beloved teacher and
167
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friend’.168 Recalling his lessons with GVE, Greene has stated: ‘I used to go to George’s
house to study with him. Oh, do I have great, fond memories of this. He was such a special
guy, and what a player. I loved George and was tremendously inspired by him ... [his playing
was] the summit of solo guitar playing…at his best, he was, and is, the greatest I’ve ever
heard’.169 In the following comments, which Greene made to GVE during their 1981
interview, Greene describes dreams in which he would receive instruction from the latter:
‘I used to have dreams, and you were helping me in my dreams. That may be fantasy; it
may be conjecture; it may be symbolic—but I don’t believe that it was. I just noticed
after I studied with you, after, I mean months later. And it wasn’t necessarily because of
what I was working on. I’d have these dreams - a few days later: acceleration,
distinctive acceleration’.170
Along with the above statements, GVE’s influence can be seen in a collection of
personal notes which were written by Greene dating from 1972 – 1998 that reveal
his continued study of GVE’s methodologies (Figures 18 – 23). 171
168
Greene’s handwritten note on a manuscript of his last lesson with GVE, dated 31/01/98. Taken from
www.tedgreene.com, accessed 01/09/16
169
Greene, T. Just Jazz Guitar, 2000, 60.
170
Greene, T. 1981.
171
Notes are from www.tedgreene.com accessed 11/07/2018.
93
Figure 18: ‘Baroque (and 20th – Century Diatonic Major) Tonality inspired by GVE, p. 175, Book 2’.
13/11/1982.
94
Figure 19: ‘George Van Eps 7-String Voicings’, 05/12/1980, 16/12/1980.
Figure 20: ‘George Van Eps-ish Counterpoint’, 22/08/1990.
95
Figure 21: ‘GVE I’ll Remember April’, (analysis of GVE’s arrangement) 17/08/1973 .
172
Figure 22: ‘Lesson from George Van Eps in Early 1972’.
172
The text in the upper right-hand corner reads: ‘I didn’t absorb this apparently (from trying in a cursory read
through at present). I’d like to now. Always meant to. Not easy stuff. 10/12/03 Sunday night’.
96
Figure 23: ‘George Van Eps Style Variations’25/02/1981.
97
Figure 24: ‘Last Time I Ever Saw my Beloved Teacher and Friend, George Van Eps’, 31/01/1998.
Timothy Lerch
Timothy Lerch, who studied with Ted Greene, Ron Escheté and Jimmy Wyble has published
over 300 videos on his popular (currently over 26,000 subscribers) Youtube channel at the
time of writing, many of which are performances and lessons based on content attributed to
Ted Greene. Lerch has also created eight instructional courses for the website
www.truefire.com, the most recent of which ‘Melodic Triads’ draws heavily on GVE’s
methodologies and culminates in a tribute etude titled ‘By George’.173
173
Published January 2021
98
Randy Vincent - Three-Note Voicings and Beyond
Randy Vincent’s jazz guitar chord voicings book Three-Note Voicings and Beyond (2011)
boasts a unique dynamic concept of harmony based on three independently moving lines
which team up to create beautiful harmonies.174
The source of some of these concepts can be traced to GVE given that Vincent refers to GVE
as being one of his guitar teacher’s heroes, (the other being Freddie Green, who, as noted in
Chapter Two was himself influenced by GVE). 175 Along with GVE, Vincent also references
Jim Hall and George Shearing in relation to several of the exercises.
Vincent, a prominent contemporary educator and performer, has worked with Dizzy
Gillespie, Joe Henderson and Bobby Hutcherson, and has taught jazz guitar at Sonoma State
University since 1981, along with giving lectures and clinics throughout the United States.
His students include Julian Lage, Dave MacNab, Chris Pimental and Liberty Ellmen.
Vincent’s Three-Note Voicings differs from Harmonic Mechanisms in several ways which
undoubtedly make it more accessible to the reader. Firstly, the examples themselves are void
of left-hand fingerings, with practical suggestions being summarised in chapter one, which
gives practical fingerings for three-note chords and shows several variations which leave
different fingers free. Secondly, the examples are demonstrated in chord grids along with
standard notation similar to Ted Greene’s Chord Chemistry and the section titled ‘The Visual
Fingerboard’ in Harmonic Mechanisms Volume One. And lastly, the examples themselves
are often demonstrated through fragments of standards from the jazz repertoire. Each of
these qualities makes Three-Note Voicings and Beyond more accessible than Harmonic
Mechanisms for Guitar and point to a methodology and format which, arguably, GVE’s
publications could have benefitted from.
174
Product description, https://www.shermusic.com/9781883217662.php, accessed 23/11/2018.
175
Vincent, R. Three-Note Voicings and beyond, 2011. Sher Music Co. CA. 9.
99
GVE’s influence is felt most strongly in chapter one under the heading ‘Van Eps Exercises’,
which is a group of exercises given to Vincent by his guitar teacher based on GVE’s concepts
of tenths with inner line motion and sixths with upper line motion (Examples 26 - 29).
Ex.25: 10ths with inner line motion, page 9.
Ex.26: 6ths with upper line motion, page 9.
Ex.27: 10ths with inner line motion example two, page 10.
Ex.28: 6ths with upper line motion example two, page 10.
Vincent’s Three-Note Voicings and Beyond has received endorsements from many of the
leading figures in contemporary jazz guitar in the fields of both education and performance,
including Pat Metheny, Jim Hall, Mike Stern and Ben Monder who refers to it as “an
100
invaluable asset to any serious student of jazz guitar”.176 Other notable endorsements come
from Vic Juris, a prominent jazz guitar professor who has taught at The New School of Jazz
and Contemporary Music, Lehigh University and Rutgers University who states “I look
forward to using this with my students”, professor Mark Levine of the University of
California, concert guitarist Gene Bertoncini and jazz guitar virtuoso Julian Lage who states
“I consider the topics explored in this book to be the foundation of how I like to look at
harmony on the guitar”.177
Martin Taylor
George Van Eps was, and still is, a great influence on me. He was such a harmonically and
technically advanced guitarist ... I met him several times but never got to work with him. My
mentor, Ike Isaacs, was a good friend of Georges and played in a similar style. What I’ve inherited
from George Van Eps via Ike Isaacs is the polyphonic approach to solo playing, which is quite
different to chord melody style and far more musically interesting – Martin Taylor.178
As a student of Ike Isaacs, Taylor can be considered a second-generation student of GVE and
demonstrates a strong influence from GVE’s methodologies in his instructional materials. As
Guitarist Teddy Dupont notes: ‘I think he [Ike Isaacs] was actually one of the very best
chord soloists a la George Van Eps of all time, he also taught Martin Taylor; his harmonic
knowledge was extraordinary’.179
Isaacs’ book (published in 1984) and subsequent instructional video, Guitar Explorations
(later re-published as Jazz Guitar School), focuses heavily on voice-leading applied to chord
forms and the development of string independence in a harmonic context.
Guitar Explorations begins with examining triads and arpeggios as they relate to common
major and minor chord formations. Isaacs then moves on to open-voiced chords which allow
176
Monder, B. https://www.shermusic.com/9781883217662.php, accessed 11/11/2018.
177
Lage, J. Ibid.
178
Taylor, M. 17/02/2016, https://artistworks.com/martin-taylor/learning/110049/98964, accessed 19/02/2016.
179
https://gypsyjazzuk.wordpress.com/36-2/ike-isaacs/, accessed 21/02/2018.
101
space for inner moving lines. These techniques are then demonstrated in an open-voice blues
etude. Isaacs continues to elaborate on the idea of moving inner-voices, now inside the
enclosure of a tenth interval. Here the inner-voice is shown moving chromatically between
the fifth and seventh intervals (corresponding to GVE’s 10ths with Inner-Line Motion from
Harmonic Mechanisms Volume Two). Isaacs influence on Taylor can be seen by comparing
the lessons in Guitar Explorations with Taylor’s instructional material, both of which rely
heavily on the enclosure of a tenth interval with moving inner voices as found in GVE’s
Harmonic Mechanisms.
On his online school ‘The Martin Taylor Guitar Academy’ hosted by ArtistWorks (a web-
based teaching company) Taylor has devised a system whereby students learn harmonised
scales, beginning in intervals of a tenth, followed by adding intervals (the seventh degree)
and moving the inner voice (from the seventh degree to the sixth degree).
During a video response to one of his online students, Taylor acknowledges the influence of
GVE while discussing the difference between chord melody and polyphonic guitar styles:
Joe Pass played more in that kind of style, Barney Kessel did too when he played
solo but the way I play is more … probably [like] another guitarist, a hero of mine;
we go back to George Van Eps, [who] played more in this kind of style, and going
back even further in the very old days Eddie Lang played in this kind of style,
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although he didn’t play fingerstyle but he had all these lines going on.
Having crystallised his method of teaching solo guitar via his online school, Taylor’s recent
publication Beyond Chord Melody (2018) demonstrate many exercises based on 10ths with
inner voice motion (examples 30 -31) and culminates in a series of etudes based on the chord
progression to the standard Autumn Leaves (example 32).
180
Here, Taylor refers to chord melody as ‘that’ kind of style and polyphony as ‘this’ kind of style.
102
Ex. 29: G major scale harmonised in 10ths.
Ex 30: G major scale harmonised in 10ths with inner voice motion.
Ex 31: Taylor Autumn Leaves Etude.
It is interesting to note that as Taylor’s arranging process has synthesized, he has arrived at a
similar system to GVE based on the interval of a tenth along with the systematic distribution
of melody, bass-lines and inner voices across groups of two strings each (first and second
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string for melody, second and third for harmony and fifth and sixth for bass). As Erik
Swanson observes in George Van Eps and the Great American Songbook:
‘In terms of the orchestration of chordal voices among the strings, some of Van
Eps’ general tendencies include relegating bass notes to the 5 th, 6th, and 7th strings;
Van Eps usually played the inner voices of the chord (often consisting of the 3 rd
and 7th) on the 3rd and 4th strings, and he most often played the melodic voices in
chords on the 1st and 2nd strings’.181
It is also worth noting, however, that, along with the above techniques, GVE also placed
great importance on triads which are not addressed to a great extent in Taylor’s instructional
material) as a foundation to his harmonic technique.
Howard Morgen
‘For my 20th birthday, Harlow (a friend and band mate of GVE) gave me The George Van
Eps Guitar Method and an album of George’s solo recordings. In 1980 while playing in a
booth for Guitar World Magazine, I had the great pleasure of meeting George and telling him
of that pivotal point in my life’ – Howard Morgen.182
Morgen exemplifies a group of guitarists who followed in Van Eps’s footsteps by switching
to seven-string guitar and emphasised the harmonic aspect of the guitar by focusing primarily
on solo repertoire. As Morgen’s wife, Estelle notes: ‘Howard was very fond of George Van
Eps and his work. It was a mutual feeling … at one time he told Howard that he passed the
mantel (sic) to him.’183 GVE’s endorsement of Morgen’s ability held particular pride for
Morgen; the following quote from GVE adorns the homepage of Morgen’s website:
‘Listening to Howard Morgen play the seven-string guitar is a most delightful musical
181
Swanson, E. 2017, 34.
182
www.howardmorgen.com/docs/Howard_Morgen_Article_8_2007.pdf accessed 18/02/2018, containing
citation from Just Jazz Guitar Magazine, August 2007.
183
This comment came from Howard’s wife Estelle, 2016, in Email correspondence with the author.
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experience. His reharmonisations of standards are very refreshing, full of surprises, but never
rude to the ear. Howard is an accomplished, inspired musician and a truly great guitarist’.184
The extent to which GVE’s arranging style influenced Morgen is observable in both guitarists
arrangements of Gershwin’s They Can’t Take That Away From Me, which GVE released on
his 1956 album, Mellow Guitar, and was recorded by Morgen for his 1998 publication The
Gershwin Collection for Solo Guitar.
There are many similarities found in GVE’s and Morgen’s arrangements, such as the choice
of the rich sounding E sixth/ninth chord resolution in bar 6 of the A section (used by GVE in
bars 11 and 19); the choice of the B eleventh with chromatic voice leading (lowering the
ninth degree) leading to B flat minor seventh in bar 22-23 (a harmonic substitution used by
GVE in bars 13-14); the strict rhythm of the B section, and the atypical voicing of E major
seventh in bar 39 (bar 6 in GVE’s arrangement). The most notable influence, though, is
found in bars 48-50 (example 32), in which an E harmonic is held on the twelfth-fret of the
low E-string beneath moving voices outlining a shift from E major seventh to E seventh (as in
GVE’s opening statement from bars 1-5, (example 33).
Ex. 32: Howard Morgen’s arrangement of They Can’t Take That Away From Me, bars 48 – 50.
184
Van Eps, G. Cited in www.howardmorgen.com, accessed 04/10/16
105
Ex 33: GVE’s arrangement of They Can’t Take That Away From Me, five-bar introduction.
Ben Monder
Ben Monder, who has spoken openly about his study of Harmonic Mechanisms, is part of the
avant-garde of jazz guitarists focusing primarily on original material as opposed to playing
standards of the repertoire. The recipient of wide critical acclaim, Monder has been noted for
his ‘great chord voicing’ by multi-Grammy Award-winning jazz guitarist, Pat Metheny.185
Based in New York, Monder tours internationally in solo and trio settings as well as
contributing to jazz guitar education through the medium of instructional materials and his
position on the faculty of both The New School and The New England Conservatory, in
Boston, Massachusetts. Along with featuring on over two-hundred records as a sideman,
Monder has released eight albums as a leader from 1995–2015. Along with his contributions
to popular music, Monder has worked with some of the biggest names in contemporary jazz,
including Lee Konitz and Jack McDuff. Monder’s performances and recordings include the
use of electronic synthesis coupled with GVE’s chord-scale voice-leading to achieve his
modern experimental sound which the journalist, Bill Milkowski, referred to as ‘a penchant
for weaving complex, contrapuntal lines and creating ambient moods and textures.186
In an interview for www.playjazzguitar.com, Ben Monder stated:
185
Metheny, P. Cited in http://www.c-marek.de/xmonder/?p=397, Accessed 05/08/2018.
186
Milkowski, B. 2005, Jazziz, cited in http://www.c-marek.de/xmonder/?p=397, accessed 05/08/2015.
106
the one book that stands out as supremely influential to me is Ted Greene's Chord Chemistry.
I've gone through that one thoroughly many times over. I also love all of Mick Goodrick's
books, from "The Advancing Guitarist" to the "Almanac of Voice-Leading" volumes…Also,
187
the George Van Eps "Harmonic Mechanisms" books are great, if a little daunting.
Monders course Jazz Guitar 1’ on the video-streaming website
www.mymusicmasterclass.com is a lesson on guitar harmony based on triad chord scales
through various string-groups in major, harmonic minor and melodic minor tonalities in root
position and two inversions, along with playing triad chord scales with voice-motion, in
sequence form and through the diatonic cycle of fourths—all of which can be found in
GVE’s publications (example 35). Unlike GVE, Monder leaves much of the process to the
student and offers examples in a single key while advising transposition. Monder also
advises that all chord scales be practised with as many fingerings as possible in the left-hand
but, again, does not demonstrate such fingerings.
Ex 34: Triads with voice-motion.
Video-Streaming Websites
www.truefire.com, which has been referred to as ‘the planets largest and most comprehensive
selection of online guitar lessons,’ hosts a library of over 33,000 online video lessons by over
600 guitar teachers in a variety of styles.188 Many of the teachers offering lessons through the
site have acknowledged GVE as an influence, among them Frank Vignola, Sheryl Bailey and
Sean McGowan. While none of the courses offered on this particular website focus explicitly
187
www.playjazzguitar.com/jazz-guitar-interviews-ben-monder.html, accessed 15/08/2017.
188
https://truefire.com/about, accessed 30/05/2018.
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on the guitar style of GVE, several make honourable mentions, including Frank Vignola’s 30
Smokin Jazz Guitar Licks You Must Know which contains a lick titled ‘George Van Eps Style
Triads’ (example 36), Tom Dempsey’s 50 Jazz Masters Licks You Must Know, which
contains a lick based on GVE’s guitar style (see Example 35) during whose instruction
Dempsey refers Harmonic Mechanisms and Sheryl Bailey’s Bebop Etudes, in which Bailey
states ‘George Van Eps would always say ‘don’t move your fingers until you have to.’
Several others list GVE’s music as recommended listening and/or an influence on their
course material, including Frank Vignola’s Chord Melody Etudes, Ton van Bergeijk’s
Fingerstyle Blues and Boogie, Fareed Haque’s Solo Guitar Handbook and Jazz Comping
Survival Guide and Tim Sparks’ Post-Modern Fingerstyle Blues.
Ex. 35: Van Eps style triads.
Ex. 36: Van Eps based lick.
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Ex 37: Van Eps Honeysuckle, blues based on 3rds and 6ths with a pedal.
Along with such honourable mentions, a number of the courses on www.truefire.com cover
material with strong links to GVE. These include Fingerboard Breakthrough by Howard
Morgen, Triad Chord Scales Vol I – III by Chris Buono and Jazz Textures by Christopher
Woitach who has stated ‘I did study Van Eps’ Harmonic Mechanisms…very powerful stuff
and an influence for sure’.189
Videos relating to GVE on www.youtube.com range from user submissions of covers to
uploads of entire GVE albums and several live appearances, both solo and in duo with
guitarist Howard Alden (uploaded to Alden’s user account). There are only three
transcriptions at the time of writing, uploaded by user Francois Leduc, who has uploaded
over 200 transcriptions of pieces by well-known jazz guitarists and has over 50,000
subscribers, along with a page on www.patreon.com, on which he makes his transcriptions
commercially available. The user Fabrizio Brusca has uploaded four short videos based on
GVE’s displaced concept. While www.youtube.com has made it possible to access
189
Woitach, C. Email correspondence with the author, 13/02/2018
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commercially-unavailable albums by GVE, the greatest example of the latter’s publications
on this website are contained in video demonstrations of exercises from The George Van Eps
Method for Guitar on two separate channels, those of the user, Rob McKillop, and a channel
titled solid guitar lessons. While the videos uploaded to the channel solid guitar lessons are
relatively new and continue to be updated, McKillop’s various videos on The George Van
Eps Method for Guitar (30 in total) currently range between 600 - 10,000 views each.
The website www.mikesmasterclasses.com is a streaming/video download music lessons site
with several strong GVE influences, among them the instructor Tom Lippincott, who, at the
time of writing, has thirty courses, covering such topics as fingerstyle technique for jazz
guitar and jazz guitar harmony with over 4000 students enrolled thereon. As Lippincott
states:
George Van Eps has definitely been a huge influence on me. I have been listening to recordings of
his playing since I first found out about him in my late teens. I also learned his piece “Crossroads”
as a grad student at U. of Miami, which had a pretty significant effect on my playing. Later on, I
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went through some of the other pieces in that same guitar solos book and got further insights.
Further GVE related material on the website includes the previously addressed courses
created by Steve Herberman and Howard Alden.
Summary of Influences
Perhaps the most succinct means of summarising GVE’s influence is in the form of a family
tree which graphically represents the many spheres of influence that have grown from the
volumes (figure 25).
190
Lippincott, T. Email correspondence with the author, 22/04/2018.
110
Figure 25: GVE Influence Family Tree.
111
Conclusion
This chapter highlights the profound—and enduring—influence that GVE’s publications
have had (and continue to have) on jazz guitar education and performance practice. As one
of the earliest pedagogues in the field, GVE created a model that had a profound influence
not only on jazz guitar instruction but also on the legitimacy of both jazz and the guitar as
vehicles for serious study. The above publications, along with GVE’s publications
themselves, have the umbrella effect of influencing virtually the totality of contemporary jazz
guitar performance practice. Indeed, it is extremely difficult to find a contemporary jazz
guitarist who cannot trace their lineage to one or more of the above sources. While all of the
publications addressed in this chapter demonstrate a profound influence from GVE’s
publications, many share commonalities in terms of presentational and logistical deviations
from the GVE publications.
Two of the most prevalent of such logistical deviations are the condensation of harmonic
material to a single key (thereby leaving the responsibility of transposition to the student) and
the demonstration of harmonic concepts in practical application in the form of repertoire-
based etudes. While this approach certainly makes such harmonic material more accessible
and perhaps more attractive to the consumer, it also has the effect of locking such material
into a genre; an effect that was largely avoided throughout GVE’s publications. Perhaps the
greatest deviation, however, is in the omission of the exhaustive left-hand fingering options
in GVE’s publications, many of which GVE admitted to being impractical, but still deemed
as necessary, for technical development. While most of the player-tutors in this chapter have
leaned towards practical fingerings, perhaps the most extreme example is found in Martin
Taylor, who repeatedly advises students to pay no attention to left-hand fingerings, but
instead, focus entirely on the notes.
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Although GVE’s publications themselves remain in relative obscurity, it seems virtually
impossible to find a significant stratum of contemporary jazz guitar that does not bear their
profound influence through the abovementioned publications and pedagogical resources.
This understanding places the ethos of GVE’s publications not only at the root of jazz guitar
education but, also, at its very forefront today.
Along with GVE’s enduring influence education, this chapter has also highlighted the
influence of GVE’s publications on jazz guitar performance practice. The process of
evaluating GVE’s influence began with drawing attention to his role in shaping the approach
of the rhythm guitar in the big-band setting and how this became a template for future
generations of big-band rhythm guitarists. It also demonstrates how GVE’s methodologies
subtly permeated mainstream music both through session performance and popular media.
Moreover, GVE’s influence on standard or conventional jazz guitar performance is
thoroughly parsed, with an emphasis on his role in establishing the jazz guitar as a solo
instrument and in terms of his influence on subsequent solo guitar arranging styles. By
drawing attention to the link between GVE’s harmonic approach and contemporary
performance methodologies, this chapter has also demonstrated that, although generally not
credited as the source of such methodologies, GVE’s harmonic concepts continue to be a
strong influence in jazz guitar performance practice.
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Conclusion
While every care has been taken not to overstate GVE’s influence and to draw attention to
certain shortcomings evident in his publications, their effect on generations of jazz guitarists
in the fields of both education and performance is undeniable and, indeed, all-pervasive. This
research began with three fundamental questions:
 What are the Underlying Concepts and Techniques Taught in GVE’s Harmonic
Mechanisms series?
 How Have GVE’s Publications Influenced Jazz Guitar Education?
 How Have GVE’s Publications Influenced Contemporary Performance Practice?
This research has systematically addressed the above questions by first elucidating the central
concepts of the publications in their entirety, along with editorial shortcomings which
obscure such concepts (Chapter Three). Chapter four examined the influence of GVE’s
publications on a wide range of educational sources, ranging from third-level education to
online-resources. Also demonstrated is the influence of the same on jazz guitar performance
practice, emphasising the scope of their influence in such diverse settings as the big-band
rhythm section, studio settings and contemporary composition. And finally, Appendix One
and Two show the fruits of the practice-lead investigation into the specifics of applying the
core concepts of the volumes to the composition, performance transcription and recording of
ten etudes which serve as practical and musical expressions of the core concepts for the solo
guitarist.
In the process of answering the above questions, many interesting aspects of GVE’s legacy
have been made apparent: from his profound influence on solo guitar arranging-styles to his
advanced chordal and voice-leading concepts and the immense impact of his publications that
have endured across several generations of guitarists. An assessment of the current literature
114
relating to jazz guitar studies (as conducted in Chapter One) reveals not only an absence of
research relating to GVE’s publications but also, in turn, a larger deficit in the entire field of
jazz guitar pedagogy attributable to a trend in research that favours reportorial analysis and
associated ‘close reading’ over the contextualisation of influence and its effect on the
dissemination of style.
Analysing the content of the volumes themselves reveals a lifelong dedication, perhaps even
obsession, with the harmonic capacity of the instrument demonstrated through an exhaustive
execution that emphasised the guitar’s full chromatic potential. Given the volumes’
labyrinthine presentation of ‘mechanisms’—coupled with their often flawed editorial
delivery—the esteem to which GVE’s publications are held among contemporary jazz
guitarists is a testament to their content value. Research into the stylistic influences on GVE
reveals three main figures who shaped his approach to the guitar—Eddie Lang (who steered
GVE toward the guitar and the idiom of jazz); Andrés Segovia (who influenced a classical
approach to the instrument manifested through a right-hand fingerstyle technique) and
George Gershwin (who, along with George’s elder brother Robert, influenced GVE’s lifelong
obsession with harmony and the guitar’s ability to mimic the piano). Each of these influences
became fused into what resulted in a unique approach to the guitar which, despite its stimuli,
became distinctly unique in its mature form.
That GVE’s methodologies would shape the praxis of solo jazz guitar-arranging and
performance is perhaps unsurprising, given their emphasis on harmony and the independence
of the instrument. What is perhaps more surprising is their influence across such a wide
scope of both education and performance and their endurance in contemporary settings. That
GVE’s publications formed such an important part in shaping the curriculum of The Berklee
College of Music’s Guitar Department—yet were never acknowledged for such prior to this
thesis—is, perhaps, revealing of their often hidden, yet all-pervasive influence on jazz guitar
115
practice. Potentially, this thesis has paved the way for greater research in a number of areas,
including:
 The construction, design and use of the seven-string guitar in Western culture and its
impact on popular music
 The identification of harmonic formulas within GVE’s publications, including drop-2
voicings, drop-3 voicings and upper-structure triads and their usage in contemporary
guitar styles
 The systematic application of GVE’s mechanisms in jazz guitar repertoire
 A comparison between GVE’s left-hand fingering methodologies and those of the
classical tradition
 A comparison between GVE’s left-hand fingering methodologies and those
established within the field of jazz, such as Jimmy Bruno’s five fingerings.
Perhaps most significantly, this study acknowledges the influence of GVE’s publications in a
way that many high-profile users of such have failed to. Such an acknowledgement thus
places GVE’s publications both at the root and the forefront of jazz guitar education and
performance studies.
116
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Appendix A:
Transcriptions of the Ten Etudes
Reductions
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129
Chromatic Triads
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131
132
133
134
135
The Stagger Concept
136
137
138
139
Progressive Motion
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Appendix B:
Explanation of the Ten Etudes
The following is a description of the ten etudes based on the ten concepts found in Harmonic
Mechanisms as described in Chapter Four. It is hoped that these etudes will bring the
concepts to life in a practical and musical way. I have purposely not included dynamic
markings to allow the student their expressive preferences. However, I have included
recordings of the etudes which may be used as a reference. I have performed these
fingerstyle on a nylon-string guitar but again, these represent my preferences rather than an
absolute requirement. My tendency when playing block chords at slower tempos is to
slightly arpeggiate the voices as this is pleasing to me personally. This, also, is not required
of the student. I have included left-hand fingerings where necessary but these also should be
considered as practical suggestions rather than requirements. Many of the etudes span the
entire fretboard and change position every measure or two. In these cases, I have indicated
string-groups for the convenience of the reader. I have tried to strike a balance between
clearly demonstrating the concepts and using them as vehicles for expression as an
overemphasis on either of these aspects at the cost of the other would make such etudes
redundant.
Ten Etudes
Although not included in Harmonic Mechanisms, the process of writing etudes based on the
concepts within the volumes is an exercise GVE would use with his private students.
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Reductions
Reductions makes use of the various combinations of two-voice counterpoint found in

Harmonic Mechanisms, beginning with contrary motion in C major in bars one and two
where it moves into a sustained voice, first above, then below a melodic line. This device of
switching between contrary motion and pedal-point forms a basis for the rest of the piece.
While the majority of the piece explores the aforementioned devices in C major from the first
to the tenth position, both ascending (bars one to twelve) and descending (bars twelve to
thirty) the piece also includes brief modulations to D minor in bars seventeen to nineteen and
A minor in bars twenty to twenty-two. Bars twenty-three and twenty-four, again make use of
contrary motion but here, voices are moving towards each other rather than apart as in the
rest of the piece. The piece resolves with a V-I cadence, delayed by continued use of pedal-
point in bars thirty and thirty one resolving in the final measures. I have used extensive left-
hand finger markings throughout this piece as many of the measures require an unusual
stretch beyond standard positions. As with each of the etudes, such markings are included for
convenience and may be substituted at the discretion of the individual performer.
This piece begins with a four-bar descending motif based on the C harmonic minor
harmonised scale which is then repeated an octave lower. The sixth interval of the motif is
created by the notes Eb and C while the upper line motion is provided by the notes G and Eb.
On the restatement of the lower octave, the upper voice plays a melodic variation. The
following arpeggiated pattern places the melody in the bass before concluding with pure sixth
intervals moving from first to twelfth position and resolving in a minor sixth chord.
Chromatic Triads
This piece presents the principle of chromatic triads through a traditional jazz blues in G.
The main techniques associated with GVE’s chromatic triads principal can be observed in
this etude, including chromatic scales with upper pedal-point (bar twenty-four), chromatic
scales with lower pedal point (bars two, four, seven and ten), chromatically moving
consecutive intervals (bars seventeen to twenty-one), tri-chords moving chromatically above
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a lower pedal (bars forty-one to forty-seven) and free chord movement based on a descending
cycle of fifths below an upper pedal (bars twenty-eight, twenty-nine and thirty-three). Bar
twenty-nine also employs GVE’s fifth-finger principal on the upper pedal.
Beginning in the high register, a harmonised first inversion C major triad chord scale is
moved one voice at a time down the octave resulting in a ‘sub series’ treatment of voices
(bars one to four). This scale is then repeated (now in 3/4 time) in its pure form but with an
upper melodic voice. Measure thirteen begins on a new string-set and in root position with
voices now moving one at a time through ‘super’ voice motion up to measure forty-one
employing a right-hand pattern that lasts for the remainder of the piece. Measure forty-two
again marks a shift in string-sets and direction of voice-motion, here returning to sub motion
first in the upper voice followed by middle then lower voices (bars forty-two to fifty-nine),
then repeated in the middle followed by upper and lower (bars sixty to seventy-eight) and
finally in the lower voice followed by the middle and upper voices. The result is a wide
variety of voice-motion combinations spanning the open to twelfth position and numerous
string-groups realised with a fluid right-hand arpeggio pattern.
The majority of this etude is a very literal presentation of the concept and therefore requires
little explanation. Notable aspects include the change of time signature from 3/4 to 4/4 in the
second section and the shift to the tonic minor in measure twenty-six. Also notable is the
inclusion of pure tenth intervals in bar twenty-nine. Measures thirty-five and thirty-six add
two inner notes to the pure tenth interval resulting in diminished harmony, thereby
demonstrating the ability of the interval to act as an enclosure.
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Although written in E minor for convenience, the inclusion of a key signature in this etude is
almost arbitrary due to its chromatic nature.
The measures one to twenty-two are based on a melodic and rhythmic motif consisting of a
dotted crotchet followed by three descending notes in quavers. The notes used change as the
motif develops and are often displaced with the inclusion of chromatic motion. This motif
begins in the opening measure and lasts until bar twenty-two. Examples of chromatic motion
in the motif can be found in measures fifteen to twenty-two while chromatic motion
surrounding the motif can be observed in the previous measures such as bars six to nine
which place a chromatically descending voice below the motif. Bar twenty-three
demonstrates a very literal presentation of the chromatic concept and the D major seventh
chord is immediately followed by upper (third degree ascending to fourth) and lower (root
descending to seventh) chromatic voices which immediately resolve back to the D major.
This is then repeated in the following bar but with the inclusion on the fifth degree ascending
to the sharpened fifth before all voices resolve back to D major. Another permutation of the
chromatic concept can be observed in measures twenty-eight and twenty-nine which contain
a series of diminished chords ascending in minor third intervals and connected by an upper
chromatic voice. The latter part of bar twenty-nine and bar thirty, which move through a
descending cycle of fifths (D, A, C, G) are connected by an inner chromatically descending
voice which moves from D to Db to C to B. The following section (measures thirty-one to
seventy-six) is based on a diminished chord descending chromatically one voice at a time in
an arpeggiated figure. The voice-motion creates the chords diminished to diminished
flattened sixth to major sixth to sixth sharpened fourth or eleventh, each of which descend
chromatically from the eleventh fret to the open position. Thus each chord is repeated in all
twelve keys on its descent to the open position with the exception of the sharpened eleventh
chord which is repeated eleven times. Measures seventy-seven to eighty-one are based on
chromatically ascending dominant seventh chords (A, A sharp, B) while the remaining
measures are a repeat of the opening theme.
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The Stagger Concept
In the stagger concept, the opening three notes spell out a C major triad with the upper voice
lowered or ‘staggered’ a degree to F which creates a dissonance with the third degree
exploited by the motif of the repeated voices in the rest of the bar. This voicing and motif is
taken through the altered root position C major triad scale up to bar eight, after which it
descends in C harmonic minor in measures nine to thirteen. The following chord clusters of
measures fourteen to seventeen are again formed by staggering voices of C major, as are the
arpeggiated figures of bars eighteen to twenty-two.
Part one of the satellite concept explores each of the possibilities of chromatic motion of two
voices below a melodic arpeggiated motif as follows: both voices descending (bar two), both
voices ascending (bar four), lower voice ascending, upper voice descending (bar six) and
lower voice descending, upper voice ascending (bar eight). This motif is then repeated on the
fifth degree of E minor before returning to the tonic. The slurred cadenza of measure twenty-
five to twenty-eight explore chromatic or ‘satellite’ notes above and below a tonic minor
arpeggio. Part two of the satellite concept combines notes of the grande arpeggio of two keys
for what GVE referred to as ‘immediate resolution’. This is done in two-bar cycles with the
second chord of each bar belonging to the C major grande arpeggio with the whole process
ascending chromatically through the various grande arpeggios. Thus, measures one and two
are D flat grande arpeggios resolving to C grande arpeggio, measures three and four are D
resolving to C, five and six are E flat to C and so on. The result is interesting voice-leading
and resolutions between keys.
The displaced concept is a series of ii V I progressions which change key every two measures
by descending through the cycle of fifths but with this alteration: the resolution chord of each
sequence is a C major or some variant thereof. Thus, a degree of the progression has been
‘displaced’. This results in similar modulations and voice-leading between keys as part two
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of the satellite concept, only here the resolutions are based on a ii V chord progression to a
modulation.
Progressive Motion
Progressive motion takes each arpeggio note one at a time through the ‘grande arpeggio’ of E
major, which, the reader will recall, is the diatonic scale minus the fourth degree, A. This can
be seen in the opening measure which moves straight through the grande arpeggio of E major
followed by a Vi iii ii V turnaround before starting the grande arpeggio from the third degree
in measure two, again followed by a similar turnaround and a restatement of the scaler
passage, this time starting on the fifth degree in measure four. The second melodic statement,
beginning on measure twelve is a descending pattern in tenths. This is restated with an
additional inner voice beginning on measure fourteen creating an open triad and again in
measure sixteen with an added top voice, dropped momentarily to avoid the fourth degree.
The resolution chord of E major ninth is, like the rest of the harmony in this etude, created by
stacking voices of the E major grande arpeggio.
146

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Technological University Dublin

Research Theses Conservatory of Music and Drama

George Van Eps’s Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar: Concepts

Follow this and additional works at: https://arrow.tudublin.ie/aaconmusthe

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Technological University Dublin

Supervisors: Dr Philip Graydon and Dr Michael Nielsen

Jimmy Brennan BA (Hons) MA

Chapter 1: Literature Review………………………………………………………………….1

Chapter 2: Pre-Harmonic Mechanisms………………………….…………………………...19

Chapter 3: GVE’s Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar……………………..………..……..…34

Chapter 4: The Influence of Harmonic Mechanisms on Jazz Guitar Education and

Figure 1: String Sets………………………………………………………………………...29

Figure 2: Fingering Example 1..............................................................................................55

Figure 3: Fingering Example 2…………………………………………………………..…56

Figure 4: Fingering Example 3……………………………………………………………..56

Figure 15: Fingering Example 4……………………………………………………………57

Figure 6: Fingering Example 5…………………………………………………………..…57

Figure 7: Fingering Example 6……………………………………………………………..58

Figure 8: Fingering Example 7…………………………………………………………......58

Figure 9: Fingering Example 8…………………………………………………………......59

Figure 10: Fingering Example 9……………………………………………………………59

Figure 11: Fingering Example 10…………………………………………………………..60

Figure 12: Fingering Example 11…………………………………………………………..60

Figure 13: Fingering Example 12…………………………………………………………..61

Figure 14: Fingering Example 13…………………………………………………………..61

Figure 15: Fingering Example 14…………………………………………………………..62

Figure 16: Fingering Example 15…………………………………………………………..62

Figure 17: Goodrick’s Graphic Notation………………………………………………...…79

Figure 18: Baroque Tonality Inspired by George Van Eps………………………………....94

Figure 19: George Van Eps 7-String Voicings…………………………………………..….95

Figure 20: George Van Eps ‘ish’ Counterpoint……………………………………………..95

Figure 21: GVE I’ll Remember April……………………………………………………......96

Figure 22: Lesson from George Van Eps in Early 1972………………………………….....96

Figure 25: GVE’s Influence Family Tree………………………………………...………..111

Example 2: 10ths with Inner Line Motion…………………………………………………....45

Example 3: 6ths with Upper Line Motion……………………………………………………45

Example 4: Chromatic Triads……………………………………………………...……...…46

Example 5: Super and Sub Series…………………………………………………………………...46

Example 6: Chromatic Concept – 6ths with Upper Line Motion……………………………47

Example 7: Chromatic Concept – Super and Sub Series……………………………………47

Example 8: Chromatic Concept – 10th Reductions……………………………………….….47

Example 9: The Stagger Concept……………………………………………………………47

Example 10 The Satellite Concept……………….…………………………………………..48

Example 11 The Satellite Concept – Grande Arpeggio………………………………….…..48

Example 12: The Displaced Concept………………………………………………………...48

Example 13: Progressive Motion…………………………………………………………….49

Example 14: The Melodization of Triads…………………………………………………….76

Example 15: Herberman – Autumn Leaves………..…………………………………………82

Example 16: Herberman – I Got Rhythm……...……………………………………………..83

Example 17: Rosenwinkel – A Life Unfolds……………………………………………...…..88

Example 18: Wyble Etude 4……………………………………………………...…………..90

Example 19: Alden 1……..……………………………………………………………..……92

Example 20: Alden 2…………………………………………………………………………92

Example 21: Alden 3…………………………………………………………………………92

Example 23: Alden 5…………………………………………………………………………93

Example 24: Alden 6…………………………………………………………………………93

Example 25: 10ths with Inner Line Motion……………………………………………...….100

Example 26: 6ths with Upper Line Motion…………………………………………………100

Example 27: 10ths with Inner Line Motion -Two…………………………...…………..….100