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I first discovered Tony Greaves via his first book, A Guide to Developing a Chromatic Approach to Improvisation back in 2018. I reviewed that book and his second book, Triad Pairs – The First Step later that year. Both books are great & well organized.
What was not organized? Me. I was not organized.
Why? Because Tony actually released a third book, Book Review: Triad Pairs – Harmonic Foundations in 2019 that I never reviewed!
So, firstly I apologize to Tony for missing this book which arrived at a relatively busy time for me. I was packing to head for some gigs in Singapore at that time (based on the last message I sent to him) … and then I was travelling to the US, and then 2020 happened and everything else was a blur.
Now let’s get back to the book!
This book is actually the second of three books that Tony planned on the topic of triad pairs. The final volume in the Triad Pairs Trilogy will be entitled, “Triad Pairs-A Chromatic Approach.” (according to Tony’s introduction).
As of now (23 December 2025), it doesn’t seem like that book has been released but based on what I’ve seen in this book, the third one would be very welcomed indeed.
For me, looking at how Tony organizes the material, it’s obvious that he is methodical and organized about all this. This is great since it makes it easier to understand all the different option of triad pairs that he presents.
The book gives us 21 Triad Pairs and their respective harmonic applications. Besides the core material, we also get three etudes that demonstrate how these sounds could be used in a musical context, on three different jazz standards.
Tony also discusses three ways of internalizing the material:
- The Maximum Proficiency Method
- The Standard Method
- The Casual Study Method
Essentially, the first method is going through every triad pair sound systematically, in every position and key on the fretboard. The second one is choosing one sound and practicing in a way for it to be usable in a performance situation. The third one is what most people do, which is practice in a haphazard way without any particular system.
It might hurt to realize what you’ve probably been doing but Tony does us a great service by pointing this out in the book at the start. He’s a realist in that regard and repeatedly points out how deep this material is if you decide to really work on it.
My favorite quote from Tony is:
Truthfully, “Harmonic Foundations” presents a challenge to the student seeking to ascertain proficiency and self-expression. One must take responsibility for their own creativity and extrapolate thousands of variations derived from a single idea. In fact, most of my students who are successful with this material actually write out and compose their own etudes based on a single concept.
I honestly relate to this so much since I’ve faced this myself in my teaching. The truth so much of getting this stuff down pat is up to the student, and not many are driven enough to focus on a single topic at the depth that is required to master it.
Anyhow, the book lists out the 21 triad pairs, how he plays them across the entire fingerboard (in one key) and then we get the three etudes I previously mentioned. The etudes are great and are probably the thing that will help most people see how the raw material connects to actual music.
Tony includes audio recordings of all three etudes so we can hear his time feel and phrasing as well. This is awesome!
All in all, this book is a great continuation of what he taught in the earlier books. I would strongly recommend this to anyone interested in this topic and is looking for a way to practice this stuff. If you do buy this, make sure you get his earlier books as well because they all make more sense together.
Pros: Great material, well organized and explained.
Cons: None
TLDR: For intermediate and advanced guitarists interested in triad pairs, I recommend this book for a guitar-centric approach to working on this sound.
Get the book here:
https://allegedartist.wordpress.com/store/
Thanks Tony for the book and for documenting your approach for all of us to benefit!
[Submissions for Review Consideration]
- Are you an author who wrote a jazz, guitar or music book?
- Have you created a DVD or an online video course or subscription based website?
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OR…
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- Would you like me to review your gear?
Please send me a message at azsamad2 at gmail.com with:
For courses: a link to the course/video/product + access info etc.
For books: a link to the book (Dropbox) or PDF attachment (if it’s small) for review consideration.
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Depending on whether I dig the book/course/product, I’ll let you know if I do plan to review it!
I cannot guarantee a review for every submission & if I’m not too into it, I may opt not to review it. I mean, it’s better to get a good review that for me to write a bad review just because it’s not a match for the kind of stuff I dig right? :p
NOTE: All reviews reflect my honest personal opinion so be aware that I will point out both cool Pros and Cons that I see in the work. You dig?
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