Robben Ford Find Your Fire

Robben’s soulful and stylish playing style spans a broad spectrum of blues, jazz and rock. Here he shares concepts and techniques that will help spark your own creativity…

While you may think of Robben Ford as a player who plumbs every scale under the sun from which to forge flashy solos, that couldn’t really be further from the truth. Robben is more about selecting the best sounding note to place over the underlying chord at the most perfect moment. And while he does of course dip into Mixolydian, Dorian, Diminished and Altered scales he’s just as often heard making bounty out of good old Pentatonics and the Blues scale. His watchwords, therefore, are great timing, impeccable note choice, and pulling out the right guitar tone for the job.

Ford is one of those rare guitarists that’s straddled jazz, blues and pop in almost equal measure, and always at the highest level. Not only did he tour with blues veterans Charlie Musselwhite and Jimmy Witherspoon; he went on to form The Yellowjackets fusion band, and play alongside saxophonist Tom Scott in the LA Express; he also worked with Joni Mitchell on The Hissing Of Summer Lawns and Miles Of Aisles albums; backed ex-Beatle George Harrison and had a stint with jazz legend Miles Davis (still his ultimate musical hero). And that’s before a solo career that includes dozens of albums, a host of collaborations and countless sessions with some of the greatest names in music.

In our video lesson Robben explains how he likes slow music, which gives him the space to think about what he’s playing, and to enjoy the chance to stretch out and build his solos. He demonstrates how a simple (but as always, beautifully played) E Minor Pentatonic entry lick (E-G-A-B-D) is lightly built upon as the I chord moves to the IV: “I just add a little flurry,” he says. “It’s playing in a thematic way; you’re thinking more like a composer. It’s evolving, so again there’s evolution in your playing and it’s not just playing blues licks.” Robben goes on to demonstrate how effective even the most humble ideas can be, provided they are executed with musicality and thought. “You need to be thinking like a musician,” adds Ford, “and not just like a blues guitar player.”

Robben goes on to talk about how musicians are often scared to play simple scales like the Minor or Major Pentatonic, or indeed the Major (Ionian) scale itself, as though they feel they should be searching out some deeper sonority. “The Pentatonic is not only a great musical device,” Ford insists, “it’s beautiful unto itself.”

Playing his Les Paul ‘57 Goldtop into a clean-toned Fender De Ville amp with lashings of reverb, Robben goes on to demonstrate the use of bluesy double-stops, “John Lee Hooker style.” He points out that he often plays or tips his hat to ideas he’s heard before - such is the nature of blues - and goes on to show how he pushes and pulls the timing of his notes, rather than playing metronomically on the beat all the time.

Robben finishes his demonstration of how to make Pentatonics sound beautiful, by showing how targeting the notes in the chords, even simply using their root, adds instant musicality. He ends with a delightful solo, played fingerstyle and using space, timing and his instantly recognisable touch

To see how close you can get to Robben’s amazing feel we’ve tabbed five examples, comprising four licks and that final solo. “A country blues, ending with a jazz chord,” laughs Ford. “The story of my life!”

ford is one of those rare guitarists that’s straddled jazz, blues and pop in equal measure, And always at the highest level