jdgm Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Hi folks Last week I went to a Robben Ford masterclass, presented by Anderton's. He did one before in 2013 (with his Dumble) which I missed. It was sold out, about 250 people. He started by talking about his main early influence, Michael Bloomfield in the Butterfield band. He said he learned out of the Mickey Baker book, though he didn't get into theory apart from the 2nd half when he spoke about V chords (dominant 7ths) and using the diminished half/whole tone scale over them which he called double diminished. Of course he is such a superb and fluent player! Apart from some soloing and demoing of the scale sounds, we got 3 numbers with a 'local' bass/drums section (the best they could get, 2 guys who are busy all the time in SE England). At the end there was a long line for 'meet and greet' where he signs any CDs or albums and you got a quick pic taken with him. Well I wasn't getting another chance so I joined the end of the queue....took my glasses off so there wouldn't be any flash reflection. If I look a bit dazed it's because I was, he's one of the greats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Very cool. I only ever had about 10 guitar lessons (one school term where my son was busy with soccer so I took his place having his lessons) - I said to the teacher I'd like to lean some blues improvisation. Next week he simply brought in a Robben Ford CD and said "ok, lets work from this". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 He is truly one of the greats. I am sure you picked up on this having attended "class", but as complex as he seems to be able to play, and as difficult/challenging as it can be playing with some of those heavy hitting Jazzers he keeps up with, his "theory" and point of view is pretty simple and basic. I see him as a genius that way. At the same time, his simplicity when HE shares what's in his head and his approach, that's nothing but inspiring to me. In fact, gonna add ANOTHER great thing about the man. He truly shares what's in his head, and the "soul" of the music really openly, and humbly. I could go on and on. Maybe we should? He is a great musician with lots and lots to learn from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Wow! Sounds like a great time. I hope you learned everything! I grew up in Guilford in the US. Nice name! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted March 15, 2016 Author Share Posted March 15, 2016 Forgot to add he was playing a LP (new 59RI he just bought) through Fender combos. If you look at his site the real masterclass with all the theory etc is a lot more $$$! One other thing he said was that a few years ago he stopped trying to be a technique genius and decided to play himself more. He also noted that when playing jazz everyone was concentrating too hard to enjoy it! For him blues is a lot more fun and audiences react much more to it. He's older than me too - just turned 64! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8_4thesh0w Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 Awesome! Glad to hear you enjoyed it. He did a similar thing at a Nashville music store/intimate venue around the end of January. I would have loved to go but I didn't have jack **** to spare... didn't want to borrow from Peter to pay Robben. I'm hoping he'll give it another go when I can swing the tuition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Forgot to add he was playing a LP (new 59RI he just bought) through Fender combos. I thought I'd read that he had recently become attached to an old 335. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted March 18, 2016 Author Share Posted March 18, 2016 I thought I'd read that he had recently become attached to an old 335. For his 2013 album "Bringing It Back Home" he used a 60s Epiphone semi, perhaps that was it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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