Robben Ford Discussion

[nineacres]

Has anyone worked their way through these three volumes - or any single volume for that matter? I bought them over 12 years ago when I was still teaching guitar, but never managed to complete the series. I believe they got a mention in a recent posting and I'm curious to hear what the general consensus is ...
_________________
"Creativeness often consists of merely turning up what is already there. Did you know that right and left shoes were only thought up a little more than a century ago?" - Bernice Fitz-Gibbon 1894-1982

[marinblues]

I never had any formal music education but I remember using the Leavitt books to learn the scales and the theory.


marin

________
MORTGAGE LIFE INSURANCE DICUSSION

[kirk95]

[nineacres]

Basically, I threw this one in to see how people felt about these books. Revisiting them after some many years of shelf-life I found that there's lot of stuff in there that I had been searching for elsewhere - "jazz" chord construction, etc. As you mentioned, I guess a lot of us have tons of books from way back when, which, in my case, contain stuff that's been overlooked for years.

This brings me to a suggestion: how about a "Theory Corner", or something like that, box on the site. There have been quite a few very useful posts regarding things mentioned by Robben at the clinincs, or similar items in the past. I personally have found these particularly useful and have printed them out and have worked through them. Maybe there could be enough material for something like this, maybe not ...

Just my 2 pence worth.
_________________
"Creativeness often consists of merely turning up what is already there. Did you know that right and left shoes were only thought up a little more than a century ago?" - Bernice Fitz-Gibbon 1894-1982

[Leftbender]

Nineacres,

The idea of a theory-corner really appeals to me! Maybe Robben himself can drop in some ideas once in a while! I'm pretty sure I will never be as good a Robben, so every little bit helps!!
_________________
"Don't play what's there, play what's not there" Miles Davis

[kirk95]

Here ya go guys!
_________________
www.hendersounds.com
http://soundcloud.com/davidhenderson
Please Donate - Keep These Forums Alive

[Bluelobster]

so what is the point playing a Em triad over an A7 relating to C#m7 b5 ??

[kirk95]

[Leftbender]

[Aeolian]

Break out the babblefish boys. Seriously, this is a great idea. A lot of theoretical discussions mystify me, there being so many different ways to say the same thing. But like picking up new players to listen to, this will provide some new harmonic ideas to toy with.

For instance, in Kirk's earlier post, the only note that isn't in a typical pentatonic box is the 9th. So to me this is major pentatonic with the 9th thrown in but to someone else it's a 7 sub over the 5 and we are really talking D major. Whew!. Bend from the B to C# in the middle of a riff using these notes to really tilt someone's head.

Let me throw in something I got from a Don Mock tape (Don supposedly was a big influence on Robben during their time together at GIT) Transpose the minor pentatonic riffs you already know up in minor thirds over the save dominant chord. I dug this so much I made up a chart overlaying the subtitutions in the each position.
_________________
There are no such things as wrong notes, there's only the look on your face.
My Stuff: www.stevekirbymusic.com

[nineacres]

Wot? Babel fish? You mean - you've read "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"??? I'm impressed. And I'm also impressed with this forum and our illustrious Captain Kirk. I suppose it's because we're used to our ideas being ignored. This is a refreshing breath of fresh air. Thanks! There's a lot of talk of gear, and quite rightly too, but when I start getting the merest onset of G.A.S. I tell myself: "It's not what you've got that really counts - it's what you play on the damn thing that really matters!" When I hear those words I feel much better. I for one have been playing for too long (42 years) with too little to show for it, at least, that's how I feel. I'm sure we all stand to benefit greatly from each other's input into this new feature.

OK, coffee break over ... now get back to your tritone substitutions.
_________________
"Creativeness often consists of merely turning up what is already there. Did you know that right and left shoes were only thought up a little more than a century ago?" - Bernice Fitz-Gibbon 1894-1982

[iamthewalrus]

Actually, this is one of my favorite Michael Wolff quotes - and who knows where he got it, "the great thing about jazz is you're always only a half step from the right note."

http://www.michaelwolff.com/

Michael did some demo stuff at my studio in Berkeley during the ' 80s and I recorded one of his shows at the old Yoshi's.

Cheers!
_________________
iamthewalrus
----------------------------------------------------

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Control freak. Now you say "control freak who."

[Aeolian]

[longislandmatt]

Bill Leavitt was my private instructor at Berklee, and we plowed thru book 3, as I had already completed the other volumes before I got there.

It's a very *dry* compendium, and most young guitarists don't have/want the reading skills necessary to really 'milk the method'. The Ted Greene series is also great but very reading oriented.

At the same time I was using Modern Method, I was also using Mick Goodrick's 'The advancing guitarist' which was AWESOME in a more conceptual way. Also, David Baker had a tremendous book out, I think it was titled 'Jazz Improvisation', which I got a TON of stuff from.
It was all about licks and shapes, in different intervals, cycling thru the keys...that book really helped me connect the neck, and get out of the 'position playing' that Bill Leavitt was so hot on...

[longislandmatt]

Patterns for Jazz by Jerry Coker.