Robben Ford Discussion

[Mike_McK]

I'm a long-time RF fan who only recently saw you guys for the first time (in Asbury Park last Sunday).

I usually don't do any "finger-staring" at a show...it's kind of like ruining a good book by reading it knowing that you'll be tested on it later. After the show, though, it seemed like a lot of the subtlety in Robben's playing was from his picking hand...a lot of almost "slappy" playing without a pick.

This has probably been discussed to death, but I couldn't find it...do you happen to know whether Robben "snaps" the strings with his thumb? At some points it almost sounded like he was using thumb & finger at the same time...then again, I seem to remember parts where he'd go from that "slappy" sound right into a very articulately picked run.

Or am I way off here? Does he go right from bare fingers to picked runs? Thumb only or thumb and fingers? If this information already exists, I'd appreciate you pointing me towards it. Thanks.

P.S. have you managed to get the smell of the Paramount off of you yet? Jeez, they need about a truckload of Lysol in there...

[Aeolian]

IMHO Robben's right hand is the most incredible in the business. And he uses all of it. Common picking techniques he uses include pick and then poping with the index finger (a common country technique), both picking and poping strings while muting the attack with the bridge of his hand, and full on finger picking with thumb and finger tips. And he will pop stings with his thumb or any other finger. He will also occasionally turn the pick so the rounded end is against the strings (look at the cover of Carlton's Saphire Blue album to see how this looks, Larry does it too). Robben usually "palms" the pick by holding it between his first and second fingers while fingerpicking. The muting technique is probably the hardest to learn. While most folks are familiar with the kind of muffled thing used by rock guitarists on power chords, Robben can vary this from dull to full on open. Creating a kind of treble control at his whim at any point in a riff. He uses this the way a scat singer uses vowels, to add expressiveness to his playing. Along with the poping and gentle finger picking.
No amount of expensive hardware is ever going to get the "Robben sound" as it isn't static. He is always shifting it depending on how he wants any particular note in a phrase to sound, which "vowel" he choses to use.
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