The Blues and Beyond, Robben Ford

 

 

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I have to say that this video, coupled with the book transcription of the same material but bought separately, was probably the most influential material on my own playing.

I and many of my buddies had long been fans of Larry Carlton who was able to take bluesy material and give it a more sophisticated approach in terms of choices. Similarly, when Robben Ford came out with his Blue Line group a lot of players I know were just floored by his approach. Players who didn't usually dig straight ahead blues were attracted to the greater complexity of his approach to that material and players who loved the traditional stuff warmed to his direct sound, vibrato and bending.

Robben is a teacher/player who is extremely knowledgeable about more advanced harmony. However unlike many people who also play jazz he doesn't sound at all like he's 'slumming' when he approaches a straight forward blues tune. In short, due to his love of traditional blues players and their approach, he doesn't come off as a jazz player who has just been dropped into blues setting.

The video starts off with his playing a traditional jazz tune using many of the concepts that he will later explain during the video. There is no explanation at all but after going through the video the concepts he has gone over in its course are clearly in evidence here.

He moves into explanation of the most effective scales which can be utilized in approaching a straight ahead blues tune. He establishes simple one-chord vamps that he and the viewer can play over so that we can get used to changing our approach to make them more closely connected to the chords we are playing over. He then goes into an approach to comping over the simple changes in a more sophisticated way. Similar treatments are given to a variety of tunes starting from straight I-IV-V changes to gospel influenced tunes to Miles Davis tunes. On that journey, starting from the blues and then expanding to different genres, Robben explains approaches to using the diminished scale, altered scales and melodic minor scales in a variety of settings. In this way, we can see Robben using his harmonic concepts starting off rooted in the blues and then departing into other areas.

Tunes covered in addition to the vamps are Rhumba Blues, Revelation, I Ain't Got Nothin' but the Blues and Miles Groove.

I thought that this was an excellent video for intermediate and advanced players who wish to absorb new concepts into their own approaches rather than the typical 'let's copy what this great player is doing' approach. I have seen some criticize this video as not being instructional enough. Although I understand what those reviewers are speaking to, I think that this is not a fair assessment. The material is definitely instructional, but it focuses on teaching concepts and approach rather than the specific phrases that Robben is playing. If one wishes to learn many of his specific phrases one might seek out the tablature which was published for this video in a separate book/video format. I found that that supported this material very well.

This is one of those guitar instructional videos that one can put on and listen to as great music and enjoy it while learning very important concepts.

This is the second in a series of videos done by Robben which also included the earlier and more fundamental "Playing the Blues".

This DVD has some good technique, but it is definitely NOT for beginners. There is very little "instruction" in the video; some insight to the chords and scales played. The video is more of a "one man sitting in a chair concert" than anything else. Some of the "songs" played are WAY too long. However, if you want to see a guy that can REALLY play and do it effortlessly...Robben Ford is it. This video picks up on his previous video, so I would reccomend taking a look at that before buying this if you are a beginner.

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