mmmaestro
Verified buyer
10/03/22
Another great course from Robben - always presents great chord voicings as well as other valuable insights to improve your playing.
Rhythm Revolution: Vamps & Jams
Masterclass for Vamps & Jams Rhythm Guitar with Robben Ford
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About this course
Guitarists spend the majority of their time playing rhythm guitar and very often encounter 1, 2 or 3 chord vamps where they’re supporting a vocalist or soloist who relies on the rhythm section, and guitarists, in particular, to keep the groove interesting for them and the audience as well.
Robben Ford’s Vamps & Jams edition of his Rhythm Revolution series is jam-packed with chord vocabulary, rhythmic ideas, and creative approaches for comping over 1, 2 or 3 chord vamps.
”Rhythm guitar is a great pleasure for me and quite frankly, you play a lot more of it than soloing. Over the years, I developed a style of playing based on really connecting with the rhythm section. Something the great bass player Abraham Laboriel said to me, when I was still evolving this style, was to "play like a drum." In this way, you're one with the drummer.
I’m excited to share many of my rhythm guitar ideas and approaches in this Vamps & Jams edition of Rhythm revolution. I’ve prepared 10 rhythm guitar performance studies to illustrate how I approach 1, 2 or 3 chord vamps to keep things interesting for the band and audience.”
Robben covers a wide range of techniques, rhythmic approaches, creative ideas and harmonic concepts across the 10 performance studies. As you work through the 10 studies Robben will demonstrate how he approaches locking up with the rhythm section and developing creative themes and rhythmic patterns.
You’ll learn a wide variety of the chords and different voicings that Robben uses in his playing including Miles Davis-inspired chord voicings, keyboard, and organ-like voicings. Robben demonstrates harmonic devices for crafting rhythm parts such as such as pentatonic movement, scalar movement, and chromatic movement.
For each of these 10 rhythm guitar studies, Robben will first perform the rhythm guitar parts and then demonstrate some of the key techniques and creative approaches that he used in the piece.
All of the performance studies are tabbed and notated for your practice, reference and study purposes. You’ll also get Guitar Pro files so that you can play, loop and/or slow down the tab and notation as you work through the lessons. Plus, Robben includes all of the backing tracks for you to work with on your own.
Grab your guitar and let’s jam on a vamp with Robben Ford!
Robben Ford’s Vamps & Jams edition of his Rhythm Revolution series is jam-packed with chord vocabulary, rhythmic ideas, and creative approaches for comping over 1, 2 or 3 chord vamps.
”Rhythm guitar is a great pleasure for me and quite frankly, you play a lot more of it than soloing. Over the years, I developed a style of playing based on really connecting with the rhythm section. Something the great bass player Abraham Laboriel said to me, when I was still evolving this style, was to "play like a drum." In this way, you're one with the drummer.
I’m excited to share many of my rhythm guitar ideas and approaches in this Vamps & Jams edition of Rhythm revolution. I’ve prepared 10 rhythm guitar performance studies to illustrate how I approach 1, 2 or 3 chord vamps to keep things interesting for the band and audience.”
Robben covers a wide range of techniques, rhythmic approaches, creative ideas and harmonic concepts across the 10 performance studies. As you work through the 10 studies Robben will demonstrate how he approaches locking up with the rhythm section and developing creative themes and rhythmic patterns.
You’ll learn a wide variety of the chords and different voicings that Robben uses in his playing including Miles Davis-inspired chord voicings, keyboard, and organ-like voicings. Robben demonstrates harmonic devices for crafting rhythm parts such as such as pentatonic movement, scalar movement, and chromatic movement.
For each of these 10 rhythm guitar studies, Robben will first perform the rhythm guitar parts and then demonstrate some of the key techniques and creative approaches that he used in the piece.
All of the performance studies are tabbed and notated for your practice, reference and study purposes. You’ll also get Guitar Pro files so that you can play, loop and/or slow down the tab and notation as you work through the lessons. Plus, Robben includes all of the backing tracks for you to work with on your own.
Grab your guitar and let’s jam on a vamp with Robben Ford!
What you'll learn
- Create chord progressions using chromatic movement
- Create dynamic rhythm guitar parts
- Jazz rhythm guitar approach
- Develop compositional thinking
- Develop rhythmic consistency
Release date: 10/01/2017 • 2h 02m runtime
Sample lessons
Chord Mileage
Performance
Chord Mileage
Demonstration
Bluesy Water
Performance
Bluesy Water
Demonstration
What's included
22 lessons • 10 charts • 10 Jam Tracks
Rhythm Revolution: Vamps & Jams
Hi, I’m Robben Ford, and welcome to this Vamps & Jams edition of Rhythm Revolution. Working guitarists spend much of their time playing rhythm guitar and very often will encounter 1, 2, or 3 chord vamps where they’re supporting a vocalist or soloist. I’ve prepared 10 rhythm guitar performance studies to illustrate how I approach these types of situations to keep things interesting for the band and audience.
For each of these 10 studies, I’ll first perform the rhythm guitar parts and then demonstrate some of the techniques and creative approaches that I used in the piece. Everything tabbed and notated, plus you’ll get the rhythm tracks to work with on your own. Chord charts showing most of the voicings that I used are also included. So, grab your guitar and let’s dig in!
For each of these 10 studies, I’ll first perform the rhythm guitar parts and then demonstrate some of the techniques and creative approaches that I used in the piece. Everything tabbed and notated, plus you’ll get the rhythm tracks to work with on your own. Chord charts showing most of the voicings that I used are also included. So, grab your guitar and let’s dig in!
Locking Up
For our first playing example, let's look at "Locking Up". Take notice of the chord voicings being used and the rhythm techniques that make this vamp interesting.
At first, it might be difficult to play all of the chord voicings, but if you keep working at it, you'll have them under your belt and be able to use them in any playing situation.
At first, it might be difficult to play all of the chord voicings, but if you keep working at it, you'll have them under your belt and be able to use them in any playing situation.
Locking Up
Rhythm guitar is a great pleasure, or more so a great joy. Generally, guitar players want to be hot stuff and play a lot of fast licks, and will concentrate on that. Maybe they'll learn some chords, but they can't wait to take a solo.
There's just as much pleasure to be had playing rhythm guitar, and quite frankly you play more of it than soloing. Over the years, I sort of developed a style of playing based on really connecting with rhythm.
Something my friend the great bass player Abraham Laboriel said to me when I was still evolving this style, which his teacher told him, was to "play like a drum." So, we're trying to connect more with the rhythm than the lead guitar in that sense. In this way, you're one with the drummer.
Finally, when putting these things together, it's important to use logic. There needs to be some concrete idea tying it all together. When you look ahead and do things with a purpose, it gives the whole idea more power.
There's just as much pleasure to be had playing rhythm guitar, and quite frankly you play more of it than soloing. Over the years, I sort of developed a style of playing based on really connecting with rhythm.
Something my friend the great bass player Abraham Laboriel said to me when I was still evolving this style, which his teacher told him, was to "play like a drum." So, we're trying to connect more with the rhythm than the lead guitar in that sense. In this way, you're one with the drummer.
Finally, when putting these things together, it's important to use logic. There needs to be some concrete idea tying it all together. When you look ahead and do things with a purpose, it gives the whole idea more power.
Meter Stick
Here's a vamp inspired by The Meters, called "Meter Stick". Don't be intimidated by the length here - just work through the different chord voicings and you'll find yourself comfortable playing through the whole thing.
Meter Stick
This piece of music is a vamp between G7 and Bb7, and back to G7 (up a minor third and back). This was inspired by The Meters, and luckily I have a great rhythm section who know the music well.
On a lengthy jam like this, it may be difficult to get through and feel confident about what you should play. For me, learning a bunch of chord voicings helped a lot. As I always like to tell people, I learned all my chord voicings out of the Mickey Baker book Jazz Guitar Vol. 1. What I like about using them, especially since we only have two chords, is that you can find ways to make the whole thing evolve musically by using different qualities of chords.
In this video, I'll break down some of the chord voicing techniques and rhythmic devices I'm using that will help you get through a longer piece like this one.
On a lengthy jam like this, it may be difficult to get through and feel confident about what you should play. For me, learning a bunch of chord voicings helped a lot. As I always like to tell people, I learned all my chord voicings out of the Mickey Baker book Jazz Guitar Vol. 1. What I like about using them, especially since we only have two chords, is that you can find ways to make the whole thing evolve musically by using different qualities of chords.
In this video, I'll break down some of the chord voicing techniques and rhythmic devices I'm using that will help you get through a longer piece like this one.
Killer Theme
"Killer Theme" is somewhat inspired by Quincy Jones, taking notes from his song "Killer Joe". Let's check it out!
Killer Theme
This piece again only has two chords, G7 to Eb. The feel of it is light and swingy, making me think of "Killer Joe" by Quincy Jones. Here I'll show you some of the chord voicings I used on this jam.
You'll have to learn a bunch of chord voicings to pull this off, but that's just the work - you have to do it, but anyone can. From there, it's the ideas that become important. You have to have good ideas to create themes and melodies that will make something like this piece work.
You'll have to learn a bunch of chord voicings to pull this off, but that's just the work - you have to do it, but anyone can. From there, it's the ideas that become important. You have to have good ideas to create themes and melodies that will make something like this piece work.
+ 15 more lessons
Reviews
14 results
Dave58
Verified buyer
09/26/22
Make your rhythm playing more interesting
Robben Ford is a fantastic teacher and a longlife virtuoso guitar player. Very fascinating if you are interested in techniques and the background of how he could learn it from the greats at the time. This course is not for a novice beginner who is learning their open chords. This is about learning the numerous chord variations that you can then play all over the neck to keep your rhythm pattern engaging. Very nice examples floating between blues, funk, soul and jazz about how to create a melody while playing the rhythm. There is also a lot of theory to understand. Great.
Quark77
Verified buyer
09/26/22
Relaxed approach to great grooves
Robben Ford is a great teacher... his relaxed approach makes it a joy to work on the rhythm parts. After this one, also check out his blues revolution course, that takes it yet to another level.
themoose3
Verified buyer
02/24/21
Blues rhythms...
A great course ,the concepts presented here in will serve you well in most situations and provide numerous different approaches to keep your rhythms fresh and interesting. Highly recommended.
Miguel
02/14/21
A must have
If you're starting to get how important your rhythm chops are this course and in general all of Robben Ford's courses that focus on that aspect are a must have. Very pleased.
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