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SongCraft

Learn how to play 5 of Robben Ford's hits from the man himself

Marty FriedmanTommy EmmanuelSteve VaiEric GalesEric Johnson

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SongCraft
Robben Ford

Robben Ford

Educator

blues, modern blues

Genres

About this course

Robben Ford is not only an innovative master of electric guitar, he's also widely respected as a gifted composer, passionate songwriter and performing artist with a long history of chart-topping hits and Grammy nominations to his credit.

SongCraft dives deep into Robben's creative and harmonic approaches for songwriting as he steps you through eight of his own favorite compositions from the Tiger Walk, Soul On Ten, Truth, Blue Moon and Renegade Creation albums.

Robben first performs the song solo and then presents the voicings, song form, rhythmic patterns and harmonic structure for each of the compositions. Bonus footage from one of Robben's exclusive live workshops footage includes even more insight into Robben's songs and creative approaches.

SongCraft offers much more than engaging song tutorials; guitar players will feast on Robben's rhythm guitar wisdom, voicings and techniques; composers will be enlightened by the creative insight that Robben weaves into each of the song presentations; and singer-songwriters will be fascinated with how Robben artfully crafts life experiences into captivating lyrics and music.

SongCraft is presented in an interactive video format, which accelerates the learning process with multi-angle video, zooming, looping, interactive tab/notation and many other handy learning tools.

Featured Songs:

Freedom
Featured on the Tiger Walk album released in 1997 from Blue Thumb Records.
Don't Worry 'Bout Me
Featured on the Soul On Ten album released in 2009 from Concord.
All Over Again
Featured on the Renegade Creation/Bullet album released in 2012 from Shrapnel Records.
Lateral Climb
Featured on the Truth album released in 2007 from Concord.
Riley B King
Featured on the Truth album released in 2007 from Concord.
Soft in Black Jeans
Featured on the Renegade Creation album released in 2010 from Blues Bureau International.
Hard to Please
Featured on the Blue Moon album released in 2002 from Concord Jazz/Universal.
Thoughtless
Featured on the Soul On Ten album released in 2009 from Concord.

Bonus Workshop Footage:
Robben presents his approach to song construction along with live workshop presentations of five other songs:
- Earthquake (Soul On Ten released in 2009 from Concord)
- Thoughtless (Soul On Ten released in 2009 from Concord)
- Nazareth (Renegade Creation/Bullet released in 2012 from Shrapnel Records)
- People Like Me (Renegade Creation/Bullet released in 2012 from Shrapnel Records)
- Oasis (Tiger Walk released in 1997 from Blue Thumb Records).

What you'll learn

  • Discover how chord voicing choices affect emotional content
  • Study the relationship between vocal melody and guitar parts
  • Learn compositional devices for developing song ideas
  • Understand how to build dynamics throughout a performance
  • Understand the craft and development process of songwriting
Release date: 05/01/2013 • 3h 26m runtime
intermediatelate intermediateadvancedguitarelectric guitarsongwriting
Start Course
Sample lessons
Freedom
Freedom
SONG CRAFT: Demonstration
Hard To Please
Hard To Please
SONG CRAFT: Demonstration
Thoughtless
Thoughtless
SONG CRAFT: Demonstration
Song Construction
Song Construction
WORKSHOP: Insight

What's included

16 lessons • 14 charts

Song Craft
Robben Ford is not only an innovative master of electric guitar, he is also widely respected as a gifted composer and passionate songwriter with dozens of awards and Grammy nominations to his credit. Robben Ford’s SONGCRAFT dives deep into Robben’s creative and harmonic approach for song composition.

Robben steps you through eight of his own favorite compositions, first performing the song solo and then presenting the voicings, song form, rhythmic patterns and harmonic structure of each composition. Of particular interest to anyone who composes, arranges, writes lyrics or even covers popular tunes is the creative insight that Robben weaves into his presentations. Bonus workshop footage includes even more insight into Robben’s songs and creative approaches.
Freedom
Robben steps you through FREEDOM, which was featured on the Tiger Walk album released in 1997 from Blue Thumb Records.

Robben performs the song solo and then presents the voicings, song form, rhythmic patterns and harmonic structure of the composition.

Of particular interest to anyone who composes, arranges, writes lyrics or even covers popular tunes is the creative insight that Robben weaves into this presentation of FREEDOM.

Tab and standard notation is also included.
Don't Worry About Me
Robben steps you through DON’T WORRY ‘BOUT ME, which was featured on the Soul On Ten album released in 2009 from Concord.

Robben performs the song solo and then presents the voicings, song form, rhythmic patterns and harmonic structure of the composition.

Of particular interest to anyone who composes, arranges, writes lyrics or even covers popular tunes is the creative insight that Robben weaves into this presentation of DON’T WORRY ‘BOUT ME.

Tab and standard notation is also included. Bar numbers are displayed on the performance section of this lesson.
All Over Again
Robben steps you through ALL OVER AGAIN, which was featured on the Renegade Creation/Bullet album released in 2012 from Shrapnel Records.

Robben performs the song solo and then presents the voicings, song form, rhythmic patterns and harmonic structure of the composition.

Of particular interest to anyone who composes, arranges, writes lyrics or even covers popular tunes is the creative insight that Robben weaves into this presentation of ALL OVER AGAIN.

Tab and standard notation is also included.
Lateral Climb
Robben steps you through LATERAL CLIMB, which was featured on the Truth album released in 2007 from Concord.

Robben performs the song solo and then presents the voicings, song form, rhythmic patterns and harmonic structure of the composition.

Of particular interest to anyone who composes, arranges, writes lyrics or even covers popular tunes is the creative insight that Robben weaves into this presentation of LATERAL CLIMB.

Tab and standard notation is also included. Bar numbers are displayed on the performance section of this lesson.
Riley B King
Robben steps you through RILEY B KING, which was featured on the Truth album released in 2007 from Concord.

Robben performs the song solo and then presents the voicings, song form, rhythmic patterns and harmonic structure of the composition.

Of particular interest to anyone who composes, arranges, writes lyrics or even covers popular tunes is the creative insight that Robben weaves into this presentation of RILEY B KING.

Tab and standard notation is also included.
Soft in Black Jeans
Robben steps you through SOFT IN BLACK JEANS, which was featured on the Renegade Creation album released in 2010 from Blues Bureau International.

Robben performs the song solo and then presents the voicings, song form, rhythmic patterns and harmonic structure of the composition.

Of particular interest to anyone who composes, arranges, writes lyrics or even covers popular tunes is the creative insight that Robben weaves into this presentation of SOFT IN BLACK JEANS.

Tab and standard notation is also included. Bar numbers are displayed on the performance section of this lesson.

+ 9 more lessons

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Reviews

22 results

IanT2019

Verified buyer

06/01/25

Recommended for anyone interested in songwriting process

Robben Ford is one of my favourite guitar players and musicians. This course gives an invaluable insight into crafting a song from his years of experience. Only less than halfway through and already learned many tips to develop my own ideas into a song. Highly recommended.

jesseacutt

07/07/21

Great songs to learn like freedom and Riley B. King

Fantastic resource in learning some of Robben fords great songs! My favourite is Freedom, he uses soo many great chords and scales and rhythm that really aids in your learning - he's a great teacher and musician! One of my favourites!

Tom K.

09/16/20

Learning from the best

Robben does a great job of laying out his thought process for writing a few of his original tunes. When you hear a song like Riley B. King you figure it out by ear and immediately think 'I wish I could have Robben teach it to me' . Well, now you can have your wish come true. Robben has a unique way of writing and this course takes away some of the mystery.

Marcoluigi

09/12/20

Thoughtful and complete

This is is such a wonderful course. I am not a singer, but I enjoyed singing along and learning about song construction. I heard somewhere that in learning music, practicing one area also improves other areas, and I found this particularly true as playing chords has made me more comfortable in single note picking. Mr. Ford's approach to teaching makes even a beginner like me comfortable trying to tackle these songs. This is a fun masterclass!

Micklawson

Verified buyer

08/20/20

Excellent course

Excellent songs to learn for blues musicians who also have a voice to sing them

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