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Jazz Revolution

Interactive Video Masterclass for Jazz Guitar

Marty FriedmanTommy EmmanuelSteve VaiEric GalesEric Johnson

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Jazz Revolution
Robben Ford

Robben Ford

Educator

jazz, jazz blues

Genres

About this course

Primarily regarded as a bluesman, Robben Ford’s music is influenced and deeply rooted to his love for jazz. Robben has performed and recorded with many jazz artists including most notably Miles Davis, Tom Scott/L.A. Express, the Yellowjackets, Sadao Watanabe, and Dave Grusin.

In this Jazz edition of his TrueFire Revolution series, Robben explores his jazz musicality across 10 performance studies, each focused on a specific comping or soloing approach.

”I'm a self-taught guitarist who began as a blues player, but wanting to expand my musical knowledge, I started investigating what the jazz players were doing. I found that learning chords were the best place for me to begin because even if I wasn't able to solo over them, I could accompany those who could and gain experience.

Once I had the chords under my belt, I learned scales that allowed me to improvise through them. My first opportunity to play in a jazz setting and with players who were far more evolved than I was, was with Tom Scott and the LA Express, accompanying Joni Mitchell. Soon after, I formed the group Yellowjackets, my first fusion band, and eventually found myself with Miles Davis - my hero in jazz for sure!

In this course, I'll be showing you my unique way of blending blues and jazz sensibilities in what I think is a fresh approach to jazz composition, harmony and improvisation. We'll work through 10 different pieces of music, each accentuating a different aspect of writing, comping and soloing.”

Robben will explain and demonstrate all of the key concepts and approaches along the way. You’ll get standard notation and tabs for all of the performance studies. Plus, you’ll be able to use TrueFire’s learning tools to sync the tab and notation to the video lesson. You can also loop or slow down the videos so that you can work with the lessons at your own pace. All of the backing tracks are included to work with on your own as well.

Grab your guitar and let’s dig in with Robben Ford!

What you'll learn

  • Understand how to use thumb-over technique for bass notes in complex voicings
  • Learning to think melodically rather than relying on practiced licks
  • Learn how to comp effectively during solo sections
  • Understand rhythm guitar accompaniment techniques
  • Learn how consistent comping creates supportive space for soloists
Release date: 06/23/2020 • 4h 42m runtime
intermediatelate intermediateadvancedelectric guitarsoloingimprovisation
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Sample lessons
Philly Blues: Full Lead Pass
Philly Blues: Full Lead Pass
Performance
Philly Blues: Full Comping Pass
Philly Blues: Full Comping Pass
Performance
Unpredictable, Unconventional
Unpredictable, Unconventional
Philly Blues: Harmony & Melody
Albert Collins Hipness
Albert Collins Hipness
Philly Blues: Improvisation

What's included

40 lessons • 28 charts • 10 Jam Tracks

Jazz Revolution
Hi I'm Robben Ford, and welcome to Jazz Revolution.

I'm a self-taught guitarist who began as a blues player, but wanting to expand my musical knowledge, I started investigating what the jazz players were doing.

I found that learning chords was the best place for me to begin, because even if I wasn't able to solo over them, I could accompany those who could and gain experience. Once I had the chords under my belt, I learned scales that allowed me to improvise through them.

My first opportunity to play in a jazz setting and with players who were far more evolved than I was, was with Tom Scott and the LA Express, accompanying Joni Mitchell.

Soon after, I formed the group Yellowjackets, my first fusion band, and eventually found myself with Miles Davis - my hero in jazz for sure!

In this course, I'll be showing you my unique way of blending blues and jazz sensibilities in what I think is a fresh approach to jazz composition, harmony and improvisation.

We'll work through 10 different pieces of music, each accentuating a different aspect of writing, comping and soloing. All the performances are tabbed and notated, and you'll be able to sync the tab to the video using TrueFire's learning tools. All the backing tracks are included, and you can loop and slow down any of the videos so you can work at your own pace.

Ready to get started? Let's go.
Crabshaw: Full Lead Pass
Our first track is called "Crabshaw". Here we'll work through the full lead guitar part of the track. Up next, we take a look how to comp along with the track. Then, we're going to look at a few of the techniques I'm using in depth. Let's get started.
Crabshaw: Comping Sections
This playalong shows you some of the comping ideas you could use over the track for "Crabshaw". We'll work through a section of the tune, and then start to break down a few of the techniques I'm using in the next segment.
Open Strings Enhance Bass Lines
This song is called "Crabshaw Don't Care", which is a reference to a blues that Elvin Bishop recorded with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, called "Drunk Again". The song was written in the key of B, something that's unique to guitar, as it doesn't fall under your fingers as easily as something like playing in A.

Something we're taking advantage here is open strings, using them to enhance the bassline. When writing instrumental music, I like to engage the bass player in ways they normally wouldn't. Instead of just having the bassist hit the root note, we're bringing them into the composition here with a melodic line played in unison.

In this segment, we'll break down the melody line as well as go through some of the harmonic choices I made with the chords.
Scales, Triads, Personality
With "Crabshaw Don't Care", we're in the key of B7. This gives us a different, brighter sound that's a little funky too. It's also great for my voice, so I'm a big fan.

Let's talk a little bit about where my head was at with the improvisation for this tune. With the melody riff, the idea was to inject a little bit of humor into it. That's something to keep in mind - there should always be an emotion in mind. In jazz and rock 'n' roll, we're often working with one emotion or theme, unlike classical where we can move between different emotions.

So, "Crabshaw" is kind of funny. Nothing too overt, just some playful thematics thrown in to make it light. Let's go through the lead part, and I'll break down some of the approaches I took while improvising.
Hebb Tide: Full Lead Pass
Our second track is called "Hebb Tide". First we're going to go through the lead guitar part all the way through, then we'll check out some comping ideas you can use. After that, we'll go in depth with a few concepts that are essential to playing the tune and bringing jazz into your playing. Let's get to it.
Hebb Tide: Full Comping Pass
Here we have some comping ideas you can use to play along with the track. When you're ready, head on over to the next segment where we'll break down some of the harmonic choices I used.

+ 33 more lessons

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Reviews

20 results

gacp475gu

Verified buyer

12/16/25

Good for watch but songs are not what I wanted to play

I can watch his playing and listen to the sound with his tele. He explains what he thinks. These are good points. I love his playing but the songs are not appearing to me.

roboboro

Verified buyer

04/08/22

Wonderful Course

What a beautiful course and beautiful music! Thank you, Robben Ford. This is the kind of modern jazz I like to listen to and play. Now I have a course that teaches exactly what I want to learn, and with excellent study materials and inspirational playing. WOW!

Jacimario

01/19/22

Ótima plataforma de estudo!

Olá , já acompanho essa plataforma e vejo sua evolução , isso e muito bom, parabéns! Para ficar perfeita, seria essencial um tradutor de línguas para os vídeos, ai seria espetacular!

tombruhin

Verified buyer

12/15/21

Exactly what I was looking for

Absolutely great course, great tunes and insights from a true guitar master

AlaBo

Verified buyer

12/06/20

Robben Ford is simply fantastic!

His sound and his playing style are outstanding and unmistakable. The transcriptions of the audio material are excellently prepared. Very good learning material that can keep you busy for years. I am a big fan of Truefire and the offered courses. I have never regretted a purchase so far.

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