Robben Ford Guitar Lesson - Diminished Scale Blues - TrueFire

[Veaseify]

How cool is it that he laughs to himself at the notion that the double diminished scale works over a C7 chord? He's been one of the most respected guitar players in the world for 30 years but he's still fascinated by how music works.. its endearing actually.

[jamesrobinson]

18 people gave this video a thumbs down. Which leads me to believe that there are at least 18 people that have no reason to ever pick up a musical instrument. Great video TrueFire!!!

[lokijam]

u young guitarists should feel blessed. you can literally get lessons from the greatest guitarists to walk this earth. utube can be a great place.

[matt]

I can't believe the negative comments. I for one am always happy to hear anything he or any great player has got to say or teach. I also appreciate any insight into playing on dominent chords.

[Dcba]

This is a great lesson for those who
want to make blues more interesting . Roben Ford is a master! Respect him so much.

[GregTorresGuitar]

This basically applying the b9 concept you can play diminished arpeggio a semi tone up from any dominant 7 chord in this case on the C dominant 7 (the 5 chord of F) you can play C# diminished arpeggio and it will resolve nicely to the F (“the home”) Just remember that in a blues all three of the chords can be dominant 7 not just the 5.

[TheKeithbruce]

Robben ... THANK YOU ... for all you've done for the guitar world

[tomdecuca]

Robben is such an authentic bluesman, I sometimes forget all the theoretical knowledge he has! He uses that knowledge so well, you don't hear it!! That is the sign of a master!!

[Matt_Burns]

To simplify: playing the C# diminished scale (C# D# E F# G A Bb) over a C7 is essentially a simplified way of playing the altered tensions that lie on a C7. It's implying the b9, #9, #11/blue note, and regular 13. It can be useful for that reason in adding some tension to your dominant sound. He has a poor explanation for it but that's how it should be approached.

It can be effective if you're not over using all the tensions and if you kind of lean on a certain one rather than try to go crazy with it.

A nice little touch to your blues stuff to jazz it up a tad would be to play a diminished 7th on bar 6 (second bar of the IV). That's where I think it sounds best on a basic level.

There's many ways to add tension to your solos. Playing an Emin7b5 arpeggio over a C7 yields the regular 9 of C. G min7 arpeggio over C7 gives you the regular 9 and regular 11. Bb maj7 arpeggio over a C7 gives you the 9, 11, and 13. If you look at C and add the 7 chord tones to it (C E G Bb D F A) you can look at each chord tone and use it as an "assumed root" (a dick grove concept) and make a triad or 4 pt chord from it and imply the tensions. The further you go up in chord tones the less definition (meaning the characteristic/ sound of the actual chord) and the more color it will be. Obviously you can also alter notes within those 7 and come up with the altered tensions.

Cheers!

[Jeffum]

I just love the way he really digs what he teaches. Robben is just plain awesome

[leifkeane]

I didn't understand 3 words in 4.
One thing I DID understand was that the knowledge is the important thing, not how impressive the sound, shown by how happy this guy is to play clean when demonstration, rather than hiding behind compression, distortion, reverb or chorus.
Truly at ease with the reality of being a musician. Nice one. Very refreshing.

[ElCapinyoazz]

That bit around 1min in where he's saying the C to F is the I-IV (C being the root) in a blues, but is also a V-I (F being the root) is such a great way to explain it. So simple to grasp, especially since most players moving into jazz have a blues/rock background.

[jonmaclennan]

Robben is such a wizard! Love his blending of blues and jazz! Great lesson! 👍🎸

[MarshRHCP]

been struggling with the diminished scale for years, this finally made it click! amazing player and teacher

[davidtreadway]

Mr Ford has a really unique way of blending theory and practical application, he has a natural way of somehow being the teacher yet using ideals and terminology that can easily be understood and relatable to the student and at the same time exhibiting the excitement of the discover as the student, hard to explain but he has the gift of bridging the gap between the abstract and the real music world, and in real time .

[Wiggy]

My musical hero since the early 90s, even though I cant play the guitar, I always find his video's fantastic.

[lonnystarr]

robben; thank you for your time, your talent, and your expertise. priceless!

[GauravDhar]

Great lesson Robben! Playing diminished scales over dominant chords is something we do a lot in jazz manouche. In fact a diminished 7 is just a semitone away from a dominant 7! (e.g. C# dim 7 is C#-E-G-Bb and C7 is C-E-G-Bb).

[dfifty]

When Robben is strumming a chord it sounds like an orchestra

[chrismurphyshef]

Robben Ford is a wonderful person and a wonderful guitarist. The end.