PLAY } BLUES/JAZZ

This month down at The Crossroads John Wheatcroft shows how Robben Ford and others, add Altered tension and release to their solos, so that you too can sound sophisticated, modern and hip.

Robben Ford is one of the most significant of all electric guitarists. He has maintained a successful solo career as a blues singer, guitarist and composer, with a stream of blues flavoured releases. Robben has also had an illustrious career as session player to the stars, with credits that include Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harrison, Little Feat, Michael McDonald and many more. In recent years he’s also pursued collaborative projects along with fellow legendary guitarists Larry Carlton, Mike Landau and John Scofield.

An expert at mixing orthodox blues phrasing with sophisticated swing and be-bop lines, evidence of his earlier jazz roots, he’s just as at home juxtaposing Pentatonic ideas with symmetrical Diminished scale and Melodic Minor modal action. Robben is able to integrate these concepts in an expressive and artistic way. Each melody is the perfect balance of consonance and dissonance, to create both drama and beauty.

Here we’ll be exploring how Robben, and legendary jazz, blues and fusion guitarists, use the seventh mode of the ‘jazz’ Melodic Minor, the Superlocrian or Altered scale, to provide that tension and release. Here comes some theory. But, to paraphrase the great Bill Hicks, don’t worry; there will be some licks coming!