© Bluestronomical Publishing Inc. 2008

By Jackie Don Loe

~ Robben Ford Blues ~

It is no secret that I am a huge fan of guitarist Robben Ford. His playing reveals a sophistication of musicianship that is defined by his tone, feel and selection of notes. This month I want to share a lesson from one of Robben’s instructional tapes on how he would jazz up a standard 12 bar blues in the key of C. His use of nine chords gives an uptown feel and the voicings he employs relate to each other very well. The C7 #9#5 in bar four creates great tension and slides into the classic IV to #IV dim in bars five and six. This sets up a nice I-VI-II-V movement in bars seven through ten, again with a cool dominant 7 #9#5 chord voicing that a lot of West Coast cats use. This progression really grooves or you can play it as a slow jazzy blues or to get a real funky feel for it, listen to how Mike Bloomfield comped on “Killing Floor” from the 1968 album A Long Time Comin by the Electric Flag.
Keep your rhythm tight and remember to leave some open space so the tune can breathe.

Twelve Bar Blues in Key of C with Robben Ford Chords

|C9 / / / | F 13 (9) / / / | C9 / / / | C7 #9#5 / / / | F13 (9) / / / | F# dim / / / |

|C9 / / / | A7 #9#5 / / / | D9 / / / | G7 #9#5 / / / | C9 / / / | G sus 4 / / / |

“Robben Ford’s Chords”

* The numbers following the chord letter are where you fret your fingers on the string. If there is a "0" then the string is open, if there is an "x" then no note is played.

Enjoy, and always keep your ears open.

     - Jackie Don Loe -

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