Dobro Tunings

[Marc Muller]

Same as I did with my C6, raised lower string half step. Standard G dobro tuning but raise low to G# for some fun.

[Ian]

So Ricky.

What tuning are you currently using?

Cheers,

Ian

[Edward Meisse]

I played more like acoustic lap steel than dobro. I used C6. I found it to be much more versatile for swing and traditional jazz among other things. But some very impressive things can be done in G tuning. It is a matter of what kind of music you want to play and what you want to sound like. I would listen to as many varied players and styles as I could find. Then I would choose the tuning I wanted to sound like. Keep in mind though that most Dobro/Lap Steel instructional material is in either G or C6.

[Mark Eaton]

Ed, your post is written in the past tense and I haven't seen you on the forum for some time, or any listing of gigs around the area - are you no longer playing?

[Edward Meisse]

Duypetreme's contracture has done in my picking hand. And my ability to hear pitch as been deteriorating for a while now. First i had to quit playing electric. Then I had to quit tricone. Then wooden guitar after wooden guitar became impossible for me to play in tune. I'm thinking of trying to do vocals if I can manage that in tune. I do miss playing music. But I just may not have the ability any more.

[b0b]

So sorry to read that, my friend.

Back to topic: I tune my dobro G B D F# A D. To me, it's more versatile than the standard tuning because it includes a minor triad. It uses the same string gauges.

It's a subset of the D6th tunings I use on 8- and 10-string steel guitars, so I don't get lost on it.

[Mark Eaton]

Duypetreme's contracture has done in my picking hand. And my ability to hear pitch as been deteriorating for a while now. First i had to quit playing electric. Then I had to quit tricone. Then wooden guitar after wooden guitar became impossible for me to play in tune. I'm thinking of trying to do vocals if I can manage that in tune. I do miss playing music. But I just may not have the ability any more.

Ed, I do recall now when you were in the early stages of Dupuytren's contracture. I'm very sorry to hear that it has progressed to the current level. And the hearing problem on top of that - wow.

[Albert Stimson]

I've been enjoying lurking on here for a while, and this thread finally incited me to join the forum!

I'm a pretty new dobro player coming from the woodwind world and have been (probably foolishly but stubbornly) playing a one-octave harp tuning that I came up with after much experimentation. It's the same notes as the tuning b0b just posted, but stacked in close spacing. Low to high:

D F# G A B D

It's rough having the reduced range and hitting the wrong string nearly always sounds bad, but it has some pretty neat characteristics:

Nearly all the triad inversions from C6 (can't do minor with the fifth on top) for chord-melody.

Sus or add 4th with resolution to the third in the same octave.

m7 and M7 with no open strings (though it's really a second with the close spacing).

Some cool slant/pull things:

Forward slant on strings 1,3,5 across 2 frets, pulling the top string in tune, gives a dom7.

Forward slant on strings 2,5,6 across 1 fret, pushing the bottom string away from you to fix the intonation gives another dom7.

Forward slant on strings 3,5,6 across 1 fret, pushing the bottom string gives augmented.

If you use a bullet on the back end of the bar, a back slant on strings 1,5,6 over 1 fret gives a M7.

I think it would be a lot more fun as an 8 string tuning, adding the low G and B strings from standard dobro G to the bottom of it. This would give minor with the fifth on top and better voicings for seventh chords.

It's very versatile for jazz and pop stuff but probably cripples me for normal bluegrass stuff. I've been told I should just start learning pedal steel instead, but I love the sound of dobro too so I'm torn.

[Edward Meisse]

It does, in fact, cripple you in terms of what bluegrass players are normal expected to sound like. And I got some unfriendly looks from bluegrass purists when I played my C6 at bluegrass jams. But I'm for sounding like what I want to sound like. My 8 string C6 had an out of sequence D string on top that made single string playing very much easier. From top to bottom it went D-E-C-A-G-E-C-A. I think the Mike Aldridge instructional DVD is still available for 8 string dobro. It covers that tuning as well as G6 and C9. I highly recommend it.

[Edward Meisse]

Thanks B0b and Mark. I appreciate you both.

[Albert Stimson]

Thanks, Ed. Very sorry about your playing difficulties. A lot of what led me to dobro is chronic pain or discomfort playing the clarinet, though I've also been fascinated by the ability to play in harmony or sing while playing. Or even just eat at gigs without gunking up the innards of my instrument...

That looks like a fun tuning with the out of sequence D. I may try that if I manage to get an 8-string.