The Steel Guitar Forum

Mark, agreed...

I do feel though that knowing where the ROOTS are is also a worthy adventure or you will be playing in G for a very long time !

Playing the ROOT chord phrases up the fretboard ( not open position) along with the open G phrases as you so correctly state , is a good thing...

It's all good


By the way, there are a few YOUTUBE teachers that are excellent for totally new players.

I use Scheerhorn bars and capo.I also use lessons with troy.com for instructionals.He has a huge library of easy to learn lessons (lessons are downloaded and can be stored in winzip and includes tabs,I even burn them into a disc)

Im pretty much a noob on dobro, but the sound of a resonator makes plain old guitar boring!
Theres some good free starter material on YouTube Lessons with Troy (troitone)

I havent gotten a capo yet, but will soon.
Thanks for the info.

Clete

Randy...Follow up note: I checked through some of my instructional material for resophonic guitar (written by Steve Toth, Stacy Phillips, and others) and in them the tuning chart is designated as "DBGDBG", (starting with the high strings first), hope this helps.

John Owen wrote:...I think Mr Nugent confused his "D's" with his "G's". All the dobro players I know (including me) refer to open G as: GBDGBD

I had some initial confusion as well, but you may refer to this thread.

I was always used to naming strings on 6 string guitar tunings low to high.
EADGBE
DADGBD
DADF#AC
etc.

This is not universal in the 6 string world though as evidenced.
I always suffix a (low to high) indication to avoid confusion.
I tend to think of E9 and C6 tunings a bit easier low to high as well.
Just an old habit I guess.

An argument can be made for low to high naming though.
The notes of the music staff are often taught thru acronyms.
EGBDF (low to high) (Every Good, etc.)
Also, tuning up isnt just an expression.
The guitar is tuned with more stability from low strings to high and always tuning up in pitch.

Clete

Not everyone's going to agree with me on this, but I think dobro playing should have less vibrato in your left hand. The heavy vibe you would typically use for PSG should be reduced, if you want to sound like the modern reso players.

Clete Ritta wrote:...I was always used to naming strings on 6 string guitar tunings low to high.
EADGBE...

That's the way that they appear on chord diagrams in almost every songbook.
Any other order is confusing.

I tune my 8 string reso to the top 8 strings on my C6 pedal guitar. But as someone else said, I play it like a steel guitar and not like what most people refer to when they say, "Dobro." I also find that I get the best tone by using my psg bar for the reso. The big heavy bar really fattens up the tone.

Mark Eaton wrote:
Do not order the Beard capo that has been around for a number of years (brass colored). Paul Beard has redesigned it and has a new one out now which is much superior to the old one.

Mark, or others, do you have a picture or a link to show me what the newer redesigned Beard capo looks like? I'd like to order it but I'm only seeing the brass colored ones.

Perhaps Howard Parker can chime in to let us know when the new Beard "Wave" (or is it "Waves" (?)) capo might be back in stock - the first batch sold out some time ago. Click on the link below and you will see on the homepage a photo of this unit in the lower right hand corner:

http://www.resophonicoutfitters.com/