The Steel Guitar Forum

I'm looking for some good dobro learning material. Probably going to stick to learning bluegrass stuff in open G to start. Any recommendations?

Check out Mike Witcher's stuff. He's got a few books as well as some downloadable lessons. He can flat out play. http://mikewitcher.com/

Especially if you're talking bluegrass, Mike Witcher's books are a great place to start.

And to give one a broader overview, I still think Stacy Phillips' first book from the '70s (the Dobro Book) with the accompanying CD is one of the classics. When I got my copy in the mid-'70s it was one of the only dobro books out there, and the best one at that. Came with a floppy 33 1/3 rpm vinyl record in those days. Stacy also has the more comprehensive book The Complete Dobro Player, but I'd start with the first one then go from there.


http://www.stacyphillips.com/dobrobooks.html

Mark Eaton wrote:I still think Stacy Phillips' first book from the '70s (the Dobro Book) with the accompanying CD is one of the classics.

Totally agree. The old green-covered Stacy Phillips Dobro Book is indeed a classic. Even the Archduke of the Dobro says so!

There is a LOT of good instructional material out now for reso. Depending on what direction you want to go...
The Two Stacy Phillips books are quite good and touch on a lot of different styles. His Homespun Bluegrass course is excellent.
David Hamburger's "The Dobro Workbook" is a great book with a unique approach to breaking down positions, and a really good introduction to melodic style.
Mike Witcher's book is great for rolls and traditional bluegrass.
If you dig Mike Auldridge's smooth style, by all means seek out his rare book from Guitar Player with his "football play" transcriptions of his first two albums, or his video tape lesson series.
Ditto some recordings by Jerry Douglas and Rob Ickes which are available as album transcriptions.
Canada's Doug Cox has some nice material with his "Blues" and "Backup" Dobro books, and videos.
"The Great Dobro Sessions" is a fine multi-artist compilation recording with a matching transcription folio.
For a good start and an all-around great collection of licks, I really recommend Jimmy Heffernan's "Resophonic Guitar From Scratch" and "100 Licks For Resophonic Guitar". Just great, and that's where I'd start, along with the Stacy Phillips books.

I am certainly a beginner on lap steel and dobro. As such I have looked at several sources. I find Troy Brenningmeyer's Materials (downloadable videos, .pdf tabs and back tracks to be very good and reasonably priced. He is an excellent instructor. You can check many of his lessons on youtube. Here is a link to his material... http://www.lessonswithtroy.com/dobro_lessons/

Cheers,
Terry

Janet Davis, You Can Teach Yourself Dobro, on Mel Bay Publications. There are several versions. Get the full set: Book, CD and DVD. Some years ago I found one for ~$20.

Stacy Phillips' books have lots of cool photos.

Hey, Tim, I just realized I forgot to toot my own horn... you might get a lot out of my Dobro audio course; http://www.markvanallen.com/store_books.html
I've tried to tie a lot of the theory and thought process together that helps make sense of all the other courses. There are some things like the layout of the harmonized scale that I've never seen taught anywhere that really make sense of pockets, fills, and slant positions.

Jim Heffernan's Dobro Handbook on Truefire is awesome.

http://truefire.com/techniques-guitar-l ... -handbook/

Thanks for all the tips friends! I'll be sure to remember all of you on my rise to the top of the dobro mountain. I'll shower you all with tens of dollars!

I would also recommend Rob anderlik's website.
www.robanderlik.com


Tom

Also check out Jimbo's site -- he has some excellent video stuff on offer - well worth checking out

http://www.jimmyheffernan.net/

When I looked at the title of the thread (Dobro Method Books?) I followed Mike Neer's lead in my earlier post and stayed with the "book" theme as opposed to DVDs, on-line lessons, etc.

A lot of good stuff out there nowadays, I don't have any of Mark Van Allen's courses myself but no doubt they are good. The dearth of dobro learning materials many years ago reminded me a little bit of an interview with Jerry Garcia where he was talking about trying to figure out how to play his first electric guitar in the late 50s. He said that in those days there was nobody where he lived in San Francisco to teach you this stuff, or at least he never came across anyone. At least a kid from his high school showed him how to get into standard tuning and he sort of took it from there.

Even though it was the mid '70s when I started on dobro, the instrument wasn't that far removed from Garcia's experience as a fledgling electric guitarist. When Stacy Phillips' first book came out, it was a huge step forward if one were trying to learn the instrument.

The Mike Auldridge Dobro book - kind of a weird experiment and for me anyway, it didn't "take." I still have it and refer to it once in awhile, and I have it more as a keepsake. Mark Van Allen referred to the diagrams as being like football plays, I chuckled one time when another player referred to them as ballroom dance step diagrams. I like the book more for the photos and Mike's comments about the individual songs. I think you can find used copies on eBay for 25-30 bucks and it's cool to have for the reasons I mentioned above, but as a learning tool with all that has come since in the dobro world, I wouldn't recommend it. For Mike's own teaching materials later as far as I know he abandoned the ballroom dance step/football play diagrams.

As far as DVD courses I still think my favorite as a starter was the two DVD set from Rob Ickes. I've never ordered the beginner's programs from the likes of Jimmy Heffernan, but I have a bunch of Jimmy's stuff and it's all good.

What I really like about Rob's course from Homespun is that he hammers away at technique, which is really important. He does the same thing in person if you've ever taken a class or workshop from him, or have been in his classes at ResoSummit in Nashville. Highly recommended!