Jazz chords on a Dobro

Ed Altrichter · From: Schroeder, Minnesota, USA

Is there a chart that fits on a Dobro neck that shows where jazz chords are located ?

Edward Meisse · From: Santa Rosa, California, USA

Not that I know of. And it's hard to be sure exactly what you are trying to do. Generally players who want to actually play reasonable facsimilies of jazz chords use a tuning known as Leavitt (named after William Leavitt). From hi to lo it is D-C-Bb-G-E-C#. String guages would be about 18-20-22-24-30-34. I play against jazz chords in C6 from time to time. But I seldom play anything that really sounds like a modern jazz chord. It's almost all single and double stops. Since you're talking about Dobro, I'm guessing that you use G tuning. There is no reason that I know that you wouldn't be able to play effectively against jazz chords in that tuning provided you knew the scales to use. But the reason that G tuning was abandoned by jazz oriented players early on is that it would not approximate jazz and pop jazz chords as easily or as well as 6th and 9th tunings. So I have to wonder how effective/useful a chart of that sort would be.
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seldomfed · From: Colorado

I saw a Dobro Wall Chart offered by Mel Bay in a recent newsletter from them - it's for the basic dobro open G major. It shows the notes on the neck, and chords, and some slants. They may have shown things to approximate some jazz chords, hard to tell from the small graphic I saw on the web. Perhaps a starting point?
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Ed Altrichter · From: Schroeder, Minnesota, USA

Yup, that's good info. Thanks.

Andy Volk · From: Boston, MA

Greg Booth gets some beautiful voicings on Dobro using: low to high, EBDGBD .... regular G tuning with the low G tuned down to E.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_N8CQGTo2Y

Leon McAullife's E13th offer some of the standard jazz guitar voicings but if you want the widest number of available jazz voicings on a 6th string - and want to devote a guitar to those sounds - then the Leavitt tuning is the way to go, IMHO.

Fred Kinbom · From: Berlin, Germany, via Stockholm, Sweden.

basilh · From: United Kingdom

What are "Jazz Chords" as opposed to just "Chords" ?

Gordy Hall · From: Fairfax, CA.

Andy Volk · From: Boston, MA

When I hear the term "jazz chords" I interpret it to mean: chords with extensions of the basic chord tones with higher octave color tones and especially, altered dominant chords ... b5,b9, 11th, 13th, aug, dim, etc. While there is no "official" nomenclature as such, and these chords could be found in tunes from other genres, most jazz players would know what is meant by the term, I think.

AJ Azure · From: Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.

GBEGBD..sounds spiffy on jazz stuff

check out http://www.looknohands.com for neck lay out.

Edward Meisse · From: Santa Rosa, California, USA

For me jazz chords are-added note chords such as 6ths and major 7ths-extended chords such as 9ths and 13ths-chords that are formed by the variations of the minor scale such as augmented and fully diminished 7ths-other chromatic chords such as chords with flatted 9ths 11ths or 13s.
But that was a question worth asking. Mr. Altrichter may not necessarily agree. And he's the one looking for the info. Now that I think of it, he probably got more than he bargained for.
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Joshua Grange · From: Los Angeles, California

I jazz chord to say I Love You..

Mark Eaton · Posted 28 Sep 2008 8:22 pm

Look for the Rob Ickes solo album from 2001 entitled:

"What It Is"
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Mark

AJ Azure · From: Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.

Rob ickes isn't so much 'jazz'. it's a fun and interesting album but, his swing feel is just not jazz. he absolutely gets my respect for stretching beyond the bluegrass box.

Alan Brookes · From: Brummy living in Southern California

Mark Eaton · Posted 29 Sep 2008 6:58 am

And Rob will be the first to tell you that he's not a jazz musician per se.

But the album obviously has a jazz "feel," and if one hasn't heard it, it would give them a good idea of playing a dobro in the context of what can be described as a jazz combo, with many of the pieces having chord changes we associate with jazz music.

And on What It Is, Rob isn't playing much in the way of actual "jazz" chords, that is being handled more by the keyboard player, John R. Burr.

But the gist of the album is that it still maintains a jazz feel.

The dobro languished as an instrument for a long time, and it has only been in the past 20 years or so that we have seen players stepping out and exploring other genres of music on the instrument besides bluegrass and country.

Mike Auldridge surprised me back in the 70's when on buying his second solo, I listened to him play "Killing Me Softly."

I don't doubt that in coming decades some creative and highly skilled player will record some legitimate jazz, or that we will hear some really strong interpretations of a classic like "Flamenco Sketches" on the dobro.
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Mark

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

Well, there's certainly a lot of jazz on non-pedal electric steel, so I would think one of those cats could readily re-tune a dobro to their favorite tuning for jazz and have at it. I'd like to hear it! We need a Bela Fleck of the dobro...
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AJ Azure · From: Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.

I find it a funny statement that the dobro wasn't invovled in jazz and it's now a 'new thing considering that the tricone is and in turn the dobro only exists due to jazz and Hawaiian influenced swing or swing influenced Hawaiian.

As far as sketches of Spain it's not exactly a ground breaking piece of Jazz since it's really mainly a classical piece by Rodrigo. i've done it on guitar and messed with it on steel. it's not exactly a tour de force of jazz.

I would call Rob's What it is music pop fusion verging on jazz influence but, Jazz..it's a stretch.

Mark Eaton · Posted 29 Sep 2008 12:25 pm

"Flamenco Sketches" is from "Kind of Blue" and has nothing to do with "Sketches of Spain."

I cited the piece as something an adventurous dobro player may possibly interpret, and it is regarded as a legitimate jazz classic, I would think.
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Mark

AJ Azure · From: Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.

you're right I read sketches of spain my error. I cringe when people treat it as adventurous or breaking new ground for a dobro player to play a style etc. it's to say that it couldn't be done and suddenly OMG it's new ground. These are such self imposed (community) limitations. Maybe it;s due to the fact that i came from guitar but, when picking up steel I never saw it as a one style instrument.

Mark Eaton · Posted 29 Sep 2008 4:42 pm

Me neither, AJ, but you and I both know that one of the more stereotyped families of musical instruments is the steel guitar family - and the dobro in particular induces a certain image or mindset in many people. So try restrain yourself from cringing! Winking

I often play dobro with a group that includes a keyboard player, a drummer, either an acoustic or electric guitar, and electric bass. And I'm certainly not playing anything real groundbreaking, but I also don't impose mental limitations on the instrument.

I get the occasional weird look, because people don't know what to make of it. If they aren't completely ignorant of a squareneck dobro and at least know what the thing is, then they are slightly puzzled why I'm not flanked by a fiddle on one side and a mandolin on the other.
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Mark

AJ Azure · From: Massachusetts, USA * R.I.P.

get a t-shirt printed that reads "yeah it's a dobro get over it!" hehe

Bob Hoffnar · From: Austin, Tx

You could try playing only the 7th and 3rd of each chord. Take a tune like "all the things you are" and just move the 3rds and 7ths down the neck as the chords change. Once you get comfortable with that start looking at a different position on the neck to do the same thing. You could use a standard G tuning and still find most of what you need.
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Bob

Darrell Urbien · From: Echo Park, California

I prefer the psuedo-jazz chords.

Joel Bloom · Posted 30 Sep 2008 4:05 am

Hi, you might enjoy www.looknohands.com (and then the advanced chord room)as you can enter any tuning in any key/scale/chord and it then lays it out on the fretboard for you (six string tunings), so it is handy for checking out tuning possibilities and learning the fretboard. Good for learning and fun to play with!!

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