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Topic: Occasional Dobro? |
Steve Pierce
From:
San Rafael, California, USA
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Posted 22 Jun 2005 4:29 pm |
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To come full circle with all of this. . .
Bob Brozman plays most of his Hawaiian stuff in G tuning (with the low bass DGDGBD).
It's really all about the player isn't it!
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Steve Pierce |
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William Steward
From:
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
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Posted 22 Jun 2005 7:39 pm
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| Tony...I think Joey's comment was great...the notes are all there to play nearly anything. I have been now trying to get past the 'major' limitation of open G tuning and the G6 gives a nice subtle variation for swing or blues. When I heard Mike Aldridge playing 'Wave' and a few other standards in Dallas this year I went home and tried picking out Blue Monk, Well You Needn't, etc etc and it works. What I like about Jerry D.'s playing on some of the Allison Krauss recordings is the instrument playing in a lot of minor keys.....dobro sounds gorgeous on minor songs to me because of that hollow mournful sound it can make. Check out Cindy Cashdollar's 'Dobro Variations' instruction where she works through G6, minor, and blues examples. She is a good teacher. Has anyone tried Leavitt tuning on this instrument....why not? [This message was edited by William Steward on 22 June 2005 at 09:39 PM.] |
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HowardR
From:
N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville
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Posted 23 Jun 2005 4:00 am
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Hi Will, good point. I've been learning my way around the harmonic minor scale a bit and also the same scale with an augmented fourth, known as the gypsy scale. My neighbors probably think that I'm Hungarian.
Anyhow, using these scales, along with harmonies, passing tones, and a lot of two finger picking, the G tuning takes on a whole new sound. When I play along (attempt anyway) to this kind of music, even an open G major chord sounds exotic within this musical context.
It's very cool to be playing in this genre, sounding exotic, and then throw in a three finger Foggy Mountain Breakdown roll on a whim, just to remind myself that I'm in "Bluegrass" tuning.
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| Has anyone tried Leavitt tuning on this instrument....why not? |
I've thought of it, but I like a strum tuning. If there existed a double neck dobro, it would be a great idea....  [This message was edited by HowardR on 23 June 2005 at 06:46 AM.] |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 23 Jun 2005 11:33 am
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From that Cashdollar DVD I have started fooling around with the G6 tuning, man is that fun. I'm just amazed how you re-tune one string and it gives the instrument a dramatically different "voice."
JerryD likes to play in open D quite a bit. A lot of the amazing solo stuff he does with no other band members on stage is in D. He also uses it on bluesier sounding stuff. Off the latest Alison K. & Union Station CD, they do a great version of Woody Guthrie's "Pastures of Plenty" with real souful, bluesy singing by Dan Tyminski. Jerry uses the D tuning on that one.
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Mark
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HowardR
From:
N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville
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Posted 23 Jun 2005 12:15 pm
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| On his cd's, Jerry plays some Charlie Parker bebop tunes. Whether he's in D or G tuning, the point is, they can be played. Or, he can can certainly play them. |
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Joey Ace
From:
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 23 Jun 2005 2:30 pm
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Another advantage of learning in G is there is a lot of great instruction available for that tuning.
(Including Herb's, (shameless plug) available from b0b, but I bought mine from Herb at the TSGA) 
FWIW, my main Reso is a Beard Goldtone, Maple, and I think it's great. I usually play in G, but change to E and D as needed. That's only for sessions, no live retuning for me.
Jimmy Heffernan has an arrangement of Amazing Grace posted at his web site with an interesting minor tuning. It's like open G but the sixth string is tuned to E.
The first time I saw that was watching Mike Auldridge in Dallas this year. I've since been experimenting with it.
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db
From:
Bethlehem, PA 18015 USA
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Posted 23 Jun 2005 7:06 pm
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This is all very interesting!
I never concidered the C6th or G6th Dobro tunings.
I have been working on Palm Pedals for std G and D tunings . . .
How would you apply Palm Pedals to a 6th tuning?
Howard, this might be one for you.
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Dan Balde
U-12/8&5, S-7/D 3&1, S-6/E,A & G3
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HowardR
From:
N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville
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Posted 23 Jun 2005 7:24 pm
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Yes, a little tweaking of the G tuning seems to go a long way. Lowering the high B to Bb and leaving the low B for a minor & major combination comes in handy.
I use that for "Ain't No Sunshine". It gives me some nice 4 finger roll patterns that are very effective.
So, if you have one dobro and one tuning, you can find ways to play all different kinds of music. Look at the variety of music that Stacy Phillips plays in G, but it could be most any tuning. By knowing your tuning well and being able to find what you need, it makes sense. Using slants, chokes, an extra pick, and tweaking the tuning, there's probably very little that can't be played.
Dan, I would stay with the Gmaj tuning and use a pedal to get a G6 tuning. If I were going to tune to a C6, I would use the same changes that are used for C6 pedal steel.[This message was edited by HowardR on 23 June 2005 at 08:28 PM.] |
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