Dobro / resophonic technique and tuning question

Cliff Kane · From: the late great golden state

Hey folks,
I am trying to spend some time developing a proper style for acoustic lap playing, and I've been working with The Dobro Book, by Stacy Phillips. In this book, Phillips' technique for string muting/blocking is by lifting the bar. I am down with lifting the back of the bar and using the nose for partial blocking, but for general muting lifting the bar runs against the palm blocking technique I am used to for pedal steel playing. How do real Dobro / resophonic players do it? Is palm blocking (ala pedal steel) considered bad technique? I guess one advantage of not palm blocking is being able to rest the right hand on the bridge cover and picking closer to the bridge?

Another question: the guitar I am using is a metal body square neck National single cone. This is the only non-pedal guitar I own, so I don't have the advantage of having multiple non-pedal guitars in different tunings. The tuning I've been working with is the standard Dobro G-B-D-G-B-D, which is used for most of the material in The Dobro Book. This book is good for this tuning as it covers slants and harmonized scales. However, my guitar's tone is really suited for old-timey and Hawaiian music, rather than Dobro country / bluegrass tones. The guitar sounds great all-around, but it really doesn't sound like a wood bodied Dobro. How much traditional Hawaiian and old-timey stuff is played with the G-B-D-G-B-D tuning? I believe the default tuning for a lot of that music is C6, but how versatile is the Dobro G tuning?

Any input from you non-pedal and acoustic lap players is greatly appreciated. Thanks for you help!
Cliff

James Kerr · From: Scotland, UK

With regard to "good or bad technique" I always follow the notion that whatever is most suitable and comfortable for you is the Right Technique. I had to go look at my own recording to see what I was doing in the way of blocking............
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtdcPyS2dXg&feature=channel_video_title

Looks like I block with the edge of my playing hand, not that I do much blocking unless its a 3/4 string run up or down the strings where you want to kill each note as it plays.

You are right about the Tunings, it has to be suited to the music you are playing, if its Hawaiian then you need one of those (many) tunings, for Blues you need the Blues tuning, probably something like DADF#AD.

James.

Cliff Kane · From: the late great golden state

Thanks, James. "A Maiden's Prayer" sounds great! And your right hand blocking looks like the technique that pedal steel players strive for! Very nice. I agree that what ever works is good, and I can certainly apply palm blocking to the acoustic lap guitar, but I'm curious if lifting the bar is the way that traditional reso players do it, and if so, why? I remember a thread recently that mentioned the claim by some Dobro players that playing pedal steel will be bad for a person's Dobro technique, and I am wondering if that has something to do with blocking / muting techniques. With pedal steel playing, developing a proper right hand blocking technique is important -- whether it be palm blocking or pick blocking -- and I think that most traditional pedal steel players would frown upon lifting the bar to block and mute (although I believe that there are accomplished Sacred Steel players who do this). So, what is the traditional school of thought for blocking and muting among traditional Dobro / reso players?

For the tuning, I am just curious how versatile reso players who play other styles other than country / bluegrass (such as Hawaiian) find the Dobro G tuning, as that is the one I'm concentrating on with this book. I know there's a myriad of tunings out there -- each with its own flavor -- and I know that C6 is pretty ubiquitous -- but how far do people go out side of the country / bluegrass Dobro with GBDGBD?

John Bushouse · Posted 24 Sep 2011 5:55 pm

I really like GBEGBD. I still get the 1-3-5 triad on the top, but I get minor chords on strings 2-4.

Jim Eaton · From: Santa Susana, Ca

After watching several of Gerg Booth's U-tube clips, I have recently tried his tuning and like it alot!
E-B-D-G-B-D low to high. It leaves 99% of my standard patterns and licks as they are and the minor chords that lowering the 6th string down to E provides are really nice.
JE:-)>
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Robert Murphy · From: West Virginia

Lifting the bar allows you to use the fingers of the left hand for muting since they are damping unwanted string noise anyway. I play lap, Dobro and pedal steel. And a different technique for each instrument if I use a different bar! SP2 for Dobro. Brozophonic for lap steel and Emmons bar for pedal.

L. Bogue Sandberg · From: Chassell, Michigan, USA

I only play dobro (6, 7, and 8 string) and find bar lifting, both tilt and total, has its uses along with palm and pick blocking. Recently I've been working with a Bb/G7 version of the C6/A7 tuning. I find on dobro it requires using the left thumb in front of the bar to block the low B from ringing when playing the upper Bb. BTW, I use a bullet bar.

You can get a lot of Hawaiian out of standard Hi->Lo DBGDBG dobro tuning. Look at the Stacy Phillips "Art of Hawaiian Steel Guitar" books as a starting point.

Others have already mentioned the Cindy Cashdollar (DBGEBG) and Gregg Booth (DBGDBE) G6 tunings. I use DBGEDB on one 6 string. It's the A6 tuned down two frets. It gives the familiar G tuning positions for the bluegrass/country stuff. (At my age I'd have a tough time moving away from that.) But this version can be retuned to Bb6 (DBbGFDBb) to play things written for C6 and to A11 (DBGEC#(B orA)) to play B11 tunes.

Bogue

Cliff Kane · From: the late great golden state

Thanks for the replies, guys. Much appreciated!

Brad Bechtel · From: San Francisco, CA

For what it's worth, I use the standard open G tuning on my National tricone and have no problem playing old time Hawaiian music on it. I think the idea of changing to a sixth based tuning such as used by Greg Booth is very valid, and her certainly gets a lot out of it.
The other tuning I'd recommend would be A6th, since you could use the same string gauges for both it and G tuning:

1. C#
2. A
3. F#
4. E
5. C#
6. A
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