Last week, a little voice inside of me told me to get back to practicing the Dobro. Last month when I was working the SEMBMA Petting Zoo at the Charlotte Bluegrass Festival, I was with a kid that was having a good time on one. Lately, I have been slacking off practicing any instrument due to longer hours at my job and having to take care of my brother’s house while he is on vacation.
My banjo had been leaning against the couch for a few weeks without moving, and I finally put it back in the gig bag. I had not touched the Dobro (a Regal RD-40) since I moved into my parents’ house, and I found it buried under a bunch of clothes in the basement. Surprisingly, it was still in tune when I strapped it on.
I put on a Dobro instructional DVD and found that I still knew one or two tunes. Unfortunately, my slight arthritis is not allowing for fast picking rolls. I have no problems with rhythm chops, but I do want to work on some simple leads. The DVD basically shows simple tunes, and a Jerry Douglas DVD I have is not in my plans right now (if ever). I have been watching a few YouTube beginner Dobro videos to pick up some ideas.
My hope is to hit the Cirrus Guitar jam session in the next month or two and bring the Dobro. There are too many guitars there and maybe a banjo or mandolin, so a different instrument there would be a blessing. I also want to be able to throw in a different instrument besides guitar and bass on my songwriting demos and not have it sound pathetic.
While the picking fingers are the same as the Scruggs-style playing of banjo, I find that I am more comfortable picking the Dobro strings. With both, I am having some coordination concerns doing string pinching, but that is just one of my things to work on. Both instruments are tuned to an open G major chord, so trying to slide into a minor chord is a challenge without knowing some theory.
Right now, I am trying to commit myself to at least 15 minutes practice every day after work, no matter how tired I am. Yes, the Dobro is now leaning against the couch, staring at me when I walk into my living room. I also need to look for Dobro instruction books that I know that I kept but packed away during the house move.
I should be finishing up on the green Telecaster guitar body by the end of next week, and will be working on the neck and electronics next, finishing up the guitar by mid-August. Before it gets cold outside, I do want to do build another guitar, a bass that will include some routing needed to install a second pickup. I would have a lot more time if there were not outside influences. However, I cannot use any excuses, and need to plan my time far enough in advance and keep to the schedule so that I can get more things done that I want to be done.
I leave you with one of the coolest Dobro tunes Jerry Douglas has ever written.
Chew on it and comment.
Luegra 