3 Things To Memorize
Written by Troy Brenningmeyer
http://www.LessonsWithTroy.com

1. All the notes of the Dobro
2. All the Key Signatures
3. All the Chords and Chord Tones for each key

Question:
Why do this?

Answer:
To gain a more complete understanding of your instrument, and to know
where you are at all times and to know why what you are playing may
sound good and why it may sound not so good.

Question:
Is there an easier way? Can I get around not knowing any music theory
and not knowing where any of the notes on my instrument are located?

Answer:
I have found if you do not want to learn any music theory one can
still play and in fact get quit good. Tons of great players have done
it, and this is what I think ones options are if they want to get
really good, but do not want to learn any music theory.

No Music Theory Option 1:
(I highly recommend doing this “In addition” to also understanding
music theory)
To simply transcribe tons and tons of songs, solos, rhythm playing,
song forms, etc…so many that you can use the memory of those solos to
dictate what you should play when you hear it in the context of a
song. Your memory of all the songs and solos that you’ve learned and
transcribed will trigger a muscle memory with your fingers and mind,
and it will be like you are speaking with your instrument. Simply
reacting to what you hear like you would if you were carrying on a
conversation with someone.

No Music Theory Option 2:
(I do not recommend doing this, but I’ve been guilty of it several
times)
The worst way....just to noodle around, fishing for the right note,
not having a clue why anything you play sounds good or bad.
------------------------------------------------

If you know your notes here's a good chart for the Key Signatures:

Remember your chords are built off of each note of the scale: (ex. in
the Key of G)

I = Major G major (GBD) (Root, 3rd, 5th)
ii = minor A minor (ACE) (Root, b3, 5th)
iii = minor B minor (BDF#) (Root, b3, 5th)
IV = Major C major (CEG) (Root, 3rd, 5th)
V = Major D major (DF#A) (Root, 3rd, 5th)
or (and you can make it a 7th chord too) D7 (DF#AC) (Root, 3rd, 5th,
b7)
vi = E minor (EGB) (Root, b3, 5th)
vii = that weird diminished chord F#dim (F#AC) (Root, b3, b5)

Here are your Key Signatures:

The Sharp Keys

C MAJOR – C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C
G MAJOR – G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G
D MAJOR – D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D
A MAJOR – A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, A
E MAJOR – E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#, E
B MAJOR – B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A#, B
F# MAJOR – F#, G#, A#, B, C#, D#, E#, F#
C# MAJOR – C#, D#, E#, F#, G#, A#, B#, C#

The Flat Keys

C MAJOR – C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C
F MAJOR – F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F
Bb MAJOR - Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb
Eb MAJOR – Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, D, Eb
Ab MAJOR – Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb, F, G, Ab
Db MAJOR – Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, C, Db
Gb MAJOR – Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, F, Gb
Cb MAJOR – Cb, Db, Eb, Fb, Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb

Here's a good start for Memorizing Chord Tones too: (Root, 3rd, 5th)
G = GBD
C = CEG
D = DF#A
A = AC#E
E = EG#B
B = BD#F#
F = FAC

Remember to get the following chords you just have to change a note or
two:

Minor Chord = Flat the 3rd
Diminished = Flat the 3rd and the 5th
Augmented = Sharp the 5th
Major 7th chord = Just add the regular 7th of the scale to your chord
7th chord = Just add the Flatted 7th tone of the scale to your chord
"Power Chord" = Just play the Root and 5th (no 3rd)
Sus4 chord = Substitute the 3rd of the chord with the 4th of the scale (it will want to resolve back to the 3rd)
Add 9 = add the 9th tone of the scale to your chord (also called a Sus2)


http://www.LessonsWithTroy.com

Posted - 02/07/2010 :  23:20:24    

Hi Troy, you have written a bunch of helpful information and recommendations there. Theory is a valuable tool even for ear players which I believe most if not all dobro players are. When you hear a chord or a chord progression that sounds familiar it's a good thing to recognize what you are hearing and know what notes or intervals are being employed. I doubt that I will ever memorize every note on the dobro, although it would probably help. What I do hope to know eventually is what every note on the instrument sounds like before I go there. Knowing how to build chords and why they sound the way they do for me is a huge benefit and your list of chords and their "recipes" are really good to know. So here is my question, how is it a help to me as a dobro player to memorize the key signatures? Isn't that mainly for the purpose of reading and writing notation? I guess if you are on a bandstand or orchestra pit and the leader says 3 flats it might help to know that is Eb. For me it is enough to know that scales of the same type have the same blueprint, and to know where the half steps occur in the scale. There are key signatures that will call a B note Cb, and a C note B#. Same with E, Fb and F, E# notes. I don't need to deal with that if I'm not reading music. Or do I? If there is a good reason. I'm all ears! (sorry, I couldn't resist!)

Posted - 02/08/2010 :  06:26:20    

Good stuff Troy. My music theory is very weak. I have a fair amount of "muscle memory" and can't quite speak with the dobro yet but am reaching for that goal. I don't care for scales but liked your information. I have heard a lot of music that sounds like scales being played.

Posted - 02/08/2010 :  07:22:51    

Good question Greg.

Yeah, I think the Key Signatures are really important. I rarely "Read" music, but I still use the Key Signatures alot.

The Keys will Lay out the basis to where your chords get their notes, and the basis for any scales you play.

ex. We are in the Key of B, and you don't want to use your capo, because it's a slow bluesy tune.

In my mind, I lay out the Key of B: (B - C# - D# - E - F# - G# - A# - B)

Knowing that, I can use those notes to build my palette of sounds.

Blues notes (Flat my 3rd, Sharp my 4, Flat my 7) Now that I know the basis for the Key I know how to manipulate the notes to my liking.

Or Say the song takes a turn and I wanted to give an Alison Krauss Jerry Douglas "Pop" bluegrass sound
Pop sounds (Add the 9th, Add the 6th, Add the Major 7th, Add the Sus4)

When I look down at the neck, I see the names of the notes, and when I'm in a specific key I just add the notes to get whatever sound I want.
Plus when I figure out licks, I immediately see what the note names are, and then I can see what "FLAVOR" they add to the chord they are over.

That's just how I have learned to do it. In school I got a degree in Jazz Guitar, and they were huge on Memorizing everthing, as well as transcription.
So I would carry note cards around with me that would have the chord name on the front, and the chord tones written on the back.
When I would be waiting for the bus I would flip through them, and memorize all the chord tones. So now they come really quick as I look down at the neck.

Edited by - LessonsWithTroy on 02/08/2010 07:24:11

Posted - 02/08/2010 :  08:51:18    

Here are 2 definitions of "key signature" from the internet.

1. the sharps or flats that follow the clef and indicate the key

2.In musical notation, a key signature is a series of sharp or flat symbols placed on the staff, designating notes that are to be consistently played one semitone higher or lower than the equivalent natural notes unless otherwise altered with an accidental. ...

This is what I'm talking about, the key signature is a system used in notation to tell a musician who's reading notes from a page what to do. I do what you do Troy, only I just think of it in numbers or relationships. I know that the different scale tones color or flavor the music. Like you said, the flat 7, the maj 7, the sharp 5, the min 9 , a chromatic scale, etc. In my mind it's a system of relationships between the notes and it transfers to every key. All I'm saying is that the key signature tells me that B has 5 sharps. What do I care if I'm not reading the notes from a page? The B scales have the same structure as all the other keys, If I go up 3 half steps I'll still find the minor 3rd. I agree it's helpful to know what the triads are in the commonly used keys, and from there I can figure out the names of all the other notes. When I'm actually playing in real time the names of the notes never enter my mind, but the numbers and relationships do.

I'm not being argumentative buddy. I suspect it's mainly terminology or semantics. We can also disagree and still be friends!

Posted - 02/08/2010 :  10:10:09    

Great point Greg!

I think some things are coming clear now. You are a perfect example of something that has always intrigued me, and it's all starting to make sense.

You always hear about tons of Great Players not reading music or knowing much theory etc, but they all have AMAZING EARS! And they make AMAZING MUSIC!
Maybe it's not all about all this theory stuff I'm talking about after all. Maybe theory adds something to the mix, but it's a smaller ingredient.

It's really more about INTERVALS and thinking of things as NUMBERS instead of letters, and understanding the relationship between the different INTERVALS, and being able to find them quickly on the instrument.

However, the question the surfaces:

If you are playing via NUMBERS and say you want to play over a C chord and put an Eb Sliding up to an E, but you want to do be able to do this everywhere on the neck...
wouldn't one need to know where all the Eb to E's are on the neck, everywhere, and also for all other notes?

Because I would think playing by INTERVALS has alot of to with playing in Shapes and Patterns that allows you to memorize how certain shapes sound, in relation to the Root of the chord.

But what happens when you get to an area or location of the instrument where you're unfamiliar with the shapes and patterns. Let's say up the neck a bit. Or maybe in a Key that lends itself to not using a capo and the shapes become INTERVAL shapes become unfamiliar territory.

I guess that's where it would help to be able to see the notes. I would think that it could free one up to playing in different locations of the neck.

I'm also looking at this probably backwards. I always think about explaining things that I play, and understanding the inner workings of them. I love teaching, and sharing what I learn.
Thus I always need to be able to put names and titles to everything, instead of just playing it and saying it sounds right, but I don't know how it works.

Like I said before there are sooo many amazing players that could care less about all this theory stuff, and still sound amazing!! They make great records! They are totally creative!
They Revolutionize music!

However, when they want to share with the world what they are doing, it's hard for them to accurately describe it in a way that doesn't sound like magic.

So I guess I would think there's two ways of approaching musical improvement:

1) From an Artistic point of view where one simply creates freely, and let's others analyze it when it's all said and done.
Which probably makes for the best Art and the best Music.

or

2) From a teaching stand point, where in the end one knows that they are going to need to explain what they are doing, and
understand the theory behind what they are playing is part of the process too.

I probably come from point number 2, because I make my living explaining things. However, that's not to say that that is how great music is created,
but it will lend itself a bit better to sharing and explaining what I'm doing. It's hard maybe impossible to "Teach" someone how to be An Artist and be Creative.
It's much easier to simply break things down from the ground up.

Anyway, I'm not sure if any of this makes sense. No hard feelings, I'm enjoying the banter back and forth! It's fun, and engaging too!

~Troy~
http://www.LessonsWithTroy.com

Posted - 02/08/2010 :  10:47:59      

I think that a lot of folks (and many of them are excellent players) who have never studied music theory still know music theory. They simply don't know that they know it. For myself, knowing it and having a decent understanding is very helpful. It's transferable back-and-forth from one instrument to another also.....Thanks for the charts, Troy. Sure saves me a great deal of time writing it out myself, or not writing it out and trying to keep track of it all in my head. ........I think the charts also kind of inspire one to actually take a look at what he/she is doing and why it sounds good. This stuff is so damn logical and easy-to-follow when you actually see the music theory side of it..........

Posted - 02/08/2010 :  11:06:22    

I agree with 99 % of what you are saying Troy, and I'm not from the "no theory for me" camp. My main exception was the "key signature" thing which I still say is only for reading music purposes. I guess the way you use the phrase means memorize all the notes of all the scales, but to me it means the literal definition, the sharp and flat symbols placed on the staff to tell the reader whether to play an altered note or a natural. Essential if you sight read in an orchestra.......

My other ramblings about how I navigate using numbers and relationships simplifies the memorization and boils it down to system that moves all over the neck depending on what key or starting point I'm in. Then it's just a matter of memorizing your position markers and how they relate to the different keys. Using your example of playing in C and you want to slide into E from Eb, first I translate that to how I would think of that, sliding from the minor to the major third. OK, now I can hear that. In learning my neck I would be familiar with where the maj/min 3rds are for the key of C and the other common keys. This way all I have to juggle is the 12 semitones instead of the 128 different notes in your table. Not to mention the fact that the B scale and the Cb scale are the same notes being called different names only for the purpose of written musical notation.

While I'm here I want to add my voice to the many others who appreciate your huge contribution to learning how to play. You are a great asset to the community and I enjoy your enthusiasm and obvious affection for playing and teaching. Rock on!

Posted - 02/08/2010 :  12:10:09  

Troy,
Appreciate what you are doing here. I've always been the no music theory #2 type. I've been playing music for years (over 40) and started the Reso a little over 5 years ago. I'm just now trying to work my way through scales and theory. It's really helping my playing but for me it's a slow process and I haven't found any short cuts to just flat memorizing and playing scales. I quit trying to remember the actual note and am trying to think in terms of note numbers as related to the scale. Sounds like what Greg does. This seems to be easier for me and maybe someday I'll actually remember what the note is, but I don't think so. Thanks again !

Posted - 02/10/2010 :  05:21:59    

Thanks Troy, GREAT STUFF. I had a class with Bill Keith [the GREAT Banjoist and theorist] once. Beside banjo he plays steel guitar. I've noticed that great dobro /steel players KNOW theory better than most other musicians[ and does BILL KNOW theory!] . Some of the best theory classes I've sat in on had a steel/dobro player [I had Jimmy Heffernan's class- also A GREAT theorist] I think you need this kind of info you are adding to really understand the dobro and after you understand it on the dobro- YOU understand it and can explain it. A lot of great players KNOW the stuff [they may not use the proper termonology]but they know it very well. Thanks again for all of the info. I'll pass it on to my students.

Posted - 02/16/2010 :  16:23:38      

A very interesting variety of approaches. I believe the one that's right is the one that works for you. Probably no substitute for learning violin or piano in elementary school. But, here is yet another, taught me by a working jazz musician in New York City: Thinking of the notes as degrees on the scale, the C is the 1st degree of the Cmaj scale. The C is also the 3rd degree of the Fmaj scale. In preparation, we should learn the 1-3-5 of each of the 12 major scales, and the 1-4-5 progressions. Note, 1-4-5 means the chord corresponding to the scale degree, not the note.
Here is an example: In Red River Valley in Dmaj, the notes are A - D - F# - F# - Eb - D - Eb - D - Change to G chord.
That is (A) From (D) this (F#) Va (F#) lee (Eb) they (D) say (Eb) you (D) are [Change to G chord] (B) go (D) ing.
In degrees, that's written (D) 5-1-3-3-2-1-2-1-(G) 3-5
There are two advantages: First, the same pattern can be applied to all major keys, making for flexibility.
Second, you don't have to worry about all those sharps and flats like you do in traditional reading. If you are in D and the lead sheet shows 3, that's an F#.
The disadvantage is that this applies best to single note playing, but in country, that's all right. The second is that you have to learn the roots and the intervals.
This method is not unknown in the Branson and Nashville studios.