Der Musiker - Posted - 07/31/2008:  12:26:48

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What have y'all found to work for you?

I've tried to learn from the videos of Stacy Phillips, Cindy Cashdollar, and Jim Heffernan. They're all "good" but the one that's worked best for me has been Jimmy Heffernan's "Resophonic Guitar From Scratch".

After having gotten through that pretty quickly, I've been going through his "100 Licks for Resophonic Guitar". He's got a couple of others, too - see: jimmyheffernan.net/jh_mainframe.html (Click on the "Country Store" link that's there.

Any other good recommendations of books or videos?

Gene

carteru93 - Posted - 07/31/2008:  12:31:24

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Take a look at the lessons section here on the Hangout, we've been working to find some theory and technique lessons and have posted quite a few as well as in the links section.

____________________________________
Pick till yer fingers bleed!!

El Dobro - Posted - 07/31/2008:  16:26:06

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I think Rob Ickes stuff is good and I hear he coming out with more lessons.

MitchC - Posted - 08/02/2008:  15:51:42

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Agreed. The Rob Ickes set and all of Heffernan's stuff is really good.

If you have a good ear, these 2 guys are worth watching / learning from... Martin Gross and Greg Booth:

martingross.com/

profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?...126371301

Okie4WD - Posted - 08/05/2008:  12:46:34

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Heffs stuff is perhaps the best imo.

MitchC - Posted - 08/05/2008:  13:13:48

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I think I'd have to agree.

MARTinG - Posted - 08/05/2008:  15:00:39

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If you are interested in learning a version of Amazing Grace you find a video in the VIDEO LIBRARY and the tabulature in the MARTinG members page as a photo.
You can enlarge the photo by a couple of clicks right on the photo.
cheers
Martin

MitchC - Posted - 08/05/2008:  16:07:21

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Martin's version of Amazing Grace is, without a doubt, the best I've ever heard. I've got it all down except nailing the 3 note slant dead on every time... shucks, guess I'll just need to play it about 1000 more times eh ?

harperk31794 - Posted - 08/06/2008:  21:27:27

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Dan Huckabee has a great series on Josh Graves, 3 volumes with Tab and CDs. Very true to the way Uncle Josh Played em'. I've got Cindy, Jim Heffernan, Janet Davis, and Rob Ickes DVDs I've collected over the years, but the best I've found was the Dan Huckabee series.

Ken

IFKAD, So Easy a Caveman can do it.

harperk31794 - Posted - 08/06/2008:  21:29:14

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quote:

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If you are interested in learning a version of Amazing Grace you find a video in the VIDEO LIBRARY and the tabulature in the MARTinG members page as a photo.
You can enlarge the photo by a couple of clicks right on the photo.
cheers
Martin

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Martin,

Great fan of yours, really enjoy all of your work.

Ken

IFKAD, So Easy a Caveman can do it.

Preston Thompson - Posted - 08/07/2008:  06:08:37

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The video that kept me going was Stacy Phillips. After 2 years I still go back to that one and find I don't have it all yet.

I'm amazed when you say," I went through that pretty quick". How much do you have right and how much do you hack at? But then you may be that one in a million that is good enough to do it.

..pt..

Play it again, Sam. Over, and over, and over:

SGB - Posted - 08/07/2008:  13:00:22

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Preston,
Which Stacy Philips piece of instruction did/do you go through?

Steve

9 out of the 10 voices inside my head are telling me to go home and clean my guns.

Meantooth Grin - Posted - 08/07/2008:  15:53:31

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I personally haven't used a lot of videos or books but the Bob Brozman series of videos "Bottleneck Blues Guitar" was very helpful to me. I borrowed volumes 2 &3 from a friend.

LiamR - Posted - 08/10/2008:  05:00:41

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If you want to play lap style blues, Bob Brozman has two discs "Slide Guitar for Blues: Lap Style".

He also has a Hawaiian steel guitar DVD. Even if you aren't into Hawaiian style, his emphasis on tone is valuable, and he covers several different methods of playing harmonics.

talkingcommunities.com/communi...xcompany/

Der Musiker - Posted - 08/10/2008:  20:56:10

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quote:

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Originally posted by Preston Thompson

I'm amazed when you say," I went through that pretty quick". How much do you have right and how much do you hack at? But then you may be that one in a million that is good enough to do it.

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Well, excuuuuuuse me!! I wouldn't think "one in a million" but I do have a pretty extensive music background that helps and a lot of determination. I get each lesson done right before I move on, thank you very much.

Dobro Don - Posted - 08/11/2008:  09:30:15

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quote:

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Originally posted by LiamR

If you want to play lap style blues, Bob Brozman has two discs "Slide Guitar for Blues: Lap Style".

He also has a Hawaiian steel guitar DVD. Even if you aren't into Hawaiian style, his emphasis on tone is valuable, and he covers several different methods of playing harmonics.

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I like the Brozman discs, too! I also have his bottleneck guitar series (and the Ukelele, and Carribean discs) and the hawaiian steel guitar disc and I intend to get his "Slide Guitar for Blues: Lap Style".

I also like the Cindy Cashdollar discs (lap steel and dobro) and The Slide Guitar of Kelly Joe Phelps and Essential Techniques for Dobro by Rob Ickes (these are all from the Homespun folks).

Don

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"Music creates unity among peoples, cultures and nations. Music can touch the soul making it our universal means of communication."

- Gary Stroutsos Makoche Artist

The Big Crunch - Posted - 10/29/2008:  09:56:06

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I've been sort've dissapointed with Heffernan's reso from scratch DVDs. He's got some good stuff on there, but it feels like it's sort've put together without an overarching sense of focus. Considering that it is intended as a "from scratch" lesson, it seems pretty bad to leave off any real work on scales or how to play rhythm - he really never touches on what the dobro should be doing when it's not playing licks or a solo.

MitchC - Posted - 10/29/2008:  10:20:54

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I agree. Jim's "From Scratch" DVD is not his best. All the others by him I found very useful though. Check them out if you get a chance ?

va picker - Posted - 10/29/2008:  12:06:03

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I just received Mike Witchers book & CD...11 songs that go from simple to difficult. Could be just what I need.

If you live close and can afford it, a personal lesson from Mike Auldridge might help.

As for Heffernan, I think he may have designed his 'From Scratch' DVD to just get the beginner up and running with some songs instead of pounding scales, etc. at you.

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Edited by - va picker on 10/29/2008 12:06:34

The Big Crunch - Posted - 10/29/2008:  14:26:22

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quote:

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If you live close and can afford it, a personal lesson from Mike Auldridge might help.

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Yep, I live close enough. Nope I can't afford it
I just ordered Cindy Cashdollar's beginners DVD, which sound sounds like it may be more informative, and I'm still working through Heffernan's DVD - the solos are fun to learn, I just wish the DVD gave a little more grounding in the instrument.

It's also been kind of fun to take Steve Kaufman's basic mando solos from his mando PLP book and work out arrangements for them on the dobro. Being able to just pick up a songbook written in standard tab for one instrument and applying it to another one makes me glad that I learned to read standard notation back when I took up the mandolin.

exdmd - Posted - 10/30/2008:  08:27:30

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Thanks for the heads up on Mike Witcher's book and CD, I just ordered it.

I started with Rob Ickes' DVD's and often go back to review. Really good. Unfortunately not everything Rob plays is tabbed.

Don't overlook Orville Johnson's "Tricks, Licks and Techniques for Dobro" DVD's, volume 1 and 2. Really good material, blues oriented, not duplicated elsewhere.

Mike

Preston Thompson - Posted - 10/31/2008:  04:50:22

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The Stacey Phillips two volume set is the one I use. When I started playing I asked uncle Phil what I should do. That was his suggestion, and for it was the thing to do. I have all the others but that was the best start.

pt

Play it again, Sam. Over, and over, and over:

jwstahl - Posted - 11/01/2008:  02:46:07

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I'm a beginner, and I've got both Stacy Phillips' and Jim Heffernan's DVDs. I had a group lesson with Stacy at Joe Val in Feb and that was a great intro. Then I found Jim H's "From Scratch" DVD to be most useful - a lot of good technique tips, warnings about potential problems, etc. Didn't take too long to get through - it's just the very basics. Jim H's "Backup" DVD and Stacy P's "Dobro Book" DVD are much more involved, loaded with stuff that's taking me much longer to learn.

Compared to when I was learning banjo in the early 1980s, instructional material is far better and more plentiful today.

John

va picker - Posted - 11/01/2008:  04:25:20

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I can play piano, guitar & some banjo but I've found dobro to be the most difficult instrument to learn. There's also not as many instructors and instructional books, CD/DVD's, etc., as with the other instruments.

johnnybub - Posted - 11/05/2008:  09:33:07

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I think jimmy heffernans "back up" dvd is great,,easy to follow and really good transitions form I-IV-V chords ,,

resonator guitars put the "blues" into bluegrass

JHand - Posted - 11/05/2008:  18:20:32

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I am new to the reso world and play Bluegrass and I just recieved the Murphy Method Beginning Dobro today in the mail. I have watched a little of it. Anybody else used it and your thoughts?

kimmattis123 - Posted - 11/12/2008:  11:13:07

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I've had workshops from both Stacy Philips and Jimmy Heffernan and have their instructional stuff. They are BOTH good in different ways. They have differing styles. Stacy is big on down the neck slants, for instance and Jimmy emphasises pull-off and hammer ons. Jimmy is more bluegrassy and Stacy more jazzy [ he has some remarkable audio recordings of very difficult and arcane dobro stuff]. Some of the beginning stuff is a bit redundent but the advanced stuff compliments the other.

KSM

bsorr - Posted - 12/03/2008:  10:50:50

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Well, as a beginer I have the scratch Video from Jimmy Hef. and the Janet Davis book with cd as well as Michael Wicthers book and Michaels book is really good as a foundation for a beginer. I also subscribe and have a few of the Video Lessons from Troy a LessonsWithTroy.com which I am a little partial to his teaching since he is a freind of mine. He is getting rave reviews about his lessons and they are reasonably priced,
So check them out!
Brad

~Brad~

C.R. Boyd - Posted - 12/26/2008:  09:21:27

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JHand you are 6 weeks ahead of me as I am a non player and have the DVD to. How is it going now that you have some time with it?

JHand - Posted - 12/27/2008:  05:10:30

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So far so good with the Murphy Method. I am pretty well through the DVD. Mark does a good job in breaking down the songs and giving clear and concise insructions, which is so needed in a beginning DVD. The hard part is finding/making the time to practice.

Cheyenne - Posted - 01/07/2009:  07:04:59

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Try jaybuckey@jaybuckey.com I started out with alot of books and tapes but none compaires to Jat's stuff

Cheyenne

haza - Posted - 01/26/2009:  12:56:49

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hi guys sorry to go of the subject iv been playing dobro about 18 months now and its not going i went to sorefingers and that helped me a great deal and i have been follings the stuff doug cox as been doing and thats vary good keep playing stay safe haza

jmb3450 - Posted - 01/27/2009:  11:13:42

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I don't know if this has been mentioned elsewhere before, if so my apologies. I just found a site today with some really good material on playing several different styles of guitar - it's:

guitarsessions.com/

There's a column on resonator playing each month. Recent months are basically advertisements for instructional material, but if you use the link at the top right to go back into the archives there's some really good stuff. I especially like the material Ivan Rosenberg contributed, from April 2007 to July 2008. Check it out.

Jim

haza - Posted - 03/14/2009:  12:05:25

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can any 1 help me on one of the posts it says look in the video libery but what do i have to do to acsees this thanks

schellter - Posted - 03/14/2009:  15:34:53

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quote:

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Originally posted by haza

can any 1 help me on one of the posts it says look in the video libery but what do i have to do to acsees this thanks

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In the upper left of any Reso Hangout page you will see the list that starts with Forums, three items below Forums is Tabs and Lessons. Place your cursor over Tabs and Lessons and you get three subcategories, the bottom one is Video Lessons.

Larry