I think my playing is a collage of styles. A conglomerate. I started w the banjo at 15, dabbled w the other BG instruments then moved on to pedal steel at age 19. Having a 30+ yr career with that and all kinds of music gave me a lot to draw from when I finally picked up the dobro at age 53. I began like most, learning licks from my favorite players, Jerry, Rob, Andy, Randy, but soon realized it was more satisfying and rewarding to follow my own muse and speak from my own vocabulary. I wasn’t having that much luck trying to sound like them so I focused more on the music, the tone, feeling and expression that’s possible. So depending on the song and style of music I think of the dobro as a guitar chameleon. It can shred, sing, be bluesy or happy, be serious or corny, simple or complex.

Good topic Howard, sometimes you need to try to make sense of it all!

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Originally posted by AK Slider

I think my playing is a collage of styles. A conglomerate. 

Was hoping you would chime in, Greg!!

It can swing, too (even without a 6th tuning).

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Originally posted by wlgiii

It can swing, too (even without a 6th tuning).

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Absolutely!

I am new to dobro with less than a year invested. Can't say that I have a style just yet, but I spend most of my time playing and singing songs I have learned along the way on guitar or 5-string banjo that I try to make sound good on my dobro. I play by myself and just sing with dobro accompaniment, Picking and rolling my way through songs and throwing in licks where needed. I don't bother learning solos, I am pretty good at picking the melodies on the fly and throwing in some licks to make things sound interesting. I haven't met anyone in town to play with yet, so I just sit out front on warm evenings entertaining myself and the occasional passerby. It's amazing how many people have never heard or even seen a dobro before.

Mostly pre-war country blues and Delta stuff. Lots of Tampa Red, Blind Willie Johnson and Son House! My main reso is a ‘31 National Style-O but have added a Mule solid body electric resonator too. Both are round necks. I’ve recently been dabbling in high-bass G tunings for some bluegrass stuff and having lots of fun.

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Originally posted by hlpdobro

377 reads and 11 replies.

This makes me sad.

These instruments are just wood & metal bits. They don't mean anything until you apply your hands, head & heart.

h

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Traffic in general appears to be slow.
As for myself, I have no desire to play bluegrass. I just like to play pretty tunes on my dobro. I like melodies, composed or improvised. Although he wasn't primarily known for this, Jerry Byrd's work on the reso really inspires me. I also enjoy Brother Oswald's playing and some of the old-school Hawaiian guys. If I wanted to do a bunch of rolls, I'd have taken up 5 string banjo. Dobro came along well before bluegrass; it's that side of things that interests me more.

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Originally posted by BobRussellGtr

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Originally posted by hlpdobro

377 reads and 11 replies.

This makes me sad.

These instruments are just wood & metal bits. They don't mean anything until you apply your hands, head & heart.

h

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Traffic in general appears to be slow.
As for myself, I have no desire to play bluegrass. I just like to play pretty tunes on my dobro. I like melodies, composed or improvised. Although he wasn't primarily known for this, Jerry Byrd's work on the reso really inspires me. I also enjoy Brother Oswald's playing and some of the old-school Hawaiian guys. If I wanted to do a bunch of rolls, I'd have taken up 5 string banjo. Dobro came along well before bluegrass; it's that side of things that interests me more.

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That's cool...and I like that stuff too.  I need to listen to more of Jerry Byrd's reso work (fellow Ohioan).

One thing, though - I'd respectfully push back on the idea that bluegrass dobro equates to "a bunch of rolls".

Rolls are but one of the many bluegrass techniques used by experienced players.  (Admittedly they can be over-used, often by newer players crossing over from banjo.)

I guess I’ll just say I’m half heartedly searching for a style. As old man arthritis has set in on my hands, I am able to only play dobro ukulele and occasionally a short scale guitar. My horrible playing consists of various genres and I would like to become more proficient on classic folk rock stuff but seem to lack consistent motivation. Where I live there seems to be no active jams so I play for and by myself. I confess the dobro hasn’t been my go to instrument but as physical limitations set in you do what you are able to do. So, I guess my style is doing what ever I can with minimal pain. Probably not what Howard is looking for in this thread but figured I’d share.

Side note- I'm on the way to becoming an old man; if and when any arthritis kicks in, it's good to know I won't have to set my squarenecks aside. Sorry about your arthritis, but good to know one can keep on playing.

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Originally posted by JC Dobro

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Originally posted by BobRussellGtr

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Originally posted by hlpdobro

377 reads and 11 replies.

This makes me sad.

These instruments are just wood & metal bits. They don't mean anything until you apply your hands, head & heart.

h

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Traffic in general appears to be slow.
As for myself, I have no desire to play bluegrass. I just like to play pretty tunes on my dobro. I like melodies, composed or improvised. Although he wasn't primarily known for this, Jerry Byrd's work on the reso really inspires me. I also enjoy Brother Oswald's playing and some of the old-school Hawaiian guys. If I wanted to do a bunch of rolls, I'd have taken up 5 string banjo. Dobro came along well before bluegrass; it's that side of things that interests me more.

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That's cool...and I like that stuff too.  I need to listen to more of Jerry Byrd's reso work (fellow Ohioan).

One thing, though - I'd respectfully push back on the idea that bluegrass dobro equates to "a bunch of rolls".

Rolls are but one of the many bluegrass techniques used by experienced players.  (Admittedly they can be over-used, often by newer players crossing over from banjo.)

 

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With reciprocal respect , I didn't say that bluegrass dobro equates to "a bunch of rolls". But I sure do hear a lot of dobro players in bluegrass overusing rolls, and it seems to be expected these days. Each to their own, of course.  HLP asked us to share our styles and thoughts about dobro playing; that's why I chimed in with my .02, which is probably worth even less now that pennies have been ditched.

I started with a Wiessenborn, then got a vintage National squareneck tricone, then I traded a high end Martin for Clinesmith Dobro that had sat on consignment for years because the guy wanted too much money for it and the Clinesmith was a real eye opener (it replaced an OMI Dobro from the ’80’s). This guitar just had a fabulous voice compared to the Dobro. Then I got an Asher Electro Hawaiian Jr (their Korean bargain guitar) and in a way the instruments kind of dictate the music I learned.

But as people probably know, each of these instruments has a dominant style typically played on them, ambient for the Wiessenborn, blues for the tricone and bluegrass for the Dobro/Clinesmith, country rock for the lap steel.

I have been influenced by Martin Harley, a British slide guitar player, Thomas Oliver from New Zealand, John Fahey, and other acoustic slide players outside of the bluegrass world.

I started as a syncopated three-fingered guitar picker, in what I guess would be called the Piedmont style, with influences for John Fahey and John Hurt and so on. I never liked bluegrass rolls, which seemed like banjo rolls to me, so I just kind of adapted what I know to the slide guitar. I put Hipshot Doubleshots on both the Clinesmith and the Asher, which multiplies the utility of the instruments, which is particularly valuable playing in an Americana band. I avoid leads, and try to provide a what I guess I would describe as a kind of country flavored rhythm guitar on the slide with fills, which works out pretty well with the band and the duo I also play with.

Also, since I sing while I play the lap guitar it is a particular challenge, since you really have to look at the fingerboard most of the time. So I would say I have my own eclectic style. This week, during our band’s performance at a summer concert series in Vermont, I switched back and forth between a modern Roy Smeck Stage Deluxe and the Clinesmith and it worked out to be kind of a crowd pleaser.

I noticed, however, during our last practice, where I happened to be under a bright light, that the top of the Clinesmith was entirely covered in dried spit from the singing. It was kind of appalling. Is this a common problem with Dobro singers?

John Fahey music on dobro? That would have pleased this crowd.

Well, John used to play a Kona Hawaiian lap steel (not a Weissenborn) and did a number of pretty well known lap slide numbers. He was no Jerry Douglas though, for sure.

Drat- he didn't the night I saw him in Charlottesville in the 80s. Or did he? It's been a while. Thanks for the tip, I'll dig in.